Bulgogi Bowl, Kales’ Kitchen

On The Evening Prowl, I mentioned a great recipe for a Bulgogi Bowl! You’re probably asking, “What is a bulgogi bowl?” It is a delicious and healthy Korean dish that is sweet, spicy, and almost a bit sour. It can be made in about 25 minutes.

Utensils Needed:

Wooden spoon

Small pot

Vegetable peeler

Small bowl

Medium bowl

Large pan

Knife

Ingredients to serve 4 people, or to have leftovers!

1 cup of jasmine rice (or even white rice)

10 teaspoons of white wine vinegar (or regular vinegar)

2 carrots

2 tablespoons of sesame seeds

8 tablespoons of sour cream

2 cucumbers

1.25 lb of ground beef (can be replaced with ground turkey)

8 ounces of bulgogi sauce or marinade

2 teaspoons of sriracha

1 teaspoon of sugar

1 tablespoon of vegetable oil

2 tablespoons of butter

Salt

Pepper

Instructions

1. Wash and dry all produce. Place rice and 1 ½ cups water in the small pot. Cover and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Simmer until tender and water is absorbed, about 15 minutes. Keep covered off heat until the meal is ready. 
2. Place 5 tsp vinegar, 1 tsp sugar, and a few pinches of salt in a medium bowl. Trim off cucumber ends. Using a peeler, you’ll shave the cucumber lengthwise into ribbons, rotating until you get to the seedy part, which you’ll discard. Add the cucumber ribbons into that medium bowl you prepared and mix it all around to let the vinegar coat the cucumbers. You’ll then set this bowl to the side.
3. Chop the carrots into discs little under half an inch thick. Heat a drizzle of vegetable oil in a large pan, over medium-high heat. A nonstick pan works best for this, but if you don’t have one, it’s okay. You’ll add the carrots to the pan and cook them for about a minute and a half while they get tender. Season them with salt and pepper and transfer them to a plate and set aside.
4. Using the same pan as before, heat another drizzle of vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Add the meat of your choice. Add a pinch of salt and pepper. Break the meat up into pieces. Cook until browned, 5-7 minutes. Stir in 1tbsp sesame seeds, pour in 5 tsp of vinegar. Cook 30 seconds, then stir in bulgogi sauce or marinade, bring to a simmer. Remove pan from heat. Season with salt and pepper to taste. 
5. While the meat is cooking, stir together sour cream and sriracha (to taste) in the small bowl. Stir in some water 1 tsp at a time until mixture has a drizzling consistency. Season with salt if you’d like. It tastes fine without salt though.
6. Fluff rice with a fork and stir in 2 tbsp of butter. Season with salt and pepper. Divide rice into bowls. Add meat, carrots, and cucumbers. You’ll drain excess liquid from cucumbers before adding them though otherwise, your bowl will have a strong vinegar taste. Once all of this is in the bowl, you’ll drizzle the sour cream/sriracha mixture over the bowl and garnish with some sesame seeds. 

This Bulgogi Bowl recipe is one of my favorites to cook for others and can easily be made into a vegetarian meal if you replace the meat with sauteed mushrooms.

I hope you have fun making this meal and think it is a delicious dish!

Kaleigh is the Assistant Webmaster at The WOLF and is on The Evening Prowl this semester.