Beef bulgogi rice bowls
20 min · 43 g protein · 471 cals / serving
Paper-thin beef in a sweet, garlicky pear and soy marinade, seared in a smoking-hot pan until caramelised at the edges, over rice with garlicky spinach and bean sprouts, crisp carrots, quick-pickled cucumber and kimchi. Korean barbecue flavour in 20 minutes, and four lunch bowls if you pack them.
Ingredients
Bulgogi marinade
- 1/3 large asian pear, peeled and finely grated (or a ripe pear)
- 1/3 medium onion, finely grated
- 1/4 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
- 6 cloves garlic, finely grated, divided
- 1 tsp ginger, finely grated
- 2 tsp brown sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp sesame oil, toasted, divided
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 1/3 lb top round steak, bought shaved beef for bulgogi or hot pot (or lean top round sliced paper-thin, see tip)
Quick pickle
- 1 large cucumber, thinly sliced
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tsp granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt, divided
Rice
- 1 1/2 (8.8 oz) pouches jasmine rice, cooked jasmine or short-grain rice
Spinach and sprouts
- 10 oz bag baby spinach
- 3 1/2 cups bean sprouts
- 1 1/2 tsp canola oil
- 2 1/2 cups carrot, shredded (a bag) or coarsely grated
- 1 cup kimchi
- 2 green onions, sliced
- 2 tsp toasted sesame seeds
Steps
- Stir the grated pear and onion, soy sauce, two-thirds of the garlic, the ginger, sugar, half the sesame oil and the pepper in a bowl. Add the beef, separate the slices and toss until coated; leave 5 minutes.
- Toss the cucumber with the rice vinegar, sugar and a pinch of the salt and leave to pickle.
- Microwave the rice as the pack says. Microwave the spinach and bean sprouts in a covered bowl for 2–3 minutes, squeeze out the water, and toss with the rest of the garlic, sesame oil and salt.
- Heat the oil in your largest skillet over the highest heat until smoking. Lift the beef out of the marinade and sear in two batches, spread flat, 1–2 minutes until caramelised at the edges. Pour any marinade left in the bowl into the pan with the second batch, return the first batch and let it all bubble 1 minute until sticky.
- Divide the rice among four bowls and top with the beef, spinach and sprouts, carrot, drained cucumber and kimchi, with green onion and sesame seeds. For lunches, cool the rice quickly and refrigerate everything within an hour, with the cucumber and kimchi in their own pots; the bowls keep 3 days, the beef and rice reheated until steaming.
Good to know
Can I slice the beef myself?
Yes: freeze a piece of top round or sirloin for 30 minutes until firm, then slice across the grain as thin as you can. It adds about 40 minutes, so it suits a weekend; Asian grocers and many supermarkets sell beef already shaved for bulgogi or hot pot.
Can I make it spicy?
Stir a tablespoon of gochujang into the marinade, or serve the bowls with a spoon of gochujang loosened with a little rice vinegar.
Can I skip the rice?
Yes: pile the beef over a double batch of spinach and sprouts, or over microwaved cauliflower rice. Without the jasmine rice the bowls come to about 77 instead of 68.
Alternative
Per
- Calories
- 88
- Protein
- (38%)
- 8 g
- Fat
- (19%)
- 2 g
- Carbohydrates
- (43%)
- 10 g
- of which sugar
- 3 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
- Sodium
- 278 mg
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Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. General guidance, not medical advice. Talk to your prescriber. How
As written, 1884 kcal goes into the pot and 2653 g of ingredients comes out as about 2130 g of food: 88 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.