Pork Bulgogi Rice Bowl (Dwaeji Bulgogi Deopbap)

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Bulgogi was the first dish I tasted during my very first visit to a Korean restaurant and I still remember how much I enjoyed its unique taste. This famous dish is composed of thinly sliced, marinated and grilled meat. Described like this, bulgogi doesn’t sound particularly original, but I assure you both the marinade and the grilling process with a sauce poured regularly on the meat made my first experience with Korean food unforgettable.

I don’t know about other countries, but here bulgogi is prepared by the client on a very unusual tabletop grill I have never seen elsewhere. Since I don’t have even a standard grill, I assumed I could never reproduce this dish at home. I was wrong! When I saw Bulgogi Deopbap recipe (rice bowl topped with bulgogi) on Hyosun Ro’s blog (Eating and Living)  and realised all I needed was a simple pan, I was so happy, I made it practically the day I saw it.

Hyosun Ro’s bulgogi was made with beef, but since I had thinly sliced pork in my freezer (I am a big pork fan), I changed the meat without changing the cooking process. I have prepared  at least five bulgogi deopbap dinners in recent weeks and I feel I could have much more often. I never get bored with the delicate, slightly sweet taste of the meat, coated in a delicious sauce, which is partly absorbed by the rice. The marinating time is not long, the cooking time even shorter and I always have the basic ingredients, I find it an excellent easy and relatively quick dinner option. Thank you, Hyosun, for one more easy and delicious Korean recipe!

TIPS: The only modification I allowed myself here was cutting the meat slices into thinner strips. I found it easier to eat when cut this way. I have also used agave syrup instead of honey and sugar.

Asian pear is luckily optional here (I have never managed to buy it).

Preparation: 50 minutes – 1h 30 (including the marinating time)

Ingredients (serves two): 

250 g thinly sliced pork (I used pork loin, but  fatty cuts will be more tender)

2 spring onions cut into 5 cm (2 inch) pieces

1 medium carrot, julienned or other vegetables of your choice

Marinade: 

2 tablespoons soy sauce 

1 tablespoons water

1 teaspoon each sugar and honey (I used agave syrup)

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1 teaspoon rice wine (I used sake)
1 teaspoon grated/crushed garlic

1 teaspoon white sesame seeds

ground pepper
(2 tablespoons grated Asian pear)

Sauce:

100-150 ml anchovy/beef stock or water 

1 teaspoon soy sauce (more if using water)

1 teaspoon sugar

 

In a bowl combine the meat and the spring onions. Add the marinade and let to stand for 30-60 minutes in the fridge.

Heat some oil in a pan. Fry the meat together with the marinade and spring onions.

After about a minute, add the vegetables of your choice and a bit of the sauce.

Stir-fry until the meat is cooked, adding more sauce if necessary and more soy sauce if you find it is not salty enough.

Serve over a bowl of rice.

 

Published by Sissi

40 Replies to “Pork Bulgogi Rice Bowl (Dwaeji Bulgogi Deopbap)”

  1. I love the list of ingredients in this dish. The flavours must be amazing. I think the pork would work just as well with these ingredients as the beef. xx

  2. Oh yum! This sounds delicious! I have loved the way the Koreans do their rice dishes … mainly bibimbap. This is another good variation of a delicious all-in-one rice bowl. It’s too late to cook or buy the ingredients to cook … dinnertime (and I still haven’t figured out what I feel like cooking or eating). Thanks for making up my mind for me. We’re hopping over to the neighborhood little Korean restaurant in a while 🙂

    1. Thank you, Ping. You are so lucky to have a neighborhood little Korean restaurant you can go to without thinking… (For mine I have to save a serious amount of money and eat something before because portions are small and expensive 😉 ). In short, I’d better stick to cooking it on my own. Have a lovely dinner!

  3. I forgot about bulgogi, now I want some, even though I’ve had lunch already. I’ve only tried the beef version.
    Its relatively common here, even the Chinese buffet places have it.

  4. WE LOVE bulgogi! I even love saying the name, it’s absolutely awesome! The issue I have with making my own at home is the sauce does not drain well, so the meat doesn’t come out crispy like in a restaurant, got any tips Sissi?

    1. Hi Jeno, unfortunately the meat wasn’t here crispy at all, but I didn’t mind it being soft (I think one would need the special barbecue to make it crispy). I don’t know if Hyosun’s meat was crispy but it didn’t look crispy on the photo.

  5. Bulgogi is a must everytime we are at our favorite Korean Resto. Your version with your modification is a must try and the use Agave syrup instead is a good idea. Have a good week, Sissi!

    1. I’m happy you are also a fan of Korean cuisine. It’s surprisingly simple and soooo good as you say.

  7. I only need rice wine or sake to reproduce this! ohh I am excited!

    Sissi its always easy for me to learn from ur asian recipes, thanks for teaching me a new korean dish. Your bulgogi looks awesome by the way!

    1. Thank you so much, Helene. I am happy you can almost prepare this recipe. I’m sure you can find the wine or sake and if not you can try googling some substitutes.

  8. Haha I can totally understand you made this dish the day Hyosun posted! We love Korean food and I often pick as my choice when we eat out. I don’t have pear but I should give this try this week. I have frozen meat (beef or pork) and I have all the ingredients. Rice bowl sounds perfect for a busy week!

    1. Hi, Nami. Actually I went to look for new ideas and browsing through the recipes I found this one (I think I didn’t know Hyosun’s blog at the time she posted it). As soon as I saw it I made it of course.
      I have started to freeze packages of thinly cut pork slices and it’s so easy now to make this dish or your potato and teriyaki rolls 😉

    1. Thank you so much, Karen. When I wrote about it I was wondering if you would be able to buy the ingredients. I hope you can make it one day, because it’s sensational.
      I do have Korean restaurants but they are expensive, portions are tiny, they make you pay for each tiny bowl of additional pickles (I have heard it comes for free in the US Korean restaurants), so I prefer to learn Korean cuisine at home.

  11. Firstly – I can’t believe you can’t find Asian Pear – They sell them a lot in quite a few stores near me – can you not even find them in the stores when you go to France? It’s too bad – there’s nothing better on a hot day than a cold, juicy asian pear 🙂

    Secondly – I had no idea I could just use a pan for bulgogi. I too have looked in slight awe at the most curiously shaped grills in Korean restaurants. How wonderful to know I can just use a simple pan.

    I love how your bulgogi looks Sissi – really delicious, and like something from a restaurant, really! I love that you used pork instead of beef too. I’ve only tried it with beef before, but it must be nice for a change!

    1. Thank you for the compliments, Charles. You are a big beef fan, so I’m sure you would prefer it with beef…
      Actually my supermarkets both here and in France used to sell Asian pears two years ago. This is how I learn what they look like. Unfortunately I never bought them and last year when I started to be interested in this fruit, they stopped on both sides of the border. I was furious! Now I haven’t seen them for more than a year 🙁 Maybe I have to go and look for a bigger Carrefour. (I do all my supermarket shopping in the small ones and they are sufficient most of the time). Do you happen to remember where you saw it?
      I even don’t see them on the farmers’ market.
      As I told Jeno, the meat will not have this BBQ crunch you obtain with the funny grill, but the taste is really excellent. If Hyosun uses a pan, we can use it too can’t we? 😉

      1. Hi Sissi – I do most of my shopping at Auchan, sometimes Carrefour. I’ve seen them in at least two big Auchans, in the big “Zone Industrielle”s around Paris – Plaisir and Velizy. If you can find a larger Auchan hypermarket then you should be able to find them no problem I think. Worst case scenario then I guess you’ll need to come to Paris and we can visit Chinatown and buy some fruit and veg together! 😀

        1. Thank you so much, Charles. I sometimes go to Auchan but it’s usually a long trip… I will remember it next time I am not far from it.
          I would definitely prefer the last solution 😉

  12. I just love the simplicity of preparation of this meal – the idea of allowing meat to marinade into delicate ribbons of tenderness (while getting other things done ;-)) thrills me! The convenience of the stir-fry is also enticing. Your ingredients sounds delicious – I particularly like the combination of the soy sauce set-off against that little touch of sweetness. The sesame oil sounds swoonworthy… very nice Sissi!

    1. Thank you so much, Kelly. You must have already noticed I’m lazy and love simple recipes 😉 Sometimes I’m brave enough to try something complicated, but it’s rare.

      1. Thank you Sissi. It DOES look different. And it probably tastes the same as it always tasted. I want one now. So much flavour is lost with the manipulation of seeds. Take the giant garlic: all show but no bite.

        1. I have never seen giant garlic! I have once bought however a giant avocado, it was three times as big as a normal one and tasteless.
          I hope I can find Asian pears one day…

  14. oh this looks great! as someone not having grown up used to preparing asian food (which is very intimidating sometimes!), it’s always wonderful to see an accessible recipe like this, thanks!

  15. Dear Sissi,

    For someone living in the depth of Europe, you seem to be getting into a fair bit of Asian like Korean, Indian and Filipino even. Bulgogi is pretty tasty and I think you ought to make a trip to the East to sample some of these great delights 🙂

    1. Thank you, Chopinand. I hope I will travel to Asia soon. In the meantime I have to content myself with my kitchen “travels” 😉

  16. Wow.. I’m impressed…I can feel how much you love Korean food.. haha This sounds so great! I’m still waiting my birthday gift from mom in Korea.. It will bring to me a lot of Korean ingredients which I could not fine here in Finland..

    1. Thank you so much! I do love Korean cuisine, even though I am only starting to learn about it. I love the frequent combination of sweet and hot and gochujang is the love of my life. I can imagine how excited you are about the gift from Korea!

  17. Hi Sissi – Forgive me for being so late to come by! So much going on with me that it’s been so hard to keep up with everything. Another impressive Korean dish you’ve created here. While beef is the usual for Bulgogi, pork is not uncommon. Most Korean homes simply use a pan to cook bulgogi, especially winter time. But, now that the weather is getting warm, it will also be good for backyard or picnic BBQ. I cannot thank you enough for your love for Korean food, choosing my recipe for your Korean cooking, and mentioning it here!!

    1. Thank you, Hyosun, for the kind comment. I am not a big fan of beef (unless it’s raw + some exceptions), so I automatically thought I had to try it with pork 😉 Unfortunately I don’t live in a house, so I am not able to make a real BBQ 🙁
      Thank you once more for inspiration and such well-explained recipes, which are an excellent introduction to the Korean cuisine!

  18. This looks just divine. I love how thorough you always are in describing the dishes too. It helps me, because I’m not as familiar with the cuisine.

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