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Korean Beef Bibimbap Bowls

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Korean Beef Bibimbap Bowls

My husband travels a lot for work. A lot! One thing I ask him to do is send me photos of – or call me to describe – the food he eats while he’s traveling. He’s been to some really cool places that are known for good food but even if he’s traveling to a smaller city like Kansas City he still tries to find the best restaurants and ethnic food he can. One meal he’s loved everywhere we’ve lived and everywhere he’s traveled is Korean Bibimbap. Bibimbap means mixed rice and is traditionally a dish meant to use up all your leftovers – and it’s an incredibly fun word to say 😉

He’s been craving Korean Bibimbap Bowls so I decided to try my hand at it last weekend. We absolutely loved them! You marinate flank or skirt steak for a couple hours (up to overnight) then pan sear (many recipes call this beef bulgogi – a Korean style of marinated beef – which you can also buy pre-prepared at Costco!). You then mix the pan-seared beef with lots of yummy veggies and rice. My favorite part of this recipe (besides the amazingly seasoned meat) is the fried egg on top with the Korean gochujang (a paste made with chili peppers) – adds so much flavor!

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5 from 3 votes

Korean Bibimbap Bowls

Ingredients

Beef Bulgogi

  • 1.5 - 2 lb. flank or skirt steak, sliced into thin strips
  • 3/4 c. soy sauce
  • 2 tbsp. sesame oil
  • 1/2 c. brown sugar
  • 2 cloves garlic, chopped (or 2 tbsp. minced garlic)
  • 2 green onions, chopped
  • 1 tsp. grated fresh ginger
  • 2 tbsp. rice vinegar
  • 1 tbsp. gochujang

Gochujang Sauce for Topping

  • 5 tbsp. gochujang
  • 2 tbsp. rice vinegar
  • 1 tsp. sesame oil
  • 2 tbsp. sugar

Sauteed Veggies

  • olive oil for cooking
  • soy sauce for cooking
  • sesame oil for cooking
  • 1 carrot, thinly grated or sliced into matchsticks
  • 2 small zucchini, chopped into chunks (can use 1 large zucchini instead of 2 small)
  • 1 lb. fresh spinach

Toppings

  • cooked sushi rice
  • 1 cucumber, diced thinly
  • 1 green onion, chopped small
  • sesame seeds
  • fried eggs (one for each bowl you're making)

Instructions

  • Note - if your sushi rice isn't already cooked, start by doing this so it can cook while you prep your other ingredients. Follow the directions on your sushi rice package and make as much as your family will need. My family loves rice and we like to have leftovers too, so I'll usually make 1.5-2 cups (dry). If you have pre-cooked rice or leftover rice, you can fry it up in a little oil before serving.

Gochujang Sauce for Topping

  • Whisk ingredients for sauce together in bowl or shake in a mason jar with lid on. Chill until ready to serve.

Beef Bulgogi

  • Slice beef very thinly. Place in a large ziploc bag. Set aside.
  • In a bowl, combine remaining beef ingredients and stir with a whisk until incorporated. Pour marinade over beef in ziploc bag and place in fridge for 2 hours to overnight.
  • Prepare a place to put the cooked meat - before you begin cooking it. I like to use a large cookie sheet lined with paper towels. Set this to the side of your frying pan, so you can easily transfer cooked meat to cookie sheet.
  • When ready to cook the meat, remove from fridge. Place 2-3 tbsp. of canola oil in the bottom of a large cast iron or stainless steel pot. Heat oil to medium high heat.
  • Using tongs, carefully remove meat one piece at a time from the ziploc bag, and place slowly into the hot oil. If it pops too much, turn the heat down to medium. (Typically I start it at medium high and turn it down a smidge as it gets hotter.)
  • Place as many pieces as will fit in one layer in the hot oil (without crowding). Cook for 1-2 minutes per side (depending on the thickness of your meat.)
  • Once done, remove from oil onto paper towel lined cookie sheet. Let rest while you cook the rest of the meat. Continue until all meat is cooked.

Sauteed Veggies

  • For the carrots, zucchini, and the spinach, you are going to sauté them in a 1 tbsp. of oil, 1 tsp. of sesame oil, and 1 tbsp. of soy sauce (each). You can sauté them in batches if you want them separate in your bowls, or you can sauté them all together, adding more oils and soy sauce to the large batch.
  • Once they are cooked, set aside in bowls for serving.

Bowl Assembly

  • Start bowl assembly by creating the base of the bowl with the cooked sushi rice and sauteed veggies. 
  • Then add meat, fresh cucumbers, and fried egg.
  • Top with green onions, sesame seeds, and gochujang sauce.
  • When ready to eat, use a knife to cut the egg so the yolk runs over the bowl, and mix everything together. These Bibimbap bowls taste best when everything is mixed together. Enjoy!

These Korean Bibimbap Bowls have a lot of ingredients but they really aren’t hard to prepare! Just take some time to prep before making to ensure you have all the ingredients – especially things like gochujang – which you might not have on hand (but is easy to find at grocery stores and even Trader Joe’s has it too).

Hope you love these Korean Bibimbap Bowls ! We loved them and I have loved making so many global meals for our family to try. Be sure to let me know if you make it and tag me @plumstreetcollective on Instagram. Thanks for reading!

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7 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    I made this tonight and it was SO tasty!! We didn’t have all the exact ingredients, but got the basic just and are big fans. My husband said this may be one of his favorite meals I’ve made 😉 It was actually relatively quick to make too. Thanks for the great recipe.

  2. 5 stars
    I have made this recipe twice and my family loves it. I used chicken thighs instead of beef the second time I made it and we think it might be better than the beef version.

  3. 5 stars
    Made with beyond ground beef. Absolutely amazing!!

  4. I think my family would love it if I made these for dinner. Definitely change things up at our house.

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