Bulgogi Bibimbap

28 May 2025

1 Hour

medium

4 persons

Succulent, smokey, caramelised and perfectly marinated Bulgogi beef meets Bibimbap’s colourful veggies served with a drizzle of spicy Gochujang sauce mix for a Korean flavour fiesta – making every bite deliciously unique!

Ever heard of Bibimbap or Bulgogi? Well, unless you somehow dodged the Korean wave that swept the world, you’ve probably heard of it—and maybe even had it. But for those of you who need a crash course, let me help you out.

Bibimbap, a popular Korean dish with a rich history and cultural significance, means “mixed rice” in Korean—basically, different ingredients coming together in a bowl of rice, and you eat it by mixing everything together. It usually comes loaded with colourful veggies, some meat, and either a fried or raw egg sitting in all it’s glory on the top. Then it’s finished with a generous dollop of Gochujang, that spicy red pepper paste that ties it all together. It’s the coming together of different flavours and textures, and honestly, it’s Korean cuisine doing what it does best—balancing taste, nutrition, and just aesthetically mouth watering. Every bite is different and you honestly can’t say that about alot of dishes.

Now let’s talk about Bulgogi. The name refers to “fire meat” in Korean. It’s usually thinly sliced beef (pork and chicken as well), marinated in a sweet and savoury mix of soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, garlic—simple ingredients, BIG flavours. You can grill it, pan-fry it, or stir-fry it—whatever works. It’s super versatile and tastes amazing whether it’s wrapped in lettuce (Ssam), added to Bibimbap, or just served straight up with rice and banchan (aka Korean side dishes).

So in this recipe, I decided to combine the best of both worlds—Bulgogi & Bibimbap—a mashup we didn’t know we needed. Trust me when I say it’s a total flavour explosion. That Bulgogi with the spicy Gochujang sauce? Insanely good. Honestly, eating this while watching my favourite series (it’s Tracker at the moment) is peak comfort, all I’m missing is my snuggly blanky. I also make this when I’m feeling blue — it’s definitely taken the crown as my go-to comfort food. So tell me, once you’ve tried it, will it become your new comfort food too? Leave your answers in the comments below, and don’t forget to share this recipe with your loved ones!

Reviews

Ingredients:

Adjust Servings

	500 g Beef (Chuck Steak) (see Notes) cut into long thin strips
	5 Spring Onions
	1⁄₂ Brown Onion
	4 cloves Garlic
	1 inch Ginger
	1⁄₂ Pear (see Notes)
	30 ml Water for blending
	1 tsp Ground Black Pepper
	2 tbsp Sesame Seed Oil
	1 tsp Brown Sugar
	1 tsp Fine White Sugar/Castor Sugar
	1 tsp Brown Rice Syrup (see Notes)
	1 tsp Brown Rice Vinegar (see Notes)
	1 ¹⁄₂ tsp Light Soy Sauce
	150 ml Vegetable oil for frying bulgogi add more oil if needed
	2 Carrots julienned/cut into matchsticks
	400 g Spinach
	400 grams White Button Mushrooms cut into thin slices
	1 tsp Garlic Powder
	8 tsp Vegetable Oil 2 tsp for carrot, 2 tsp for spinach and 4 tsp for mushrooms
	3 tsp Salt 1 tsp each for carrot, spinach and mushrooms
	2 cups Sushi Rice
	2 cups Water to cook sushi rice
	A pinch Salt
	Toasted Sesame Seed for topping (optional)

Gochujang Sauce Mix

	2 tbsp Gochujang Paste
	1-3 tbsp any spicy sauce (I used Samyang 2x Spicy Sauce) amount depends on heat preference
	4 cloves Garlic minced
	1 tbsp Brown Rice Syrup (see Notes)
	4 tsp Brown Rice Vinegar (see Notes)
	2 tsp Light Soy Sauce
	1 tbsp Sesame Seed Oil heated up

Nutritional Information

825 kcal Calories

58 g Total Fat

2800 mg Sodium

6 g Dietary Fiber

32 g Protein

25 mg Vitamin C

90 mg Cholestrol

60 g Carbohydrates

16 g Sugar

4000 IU Vitamin A

3.5 mg Iron

Directions

Marinate the Bulgogi

Slice the chuck steak into 1/2 cm thick fillets, then cut them into long strips and place them in a large mixing bowl. Combine the spring onions, brown onion, garlic cloves, pear, ginger, and water in a blender and blend until smooth. Once done, add the mixture to the beef along with ground black pepper, sesame oil, brown sugar, white sugar, brown rice syrup, brown rice vinegar, and light soy sauce. Mix until the beef is thoroughly coated. Let it marinate for 30 minutes (overnight is great too!).

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Cook the Sushi Rice

Wash the sushi rice with 2–3 rinses by placing the uncooked rice in a strainer and running it under water, gently rubbing the rice with your fingers. The washing is to get rid of excess starch so the rice would not be mushy when cooked. Once clean, drain the water well and transfer the rice to a rice cooker. Using the same cup to measure, add the same amount of water to the cooker. Add a pinch of salt, mix, and let the rice cooker do it's thing.

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Prep the Vegetables

Peel and slice the carrot diagonally, then cut into thin matchsticks. Slice the mushrooms thinly. Wash the spinach and drain it well. Keep all the vegetables separate—even after cooking.

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Make the Gochujang Sauce

In a small mixing jar, add all the ingredients for the Gochujang sauce except the sesame oil. In a separate pan, heat the sesame oil and then add it to the other sauce ingredients. Whisk until everything’s well combined. Set it aside for later.

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Cook the Bulgogi

Heat 300 ml oil in a pan on medium heat. Once hot, add the marinated beef and fry for 5 minutes. As it cooks, the beef will release liquid—turn up the heat to medium-high and continue frying for 10–15 more minutes until the sauce thickens and you see little charred spots on the beef (those charred spots are where the good stuff is!). Take it off the heat and set it aside.

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Cook the Vegetables + Optional Eggs

Clean the pan used for the Bulgogi and reuse it for the eggs/veggies. If you’re adding eggs, heat oil in the pan and fry the eggs sunny side up. Remove once fried and set aside. Using the leftover oil from the eggs (or 1 tsp of oil if skipping the eggs), heat the pan on medium heat: Add the carrots and a pinch of salt. Flash fry for 3 minutes. Set aside. Heat another 4 tsp of oil, add mushrooms and sauté for 2 minutes. Next, add garlic powder, cook until liquid appears, then add salt. Cook until the liquid evaporates and the mushrooms are slightly charred. Set aside. Lastly, heat 1 tsp of sesame oil, add spinach, cook until liquid appears, then add salt. Cook until the liquid evaporates. Set aside.

Pro tip: Add salt after the liquid starts to appear — this helps the salt draw out even more moisture. A little helping hand from our friendly Salt.

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Assemble the Bulgogi Bibimbap Bowl

Scoop some rice into a bowl. Arrange the carrots, mushrooms, spinach, and Bulgogi neatly on different sides of the rice. Optionally, place the sunny-side-up egg in the center. Drizzle the Gochujang sauce or dollop it in the middle. Optionally, top with a generous sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds. Click a few pictures, post it on IG and add #thebeetable on the caption (so I see it) tag me. Then, mix it all together with a spoon—and dig in!

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Notes

Syrup & Vinegar: This recipe requires brown rice syrup and vinegar for both the Bulgogi marinade and the Gochujang sauce mix. I found both items at my local Korean grocery shop. However, I understand that not everyone may have easy access to these ingredients, especially where they might be hard to find or expensive. In such cases, you can substitute the brown rice syrup with corn syrup or even honey and replace brown rice vinegar with either apple cider vinegar or regular cooking vinegar. While the taste might vary with the substitutions from the intended recipe, it will still be just as delicious!

Pear: Regarding the pear used in the Bulgogi recipe, Korean pear is commonly recommended. However, as I couldn't find Korean pears, I opted for Conference pears available at my local store. If you don't have Conference pears, any sweet pear will do as an alternative. Another option is to use 60 ml of pure pear juice instead (if using pear juice, don’t add water during the blending phase).

Meat & Vegetables: For the vegetables in Bibimbap, although mushrooms, carrots, and spinach are used in this recipe, feel free to swap them out for paprika/bell peppers (thinly sliced), zucchini/courgette (cut into matchsticks), bean sprouts, aubergine (halved and thinly sliced), kimchi (Korean fermented cabbage), another type of mushroom like shiitake (cook the same way as the mushrooms mentioned in this recipe), or even some fresh salad like arugula or romaine lettuce. You can totally substitute the meat in the Bulgogi with chicken, pork, lamb or even plant-based meat to make this recipe plant-based/vegan.

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