For this Beef Bulgogi Bibimbap recipe, we tried answering the question “what would American steak and potatoes look like as bulgogi Bibimbap?” We used a russet potato, carrots & broccoli, and a spinach “side salad”. Hope y’all enjoy!

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“On the 8th day Beef Bulgogi was created”

-Hung Ray Now

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What is Beef Bulgogi?

Sweet and savory Beef Bulgogi is a quintessential Korean cuisine that brings people together. It is most commonly shared in a communal setting.

If you’ve ever been to a Korean BBQ restuarant you know what’s up. The tables have built in grills for you to cook your own meat on. Bulgogi literally means “fire meat” in Korean, hence the BBQ.

Don’t worry though, Bulgogi can also be stir fried and cooked in a hot skillet. The meat is shaved or sliced very thin. This helps it soak up all that delicious sweet and savory marinate, as well as helping it cook super fast.

Normally you’ll see beef bulgogi, but chicken and pork bulgogi aren’t uncommon. Choose a well marbled ribeye, sirloin, or tenderloin for the best tasting beef bulgogi.

Traditional marinates usually include the super sweet asian pear, soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, onion and garlic. Some folks like to add Gochujang, a household Korean staple, thats sweet, smoky, spicy, and a little funky. Toss it in your marinate, as well as a garnish over the entire dish.

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What is Bibimbap?

If you’re late to the party don’t worry, just remove the large rock from your head and grab a seat.

Bibimbap is Korean for “mixed rice”, Bibim meaning “mixing” and bap meaning “cooked rice”. So don’t upset the bibimbap gods and be sure to mix everything up before you dive head first into your bowl.

Traditional bibimbap is a bowl of warm rice accompanied by banchan (veggie side dishes), Kimchi, gochujang (red chili paste), a fried egg, and a protein, usually sliced beef.

As with so many culinary delights we enjoy today, bibimbap had humble beginnings. Rural Koreans would take rice, leftover veggies, and maybe some meat, and mix them in a bowl. Boom, a cheap and easy meal was born.

With the nature of this, the dish was rarely the same; and it is no different today. You’ll see all kinds of different variations of bibimbap, it is endlessly customizable!

We hope you enjoy our take on it with this Beef Bulgogi bibimbap recipe.

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BEEF BULGOGI BIBIMBAP

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Beef Bulgogi Bibimbap Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need for this beef bulgogi bibimbap recipe.

• Beef: You’re going to want to get a decent cut of meat here. Nice marbling makes for melt in your mouth goodness. We used sirloin for this recipe, but a ribeye or tenderloin would work great. Make sure to slice your beef super thin. Popping it into the freezer for 15-20 minutes before handling it, will make it easier to cut.

• Veggies: Going with the theme of American steak and potatoes here, we use a russet potato, broccoli, carrot, spinach and cherry tomatoes. This was just a fun fusion idea, feel free to experiment with different kinds of vegetables for your Beef Bulgogi bibimbap.

• Rice: We like to use jasmine rice for our bibimbap recipes. White and brown rice, or even quinoa or cauliflower rice work totally fine here. Its your rice bowl, make it how you like it.

• Gochujang: Is it even bibimbap if you don’t use Gochujang? Maybe, but why would you not want to use this delicious, sweet, savory, spicy, fermented, Korean red chili paste?

• Garnishes: We keep it pretty simple for this Beef Bulgogi bibimbap recipe. We top it with a Gochujang, a fried egg of course, and a little sesame oil. Feel free to toss in some Kimchi or seaweed sheets.

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How to Make Beef Bulgogi Bibimbap

Follow these steps to make Beef Bulgogi bibimbap

Step 1: Marinate the Beef

For this Beef Bulgogi bibimbap recipe lets start off by marinating the beef. While you’re making the marinade, put your beef in the freezer. This will make it easier to cut into super thin slices.

Next, peel your asian pear and fresh ginger, then grate them and the garlic. Place in a wide bowl and add your soy sauce, sesame oil, brown sugar, sesame seeds. Mix everything together.

Take your meat out of the freezer and cut it against the grain into super thin slices. Toss your meat into the bowl with the marinade and give it a good mix. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, and up to overnight.

Step 2: Cook the veggies

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Toss the potato slices and broccoli in olive oil, season with salt and pepper. Place on a baking sheet and cook for 20 minutes.

Julienne your carrots.

Start your rice. (step 3)

When your potatoes and broccoli have 7 mins left in the oven, heat a Tbsp of sesame oil in a nonstick skillet. Sauté the spinach and cherry tomatoes over medium heat until the spinach is wilted. Season with sesame seeds, salt and pepper.

Step 3: Cook the Rice

Follow the instructions on the package. For jasmine rice it should be 1 cup of rice and 2 cups of water in a 3 quart pot. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer for 15-20 minutes undisturbed.

After the allotted time, remove from heat and fluff with a fork.

Step 4: Cook the Beef

Heat 2 Tbsps of Canola oil in a cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Once the oil shimmers, place your meat in the skillet.

In a single layer cook the meat undisturbed for 2 minutes. Flip the beef and cook another 3-4 minutes stirring the beef. The meat should have a nice char and the marinate should be somewhat caramelized.

Remove from heat.

Step 5: Assemble and Enjoy

In a nonstick skillet cook an over easy egg.

Scoop the rice into serving bowls and arrange the beef and prepared vegetables in sections around the rice. Top with the egg and drizzle with sesame oil and Gochujang.

Hooray! You’ve made Beef Bulgogi bibimbap, now enjoy it!

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Beef Bulgogi Bibimbap Influences

The PNW is blessed with a growing Korean population. The majority is in Seattle, it has the fourth largest population in the country.

But Portland is no slouch. Multnomah county and the surrounding metro area, also boast a good sized population. That is made evident by the many Korean restaurants around town, especially in Beaverton’s unofficial Koreatown.

Frankie and I are always trying different foods that we didn’t grow up with. After trying so much great Korean food at places like, Toki or Kim Jong Grillin, bibimbap is now a staple for us.

For this Beef Bulgogi bibimbap recipe, we’ve kept the basic foundation of bibimbap and ran with the different flavor potentials. It’s one reason why we love bibimbap so much, you rarely have the same one.

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Bibimbap Variations

Did you enjoy this Beef Bulgogi Bibimbap? Want more? Well you are in luck, there are all kinds of Bibimbap. The variations are endless. Follow these other great bibimbap recipes to curb your Korean craving.

Vegan Tofu and Mushroom Bibimbap

Fried Chicken Bibimbap South Korea

Spicy Pork Bibimbap

We’d love to hear from y’all, please let us know how the recipes turn out. As always, thanks for stopping by! Cheers

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Leftovers

I wouldn’t bother freezing any beef bibimbap leftovers. The rice moisture gets all screwed up and the veggies would get soggy and be hard to crisp back up. Not worth it.

But if you must, it’ll do fine in the fridge for a day or two. Just cover in an airtight container, and don’t expect the veggies to be nice and crisp when you reheat them. It’s the price you pay for not stuffing yourself to the point of being uncomfortable.

Or here’s an idea! Invite a friend over next time, SHARE! They’ll like you more if you feed them bibimbap.

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