Korean-Inspired Ground “Beef” Bulgogi Bowls
Here are Korean-Inspired Ground “Beef” Bulgogi bowls. This is a vegan twist on Korean Bulgogi, usually made of thin slices of beef sirloin and cooked on a grill. Growing up my go-to whenever we’d eat at our favourite Korean restaurant, I’d always share some bulgogi with my sister who loves beef. I love it for its sweet marinade. Bulgogi is usually also marinated for longer to get those flavours in but since we’re using plant-based ground for this recipe, I just cook it down in the sauce/marinade where it absorbs all those sweet and savoury flavours with a hint of spice.
Ingredients
SAUCE/MARINADE
- 2-4 tbsp soy sauce adjust to taste (see notes)
- 2 tbsp packed dark brown sugar , 28 g
- 1.5 tsp grated ginger , 4 g
- 1 tsp gochujang Korean chili paste
- 2 tbsp toasted sesame oil , 30 ml
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1/3 cup finely grated Asian pear or pear puree , 85 g
- 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds
- 1 tsp dark soy sauce
BULGOGI
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 14 oz plant based ground meat (see notes)
TO SERVE
- Steamed short grain rice
- Vegan kimchi
- Sliced cucumber
- Sesame oil
- Sliced carrot I sautéed this with some sesame oil and seeds until tender
- Chopped spring onions or scallions
- Gochujang (Korean chili paste), optional
Instructions
Steps
- Mix all the sauce ingredients in a large bowl then place the plant-based ground. Mix well to coat.
- Heat a large pan or wok over medium high heat. Once hot, add in the sesame oil. Add in the plant-based ground/TVP. Stir-fry over medium high heat for 6-8 minutes or until the sauce has been absorbed and the sugars start to caramelise and coat the ground ‘meat’ pieces.
- Taste the pieces and then feel free to season with more soy sauce, sugar, or chili paste, to taste. Sprinkle some toasted sesame seeds and mix well. Remove this from the pan.
- If using carrots for topping, sauté these over medium high heat with a little sesame oil until tender.
- Assemble your bowls with some rice then top with the bulgogi-style ‘beef’, kimchi, carrot, sliced cucumber, spring onion/scallions and a generous drizzle of sesame oil. You can also enjoy these bowls like bibimbap (Korean mixed rice bowl) by adding some gochujang or Korean chili paste.
WATCH Video
Notes
Plant-based meat - you can also use 1 cup or 70g of dried TVP or texturised vegetable protein for this recipe. You can simply rehydrate dried TVP in water for 5-10 minutes until doubled in size. Afterwards, drain this from the water and squeeze out any excess liquid.
Soy sauce - some plant-based ground meat substitutes are already seasoned/salted so you can start with 1-2 tbsp soy sauce first and then just adjust to taste.
NUTRITIONAL INFO
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 272kcal | Carbohydrates: 19g | Protein: 17g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Sodium: 788mg | Potassium: 59mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 4IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 119mg | Iron: 4mg
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