These Korean beef bowls are as easy as they are irresistible, with sweet and salty beef, lightly braised carrots, and sticky short-grain rice. Great for a weeknight or anytime you need a quick meal-in-a-bowl dinner.
You know how sometimes you have an appetizer butd you actually want it to be your whole meal? My favorite way to accomplish this is to turn said app into a bowl or salad. In this case, the genesis of of the recipe was in these amazing Korean Egg Rolls. They are completely excellent and you should absolutely make them. But, if you're not in the market for rolling and frying egg rolls, these bowls are like having them, but super easy and as your whole dinner.
How to make Korean Beef Bowls
This bowl meal has three components: a rice base with ground beef and carrots. I also sometimes add sauteed napa cabbage to the bowl for more veg. So, to begin, you'll want to start off your rice. I like using short-grained (sushi-type) rice here that is just a bit sticky and works really well with the ground beef. But, you can use any kind of rice you prefer, including brown, in which case, give yourself double the time for it to cook.
Next, you'll brown and season the beef. The seasonings are simple but magical: garlic, ginger, soy sauce, brown sugar, and hot sauce. If you've got it, gochujang (Korean hot pepper paste) is the way to go for the hot sauce, but sriracha also works well. You can find kosher certified gochujang on Amazon (here and here; I've tried both and they're both good) and possibly at your local Korean or Asian grocery.
After the beef is browned and seasoned, the carrots go into the same pan as the beef for a quick saute and light seasoning. To make these bowls even easier, you can use bagged shredded carrots, which are the perfect size for this recipe. You can also cut regular carrots into matchsticks or use a julienne peeler to make them into strips.
By the time you finish with the carrots, your rice should be done and you're ready to assemble and eat.
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Korean Beef Bowls (meat)
Ingredients
- 1 cup short-grain rice
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 Tbsp neutrally-flavored oil
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 1 tsp minced ginger
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 1 tsp gochujaru or sriracha - or to taste
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 4 carrots - or 1 small bag shredded carrots
Instructions
Make the rice:
- Place the rice
Prepare the beef:
- In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the meat and cooking, breaking it up, until well browned and nicely crusted.
- Add the garlic and ginger and cook for another minute.
- Stir in the brown sugar, soy sauce, and sriracha. Simmer until the meat has absorbed most of the liquid. Remove meat from pan, add the sesame oil, and set aside.
Prepare the carrots:
- If using whole carrots, peel and slice into matchsticks or with a julienne peeler.
- Using the same skillet in which you browned the meat, without wiping it out, add a drop more oil and saute the carrots until just softened, 3-4 minutes.
Assemble the bowls:
- Serve by placing ½ cup rice in the bottom of a bowl and topping it with ¼ of the beef and carrots.
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