Korean Beef Bowl Flavor (Printable)

Ground beef in spicy gochujang sauce served with pickled vegetables over steamed rice.

# What You'll Need:

→ For the Beef

01 - 1 lb lean ground beef
02 - 2 tbsp vegetable oil
03 - 3 cloves garlic, minced
04 - 1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
05 - 3 tbsp gochujang
06 - 2 tbsp soy sauce
07 - 1 tbsp brown sugar
08 - 1 tbsp rice vinegar
09 - 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
10 - 2 green onions, thinly sliced

→ For the Pickled Vegetables

11 - 1/2 cup carrot, julienned
12 - 1/2 cup daikon radish, julienned
13 - 1/2 cup rice vinegar
14 - 1 tbsp sugar
15 - 1/2 tsp salt

→ For Serving

16 - 4 cups cooked white rice
17 - 1 cup cucumber, thinly sliced
18 - 1/2 cup radish, thinly sliced
19 - 1 cup kimchi, chopped
20 - 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds

# Preparation Steps:

01 - In a small bowl, combine the rice vinegar, sugar, and salt. Stir until dissolved. Add the carrot and daikon radish. Mix well and set aside to pickle while you prepare the remaining components.
02 - Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic and ginger, sauté for 1 minute until fragrant. Add ground beef and cook, breaking it up with a spoon, until browned and cooked through, approximately 5 to 6 minutes. Drain excess fat if needed.
03 - Stir in the gochujang, soy sauce, brown sugar, rice vinegar, and sesame oil. Cook for another 2 to 3 minutes, allowing the sauce to thicken and coat the beef evenly. Remove from heat and stir in half the green onions.
04 - Divide the cooked rice among 4 bowls. Top each with a generous portion of the beef mixture. Arrange pickled vegetables, cucumber, radish, and kimchi around the beef. Garnish with remaining green onions and toasted sesame seeds.
05 - Serve immediately while the beef is warm and the rice is fresh.

# Expert Suggestions:

01 -
  • Speed without shortcuts: Real, layered Korean flavors built in just 20 minutes of active cooking.
  • Built-in texture contrast: The pickled vegetables and kimchi are doing the work, keeping every bite interesting and bright.
  • Endlessly forgiving: Tastes great made fresh, reheats beautifully, and plays nice with whatever protein or vegetables you have on hand.
02 -
  • Gochujang needs time to bloom: Don't just dump it in cold—cooking it in the hot oil and beef mixture for those 2 to 3 minutes mellows its raw edge and lets its sweet, spicy complexity come through, making the difference between a bowl that tastes harsh and one that tastes balanced.
  • Rice vinegar is your secret control button: Too much heat? More vinegar. Too flat? Less vinegar. It's the ingredient that lets you taste as you go and dial things in perfectly to your preference.
03 -
  • Always toast your sesame seeds fresh: Thirty seconds in a dry skillet transforms them from faint and dusty to nutty and alive, and no one will know why your bowl tastes better than theirs.
  • Keep your gochujang in the freezer: It stays fresher longer, and you can scoop exactly what you need without worrying about spoilage or separation.
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