Korean beef bulgogi rice bowls
Thin-sliced beef in a gochujang and soy marinade, seared hard and fast, over rice with carrot and greens. One of the more direct routes to a genuinely good midweek dinner.
Notable for: iron, antioxidants, vitamin A
Ingredients
- 730 gbeef rump steak, thinly sliced
- 320 glong grain white rice
- 200 gcarrots, matchsticks
- 120 gbaby spinach
- 40 ggochujang (korean chilli paste)
- 45 mlsoy sauce
- 30 ghoney
- 20 gcrushed garlic
- 15 gcrushed ginger
- 10 mlsesame oil
- 2spring onions, sliced, to finish
Method
Put the rice on to cook.
Whisk the gochujang, soy sauce, honey, garlic and ginger into a marinade, toss the beef through it, and leave it for 10 minutes if you have the time, or straight to the pan if you don't.
Cook the carrot in a hot pan with a little sesame oil for 2 minutes until just tender, then set it aside.
Wilt the spinach in the same pan for 1 minute, then set it aside.
Sear the beef in the last of the sesame oil over high heat, in batches so it browns rather than stews, about 3 minutes total per batch.
Build the bowls with rice, beef, carrot and spinach, and scatter the spring onion over the top.
Sear the beef in batches
Thin-sliced beef needs a pan hot enough to brown it fast. Crowding it drops the temperature and the beef steams instead of searing, so do it in two or three batches rather than all at once.
Storage
Keeps three days in the fridge.
Reheat gently, as thin-sliced beef toughens quickly if overcooked the second time.
Cost per serving is indicative, based on New Zealand supermarket prices as at September 2026. Batch prices your own week against your own store on the day. Nutrition figures, including calories, are estimates rather than label readings, so always check the packet if you have an allergy. "Notable for" reflects well-established qualities of the ingredients used, not a lab measurement of this exact dish.