Korean Beef Bowls

We love a bowl in our house. Burger bowls. Fajita bowls. And now, Korean beef bowls.

There is something about putting everything on the table and letting everyone build their own meal that just works. You can pile on what you love, leave out what you don't, add more spice, more tang, more sauce. Everyone ends up with a slightly different version of the same meal.

Yes, there's a little more prep involved. And yes, there are definitely more bowls to wash afterwards.

But the deliciousness is so worth it.

This time, I tried the Korean Beef Rice Bowls from Simple Home Edit. The beef is sweet, savory and slightly spicy, served over jasmine rice with fresh cucumber and carrots, kimchi and a gochujang mayo that brings everything together.

The best part? Once all the chopping and prepping is done, the beef itself takes minutes to cook.

Ingredients

For the stir-fry sauce

• 1 teaspoon freshly grated garlic

• 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger

• 3 tablespoons soy sauce

• 2 tablespoons brown sugar

• 1 tablespoon sesame oil

• 1 tablespoon gochujang, or less if you prefer it milder

• 1 teaspoon rice vinegar

• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds

For the beef

• 2 tablespoons olive oil or neutral oil

• 500g minced beef

• 2 spring onions, finely sliced, reserving a little for garnish

For the gochujang mayo

• 3 tablespoons mayonnaise

• 1 teaspoon gochujang

• 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

• 1/2 teaspoon rice vinegar

To build your bowls

• cooked jasmine rice

• kimchi

• 1 carrot, julienned

• 1 cucumber, sliced

• Sesame seeds

• Spring onions

Method

1. Mix the garlic, ginger, soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil, gochujang, rice vinegar and sesame seeds together to make the stir-fry sauce.

2. Heat the oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add the minced beef and cook until browned, breaking it apart as it cooks.

3. Pour the sauce over the beef and mix well. Allow it to simmer for 2 to 3 minutes until the sauce thickens slightly. Turn off the heat and stir through the spring onions.

4. Make the gochujang mayo by mixing the mayonnaise, gochujang, sesame oil and rice vinegar until smooth.

5. Now for the fun part. Put everything out and build your own bowl. Start with jasmine rice, add the Korean beef and then pile on the cucumber, carrots and kimchi. Finish with the gochujang mayo, sesame seeds and spring onions.

More kimchi? Go for it.

Extra gochujang mayo? Absolutely.

Want it spicier? Add more gochujang.

That's exactly why we love bowls.

A little more prep. A little more cleanup. But a table full of ingredients everyone can make their own?

It works.

Recipe adapted from Simple Home Edit.