Hearty Kongnamulbap (Rice with Soybean Sprouts) with Beef
A seasoned rice dish cooked with soybean sprouts, topped with savory stir-fried meat and served with a seasoned sauce.
Translated from Korean by AI and not yet checked by a native speaker. Amounts and numbers are taken directly from the original recipe. Read the Korean original →
Because soybean sprouts release moisture as they cook, the key is using equal parts raw rice and water. Topping the cooked rice with well-browned meat adds texture and flavor, and mixing the rice right after cooking keeps it light and fluffy.
- Servings
- 2–3 servings
- Cook time
- 40 minprep not included
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Spiciness
- Mildly spicy
Ingredients
Ingredients
- White rice2 cups
- Water2 cups
- Soybean sprouts300 g
- Ground beef150 g
- Red chili pepper1
- Large green onion (daepa)a little
- Perilla oil (or toasted sesame oil)a little
Beef Marinade
- Regular soy sauce (jin-ganjang)2/3 tbsp
- Mirin (cooking rice wine)1 tbsp
- Ground black peppera little
Seasoning
- Regular soy sauce (jin-ganjang) (or brewed soy sauce (yangjo-ganjang))3 tbsp
- Soup soy sauce (guk-ganjang)1 tbsp
- Gochugaru (Korean chili flakes)1 tbsp
- Minced garlic1/2 tbsp
- Sugar1/2 tbsp
- Minced red chili pepper
- Minced large green onion (daepa)
- Toasted sesame seeds2 tbsp
- Rinse 2 cups of white rice, pour in 2 cups of water, and let it soak for 30 minutes.
- When making vegetable rice, you must use less water than usual to account for the moisture released by the greens. Today, I used a 1:1 ratio based on raw rice.
- For the meat, minced beef or ground pork both work well.
- If you finely chop wild chives (dallae) instead of large green onion for the sauce, it turns into a fragrant and delicious dallae sauce.
Steps
Rinse 2 cups of white rice, pour in 2 cups of water, and let it soak for 30 minutes.
When making vegetable rice, you must use less water than usual to account for the moisture released by the greens.
Today, I used a 1:1 ratio based on raw rice.
Rinse the soybean sprouts and drain well; for the meat, ground beef or ground pork both work nicely.
You only need to prepare a small amount of large green onion for the sauce.
Marinate the meat with regular soy sauce, mirin, and ground black pepper (if using pork, adding a little ginger juice helps remove any gamey smell).
Stir-fry until well browned and almost dry, with hardly any juices left.
Finely mince the red chili pepper and large green onion,
then mix them with all the seasoning ingredients.
Place all the soybean sprouts on top of the rice that has soaked for 30 minutes and press the cook button.
After 40 minutes, you will get light, fluffy kongnamulbap like this.
All those bulky sprouts shrink down to just this much.
Toss the rice as soon as it finishes cooking so it does not clump together.
Topping the kongnamulbap with the stir-fried meat
adds a pleasant chew and plenty of nutrition.
Spoon two spoonfuls of the chunky sauce,
add a touch of perilla oil or toasted sesame oil,
and mix it all together...
Ppunwife's tips
- If using pork, adding a little ginger juice helps remove any gamey odor.
- Toss the rice as soon as cooking finishes so it does not clump together.
- This sauce I made is also great to use for other seasoned vegetable rice dishes or janchi guksu (warm banquet noodles).
FAQ
How do I adjust the amount of water when making kongnamulbap?
Because moisture seeps out from the sprouts themselves, you should use less water than usual; setting a 1 to 1 ratio of raw rice to water works best.
Can I use pork instead of beef?
Ground pork works great as a substitute, and adding a splash of ginger juice when marinating helps remove any pork odors.
Can I substitute other ingredients for the green onion in the sauce?
You can replace the large green onion with plenty of finely chopped wild chives (dallae) to make a fragrant dallae seasoning sauce.
