If you’re looking for a quick and easy week night recipe that is still exciting and full of flavor, you will love how tasty this Korean pork bowl is. I took some of my favorite ingredients from countless other Asian beef or pork recipes I have followed in the past and put them all into this pork dish to really amp up the flavor.
It really goes without saying that soy sauce will be included in this recipe, and my two other favorites I added are hoisin and fish sauce. The first time I made this pork, I used a large drizzle of each, then added a bit more to taste, but ultimately it came out to about 1 tablespoon of each.
I love adding ginger to pork or beef to add some dimension to the flavor, and I decided to sauté the ginger with shallots before adding the beef to give it just a little extra kick, then garnished it with thinly sliced scallions. I also love to add some thinly sliced Lemon Drop peppers, which I grew in my vegetable garden from seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company (#notsponsored but I wish, Baker Creek, holla at ya girl). But these are pretty spicy, like a level or two above jalapeños, so keep that in mind.
For the rice I used Jasmine rice and, as usual, I let the Instant Pot do all of the work. I added some ribbons of carrot and zucchini, and I like to do these a couple different ways: either as a quick pickle, where they marinate in white wine vinegar and sugar while the rest of the dish cooks, or lightly sautéed in soy sauce until just slightly soft. I think they are delicious both ways, so do whichever tickles your fancy.
Bok choy would be an excellent substitute for the zucchini and carrots, or you could add both if you’d like a larger serving of vegetables. Either way, you’re really going to enjoy how flavorful AND how easy this dish is. Comment down below if you make this!

Korean Beef Bowl with Zucchini and Carrot Ribbons
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef or pork
- 2 large carrots
- 1 large zucchini
- 1 thumb ginger
- 1 shallot
- 3 green onions
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp hoisin sauce
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 cup jasmine rice
Instructions
-
Add 1 cup of jasmine rice and 2 cups of water to a medium pot over high heat or to an instant pot. On the stovetop, bring the water to a boil then reduce to a simmer and let sit covered for 15 minutes. In the instant pot, cook on the rice setting then do a quick release.
-
While the rice is cooking, halve, peel and finely chop the shallot. Peel and mince the ginger. Add the shallot and ginger to a pan with a large drizzle of olive oil over medium heat. Saute for 3-4 minutes or until aromatic.
-
Add the beef to the shallot and ginger and cook until browned, about 10 minutes.
-
Add the soy, hoisin, and fish sauce to the beef and cook for 1-2 more minutes until thickened then remove from heat.
-
Peel the carrots then cut the carrot and zucchini into thin ribbon strips using a vegetable peeler. The vegetable ribbons can then be sautéed over medium heat for 2-3 minutes in soy sauce, or quick pickled in white wine vinegar for 20 minutes or while the beef is cooking.
-
Thinly slice the green onions. Add a serving of rice to each bowl, then top with the beef and a side of carrots and zucchini. Top with sesame seeds and green onion.
Leave a Reply