Bulgogi Stew combines a few of my favorite ingredients all in one stew: Bulgogi beef, tofu and mushrooms.

Many people have tried bulgogi as a stand-alone beef dish, but not as an ingredient in a stew. This stew is quite popular during the fall and winter season. Combined with a bowl of rice, bulgogi stew is hearty and filling dish. Guaranteed to fill your belly and the endorphins running!

Typically, we use soy-sauce as the base in a bulgogi marinade, but today we will try something different – fish sauce. I saw this idea from a Korean cooking TV show and tried it a few time. Was amazed by the taste!

In this dish, we will also use a mushroom trio: Shiitake, Enoki and Oyster. It’s a perfect dish (reason) to try mushrooms that you do not normally use. But no need to stick to the script – use any local mushrooms that are in season.

Bulgogi Stew - Bulgogi, Mushroom, Tofu

Bulgogi stew combines savory bulgogi, soft tofu and an eclectic mix of mushrooms. When these flavors mix, you get something amazing 😉

Ingredients

Marinated Beef

Thinly sliced beef - 500 grams
Sugar - 2 Tablespoons
Fish sauce - 4 Tablespoons
Minced garlic - 2 Tablespoons
Sesame oil - 1 Teaspoon
Spring onion - 3 Tablespoons
Onion - 1/2 a whole

Fresh Ingredients

Shiitake mushrooms - 4
Enoki mushrooms - 1 handful
Oyster mushrooms - 1 handful
Tofu - 1 block

Broth Sauce

Water - 3/4 cup
Sugar - 1 Tablespoon
Minced garlic - 1 Tablespoon
Soy sauce - 2 Tablespoon

Instructions

Marinade Beef

Tear larger sirloin cuts into smaller pieces and place into a mixing bowl. Place sugar into the bowl and mix it into the beef with your hands. Set aside for 5 minutes to absorb the sugar.
In the meanwhile, cut spring onion and onion into smaller pieces.
After 5 minutes, put fish sauce and minced garlic into the mixing bowl with the meat. Mix it in with your hand. Then toss in the onion and spring onions. Finally, put in sesame oil and give a final mix. Set aside.

Make Broth + Prep

In a bowl, mix all of the ingredients listed under “broth”.
Then cut or tear all of your mushrooms into smaller pieces.
Cut the block of tofu into smaller pieces as well.

Cook Stew

Use a frying pan with walls (>3 inches). Then place tofu, mushrooms and marinated bulgogi inside.
Put in the broth sauce as well into the frying pan.
Then put the frying pan on a medium-high heat. Let the broth come up to boil.
Use chopsticks to dis-entangle the meat pieces while the broth is boiling. (Important!)
Then let the stew gently boil on a medium heat for a good 5 minutes. Use a soup ladle to mix around the soup as well. Turn off the heat and enjoy with a bowl of rice.

Notes

If you do not have or like fish sauce, you can simply replace it with (equal parts) soy sauce.
When the broth comes to a boil, use your chopstick to de-tangle the clumped beef slices apart. Otherwise, they will lump together and you will end up with large meatballs!
Also, give about 5 minutes to let the broth gently boil and the flavors to come together. Use a souple ladle and mix around the soup as it simmers.
Watch the video below for more details.