Best 3 The Seoul Bowl Crispy Korean Pork Belly Bowl With House Made Banchan Pickles Recipes

Foodies, prepare your chopsticks for a delightful culinary adventure. Today, we're taking you on a gastronomic journey to Seoul, South Korea, with a mouthwatering dish that embodies the essence of Korean cuisine: the Seoul Bowl. This delectable dish is a symphony of flavors, textures, and colors, featuring crispy Korean pork belly, a medley of house-made banchan pickles, and a bed of fluffy rice.

Our recipe begins with the star of the show: the Korean pork belly. We'll marinate this succulent cut of meat in a blend of soy sauce, garlic, ginger, and gochujang (Korean chili paste), infusing it with a savory and slightly spicy flavor. After a brief rest, the pork belly is cooked to crispy perfection, resulting in a delightful contrast between the tender interior and the shatteringly crisp exterior.

Accompanying the pork belly is a chorus of banchan pickles, each offering its own unique flavor and texture. We'll prepare a refreshing cucumber kimchi, a tangy radish kimchi, and a sweet and savory stir-fried kimchi. These pickles not only add a pop of color to the dish but also provide a delightful balance of flavors, cleansing the palate between bites of the rich pork belly.

Finally, we'll assemble the Seoul Bowl, layering the fluffy rice with the crispy pork belly and the assortment of banchan pickles. The result is a visually stunning and incredibly flavorful dish that embodies the vibrant energy of Seoul's street food scene.

So, gather your ingredients, put on your aprons, and let's embark on a culinary journey to Seoul with this irresistible Seoul Bowl. Get ready to tantalize your taste buds and experience the harmonious blend of flavors and textures that make Korean cuisine so beloved worldwide.

Check out the recipes below so you can choose the best recipe for yourself!

SPICY PORK BELLY SLIDERS

Spicy Pork Belly Sliders image

Gochujang gives pork belly a nice kick and a deep, complex flavor in this sweet-and-spicy sandwich inspired by Korean jeyuk bokkeum.

Provided by Hooni Kim

Categories Sandwich Pork Soy Sauce Chile Pepper Sesame Oil Sake Lunch Dinner

Yield Makes 12 sliders (serves 4-or 2 hungry people)

Number Of Ingredients 15

Ingredients

Marinade:
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 cup gochujang (Korean red chili paste)
¼ cup soy sauce
¼ cup minced garlic
¼ cup sugar
3 tablespoons sake
2 tablespoons mirin
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
2 pounds skinless pork belly, sliced ¼ inch thick (ask the butcher to slice it) and cut into 2-inch squares
To serve:
Unsalted butter
12 slider buns
Mayonnaise
2 English cucumbers, peeled, halved lengthwise, seeded, and sliced into matchsticks

Steps:

To make the marinade, put the onion, gochujang, soy sauce, garlic, sugar, sake, mirin, and sesame oil in a bowl and mix well to combine. Add the pork and turn to coat the meat. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
The next day, set a large sauté pan over medium heat. Once it's hot, add the pork, working in batches so as not to overcrowd the pan and leaving any liquid in the bowl. Cook, stirring occasionally and flipping the meat, until lightly caramelized and golden brown on both sides, about 10 minutes. (If you overcrowd the pan, the meat will steam instead of sear.) Transfer to a platter.
When the meat is cooked, open the buns, butter the interiors, and toast them until they are a light golden brown.
To serve, spread both cut sides of each bun with a healthy smear of mayo and pile the spicy pork generously on the bottoms of the buns. Top with the sliced cucumbers. Serve immediately.
Cooks' Note:
The pork belly must be marinated overnight. You can also grill the pork on an outdoor grill over a high flame. The sugars in the marinade will char and caramelize, giving you a more interesting texture and flavor, but be careful not to burn the pork.

SPICY KOREAN PORK BELLY (JEYUK BOKKEUM)

Spicy Korean Pork Belly (Jeyuk Bokkeum) image

Delicious Korean BBQ doesn't require a grill or tons of fuss! Hooni Kim will teach you how to get the right mix of spicy and sweet for this authentic pork stir-fry before caramelizing the meat to perfection, right on the stovetop.

Provided by Hooni Kim

Categories main-dish

Time 8h30m

Yield 6 servings

Number Of Ingredients 12

Ingredients

2 pounds pork belly
5 cloves garlic
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
4 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons sake, or any good white wine
2 tablespoons mirin
1 cup gochujang, Korean fermented red chile paste, available at Asian specialty stores or online
1 large onion
3 scallions
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
Steamed white rice, for serving

Steps:

Marinade: The day before cooking, slice pork belly into bite-size pieces: 2-inch squares, ¼-inch thin. (Note: Cut the pieces thinner than shown in the video.) Set aside. Smash and peel the garlic, then finely chop. Use the flat part of your knife to press down on the garlic to further break it down, then continue to mince. Place in a mixing bowl along with the pork, sugar, sesame oil, soy sauce, sake, mirin, and gochujang. Mix the ingredients together and set aside.
Peel and trim the onion, then slice in half. Cut each half into thin half-moon slices. Place the sliced onions on top of the pork mixture, but do not mix. Cover the bowl with plastic and marinate overnight in the refrigerator.
Garnish: Prior to cooking, trim and discard scallion roots. Fill a bowl with water. Line up scallions in a flat, even layer and use a sharp knife to cut them thinly, employing a slicing motion, not a chopping motion. (Slicing with minimal pressure will keep the scallions bright and vibrant.) Place sliced scallions in water and move around to remove impurities. Drain in a colander, then wrap in a clean towel and squeeze out remaining liquid. Spread scallions on a paper towel-lined plate to further dry while cooking the pork.
Pork: Remove marinated pork from refrigerator and mix in the onions. Heat a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, 1 minute. Add ½ tablespoon oil and continue heating, 30 seconds. Add some of the pork and onion mixture in an even layer, making sure not to overcrowd the pan. Lower heat to medium and let the pork cook undisturbed until caramelized on one side, shaking the pan occasionally, 4-5 minutes. Flip meat over and cook the other side, 3-4 more minutes. Remove to a plate and repeat with remaining pork in batches. Garnish with scallions and serve with white rice.

PRESSURE COOKER KOREAN SOY-GLAZED PORK BELLY

Pressure Cooker Korean Soy-Glazed Pork Belly image

This hearty braise requires minimal ingredients and makes use of a pressure cooker to reduce hours of work into just 45 minutes of hands-off cooking. The pork belly soaks up the Korean-inspired marinade of soy sauce, garlic, ginger and scallions, and a good dose of black pepper balances the sweet-salty flavors. To finish, the cooking liquid is reduced into a silky sauce that glazes the meat. Serve the tender pork in crisp fresh lettuce cups to balance the richness of the meat. Leftovers can be chopped and reheated in tomato sauce for a quick and tasty Bolognese sauce.

Provided by Kay Chun

Categories dinner, grains and rice, meat, main course

Time 4h

Yield 4 servings

Number Of Ingredients 9

Ingredients

3/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
2 scallions, finely chopped (about 1/4 cup)
1/4 cup turbinado sugar (or 3 tablespoons granulated sugar)
2 tablespoons minced fresh garlic
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
3 dried shiitake mushrooms
Kosher salt and black pepper
3 1/2 pounds skin-on pork belly, sliced lengthwise 1-inch-thick then cut into 4-inch pieces
Steamed rice, lettuce cups, kimchi and gochujang, for serving

Steps:

In a pressure cooker, combine soy sauce, scallions, sugar, garlic, ginger, mushrooms and 1 teaspoon black pepper, and mix well. Lightly season pork belly with salt and pepper, and add to cooker. Toss pork in the sauce, massaging the sauce into the meat. Arrange pork in an even layer on top of the sauce. Lock pressure cooker lid in place and set steam vent to sealing position. Select high pressure and cook for 30 minutes. Let pressure release naturally.
Transfer pork and mushrooms to a large plate. Carefully pour liquid into a fat separator or large bowl and degrease. Return liquid to the pressure cooker. Using the sauté function, simmer until reduced to about 1/2 cup, 10 to 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, thinly slice the mushrooms. Once the liquid is reduced, add the pork and mushrooms to the cooker and simmer, stirring, until warmed through and evenly coated in the sauce, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a serving platter and spoon the sauce on top.
Serve with steamed rice, lettuce cups, kimchi and gochujang. Cut pork into bite-size pieces, wrap and enjoy.

Tips:

To make sure the pork belly is crispy, pat it dry with paper towels before cooking. You can also score the skin to help it crisp up.
Don't overcrowd the pan when cooking the pork belly. This will prevent it from getting crispy.
Use a meat thermometer to make sure the pork belly is cooked all the way through. It should reach an internal temperature of 145 degrees Fahrenheit.
Be careful when slicing the pork belly. The skin can be very sharp.
Serve the pork belly bowl with your favorite banchan pickles. Some popular options include kimchi, cucumber kimchi, and radish kimchi.

Conclusion:

The Seoul Bowl is a delicious and easy-to-make Korean pork belly bowl. The crispy pork belly is the star of the show, but the house-made banchan pickles add a lot of flavor and complexity. This dish is perfect for a weeknight dinner or a casual party. So next time you're looking for a new Korean recipe to try, give the Seoul Bowl a try.