Pork Bulgogi Bowls
with Carrots, Pickled Cucumber & Sriracha Crema
- Sesame
- Soy
- Wheat
- Milk
If you can’t seem to get enough of Korean-inspired flavors, bulgogi is sure to leave you satisfied. This dish centers around pork cooked in a sesame and soy sauce marinade with a little bit of peppery sweetness. But the meat is just one out of many highlights: There’s also crisp quick-pickled cucumbers, tender carrots, and spicy crema, all over fluffy rice—each bowl is jam-packed and has a little bit of something for everyone.
Ingredients
4 ounce
Shredded Carrots
4 tablespoon
Sour Cream
4 ounce
Bulgogi Sauce
(Contains: Sesame, Soy, Wheat)
½ cup
Jasmine Rice
5 teaspoon
White Wine Vinegar
1 tablespoon
Sesame Seeds
(Contains: Sesame)
10 ounce
Ground Pork
2 unit
Scallions
1 teaspoon
Sriracha
1 unit
Cucumber
Not included in your delivery
2 teaspoon (tsp)
Cooking Oil
1 teaspoon (tsp)
Sugar
1 tablespoon (tbsp)
Butter
(Contains: Milk)
Nutrition Values
Utensils
Cooking Steps
• Wash and dry produce. • In a small pot, combine rice, ¾ cup water (1½ cups for 4 servings), and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce to a low simmer. Cook until rice is tender, 15-18 minutes. • Keep covered off heat until ready to serve. • Meanwhile, trim and thinly slice scallions, separating whites from greens.
• In a medium bowl, combine half the vinegar (you’ll use the rest later), ½ tsp sugar (1 tsp for 4 servings), and a pinch of salt. • Trim ends from cucumber. Using a peeler, shave cucumber lengthwise into ribbons, rotating as you go, until you get to the seedy core; discard core. Stir ribbons into bowl with vinegar mixture. • Set aside, tossing occasionally, until ready to serve.
• Heat a drizzle of oil in a large, preferably nonstick, pan over medium-high heat. Add carrots and cook, stirring, until just tender, 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper. • Turn off heat; transfer to a plate.
• Heat a drizzle of oil in same pan over medium-high heat. Add scallion whites; cook until fragrant, 1 minute. • Add pork* and a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook, breaking up meat into pieces, until browned and cooked through, 4-6 minutes. • Stir in half the sesame seeds (save the rest for serving) and remaining vinegar. Cook for 30 seconds, then stir in bulgogi sauce. • Bring to a simmer, then immediately turn off heat. Season with salt and pepper.
• While pork cooks, in a small bowl, combine sour cream with Sriracha to taste. Stir in water 1 tsp at a time until mixture reaches a drizzling consistency. Season with salt.
• Fluff rice with a fork; stir in 1 TBSP butter (2 TBSP for 4 servings) and season with salt and pepper. • Divide rice between bowls; top with pork, carrots, and pickled cucumber (draining first). Drizzle with Sriracha crema. Garnish with scallion greens and as many remaining sesame seeds as you like. Serve.
Customer reviews
Review summary
Updated on Dec 2025- Flavor: Many loved the delicious blend of sweet, savory, and tangy flavors, with some finding the bulgogi sauce particularly tasty 🍲.
- Ease of prep: Customers praised how quick and easy this meal was to prepare, making it perfect for busy weeknights.
- Suggestions: Consider dicing the cucumber instead of ribbons for easier eating; some preferred more rice to balance the meat and veggies.
- Portions: Several noted the rice portion seemed small; adding more would better balance the generous toppings.
- Texture: The cool, crisp pickled cucumbers provided a refreshing contrast to the warm, savory pork for many.
Reviews from our home cooks
Simple and delicious. It really surprised me. I am not much of an asian food person but this was delicious. The pork sauce is sweet and perfectly counter-balanced by the pickled cucumber. The carrots provide an excellent crunch and flavor. The rice is the perfect blank canvas for this meal. Lastly, the sriracha crema provides a nice spicy tanginess you never knew your dishes needed.
I love anything "bulgogi" or over a bowl of rice. I've ordered this, or versions of this, before from HF. The only thing I don't love is the carrots, whose flavor is just kind of "meh" prepared the way the recipe says to, especially next to the light, zesty cucumbers and the warm bulgogi-seasoned meat. rather than sautee the carrots and serve them separate, I cooked them in with the pork/bulgogi sauce. I think that the rich sauce brought out the root-y carrot flavor nicely without overpowering it. Also, rather than just draining/discarding the sugary vinegar from the pickled cucumbers, I drizzled it over the rice before loading the other ingredients on top. zero waste and even more flavorful rice... yay!
Other than one other shrimp dish, Bulgogi pork bowls are easily one of the best flavor combos. The Sriracha with the cooling crema - excellent. Husband said it was okay - I think he is wrong! Superb
The pork came out way more flavorful than expected and I loved it paired with rice and carrots. The pickled cucumbers were not my favorite and in the future I might just keep them fresh on top to keep the nice crunch. Overall one of my favorite lunch time meals so far!
Healthy and nutritious meal. I tried both the Meatballs with Bulgogi Sauce and the Pork Bulgogi Bowls from this week and enjoyed both. The Pork Bulgogi Bowl did seem yummier and more satisfying. The sauce was really good.
Yum! Something different! Was impresssed by how easy this was to make. The bulgogi sauce is so yummy and the quick pickled cucumbers are clever.
I definitely wasn't a fan of the picked cucumber spirals or the carrots being in this dish, the pork and the rice along with the bulgogi sauce and sriracha crema were definitely something I would make again for myself.
The Bulgogi Bowls were delicious. What I love about HelloFresh is trying new dishes. I never worry because all the flavors combine and complement perfectly. Yum!
We thought the bulgogi sauce was very delicious! Nice combination of ingredients, as usual for the bowls we have tried.
I love all of the bulgogi recipes! I think I would prefer persian cucumber slices instead of ribbons but the flavor is delicious.
