Kongnamul-bulgogi (Pork and Bean Sprout Stir-Fry)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •12-inch wide skillet, shallow jeongol pan, or wok with lid
• •Large mixing bowl
• •Tongs or long cooking chopsticks
• •Colander

Instructions

1. 1

   Drain the sprouts

   Rinse the soybean sprouts in cold water, pick out loose skins and any dark heads, then drain them in a colander for 10 minutes. Do not skip the draining. Rinse water thins the sauce before the sprouts have a chance to give their own clean liquid.

2. 2

   Mix the sauce

   Stir together the gochujang, gochugaru, soy sauce, rice wine, sugar, garlic, ginger, 1 teaspoon sesame oil, and black pepper until smooth. Taste a dab. It should be salty, spicy, and a little sweet, stronger than you want the finished dish, because 500 grams of sprouts will water it down in the pan.

   Use only 1 tablespoon sugar here. Kongbul should taste like pork and bean sprouts in a red sauce, not like candy with chili on it.
3. 3

   Coat the pork

   Add the sliced pork to the sauce and mix with your hands until every piece is coated. Let it sit 10 minutes while you cut the vegetables. Thin pork takes seasoning quickly; a long soak only makes it salty.

4. 4

   Layer the pan

   Set a wide 12-inch skillet, shallow jeongol pan, or wok over medium-high heat. If you are using a stainless pan or very lean pork shoulder, rub in 1 teaspoon neutral oil. Pile the soybean sprouts on the bottom, then the cabbage, onion, and carrot. Lay the marinated pork loosely over the top, scraping on every bit of sauce. Add no broth. The sprouts are the liquid.

5. 5

   Cover and wait

   Cover the pan and cook 4 minutes without stirring. The sprouts will slump and liquid will appear around the edge. This is the part impatient cooks ruin. Lift and stir too early, and the sprouts keep that raw bean smell while the pork starts to stick.

6. 6

   Toss and cook

   Uncover and toss everything with tongs, separating the pork slices so they cook evenly. Cook 5 to 7 minutes, tossing often, until the pork is fully cooked with no pink left and the sauce boils actively. For safety, the pork should reach at least 63 C or 145 F; with slices this thin, it usually passes that point quickly.

7. 7

   Reduce and finish

   Raise the heat to high and cook 2 to 3 minutes more, tossing until the sauce turns glossy and clings instead of pooling. Add the scallions, chili, and perilla leaves for the last minute so they stay bright. Turn off the heat and finish with the remaining 1 teaspoon sesame oil and the sesame seeds.

   If the pan looks watery, keep reducing. If it threatens to scorch before the pork is done, lower the heat and cover for one more minute. Do not fix it with broth.
8. 8

   Serve with rice

   Serve at once over hot short-grain rice, while the sprouts still have crunch. For bokkeumbap, leave about 1/2 cup sauce and a few scraps in the pan after the first serving, add 2 cups cooked rice and the crumbled gim, and press it into the pan for 3 to 4 minutes until the bottom catches lightly.

Chef Tips

• •Buy true soybean sprouts, kongnamul, with yellow heads and thicker pale stems. Mung bean sprouts are not the same. They soften too fast and do not give the nutty bite this dish needs.
• •Ask for pork sliced for bulgogi, about 2mm thick. Pork belly gives more richness and needs no oil; pork shoulder is cheaper and meatier, but it must be sliced thin or it tightens before the sauce reduces.
• •The safe shortcuts are washed bagged sprouts and pre-sliced pork. The unsafe shortcut is a bottled sweet red marinade, because it usually brings too much sugar and not enough clean chili heat.
• •Keep the pan wide. A narrow pot traps too much liquid and turns the dish into pork and sprouts in red soup. A wide pan lets the sprout liquid cook down until it coats.
• •Leftovers keep 2 days in the refrigerator, but the sprouts lose their snap. Reheat in a skillet over medium-high heat, not a microwave, so the sauce tightens again.

Advance Preparation

• •The sauce can be mixed up to 3 days ahead and kept refrigerated. Stir it before using, because gochugaru thickens as it sits.
• •The pork can be coated in the sauce up to 8 hours ahead and refrigerated. Bring it out 15 minutes before cooking so the slices separate easily in the pan.
• •Wash the soybean sprouts the same day you cook. Do not salt them or mix them with the sauce ahead, or they will leak water before the pan is ready.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 400g)