Korean Bulgogi Bolognese
Updated August 21, 2018
Linda Xiao for The New York Times
- Total Time
- 45 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
2 tablespoons safflower or canola oil
1 cup finely chopped onion
1 cup finely chopped carrot
1 cup finely chopped celery
7 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons peeled, minced ginger
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 pound ground beef
4 ounces white button mushrooms, finely chopped (about 2 cups)
¾ cup finely chopped scallions
¾ cup low-sodium soy sauce
¼ cup turbinado sugar
Kosher salt and black pepper
12 ounces dried egg pasta (tagliatelle or pappardelle)
Freshly grated Parmesan, for serving
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
90 grams carbs; 153 milligrams cholesterol; 825 calories; 16 grams monosaturated fat; 4 grams polyunsaturated fat; 10 grams saturated fat; 34 grams fat; 1 gram trans fat; 7 grams fiber; 1941 milligrams sodium; 40 grams protein; 20 grams sugar
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring, until softened, 3 minutes. Add carrot and celery and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in garlic, ginger and tomato paste and cook until caramelized, 2 to 3 minutes, lowering the heat as necessary to avoid burning. Return heat to medium.
- Step 2
Add beef, mushrooms and ½ cup of the scallions and cook, stirring to break up the beef, until beef is browned, 3 to 4 minutes. Add soy sauce, sugar and ¼ cup of water and bring to a simmer. Cover and simmer gently over low heat, stirring occasionally, until sauce has thickened, 30 minutes. Stir in remaining ¼ cup scallions and season with pepper.
- Step 3
As sauce cooks, make the pasta: Bring a large pot of well-salted water to boil. Cook pasta according to package directions until al dente. Drain.
- Step 4
Divide pasta in bowls and top with Bolognese. Serve with Parmesan.
Private Notes
Comments
I've investigated the matter of substituting gochujang for tomato paste. I have concluded that you can and you should.
Loved this with some adjustments to make it more Korean. I used 1/2 gochugang and 1/2 tomato paste and only about 2tbs of soy sauce, added a splash of mirin (and reduced sugar since mirin is sweet). I also used some of the pasta water to help make it more saucy. Finally, I garnished with some toasted sesame seeds.
We've made this about 5 times now, making little adjustments each time. Goldilocks for us was add a TBLof gochujang (replacing the tomato paste entirely with this was way to hot), reducing the sugar to 1 TBL (way too sweet with a 1/4 cup), cut the soy sauce to 1/2 cup, add about another cup of mushrooms, and a bit more of the celery and carrots just because we wanted a little more veggies in it. We also use ground turkey instead of beef. A real winner. This has become one of our regular meals!
Can you use regular pasta don’t have noodles
No Parmesan. Swap pasta for lettuce cups.
This is a really fine Italian Korean fusion dish. I used a whole pound of pasta and 8 oz (one pack) of mushrooms, went a tad less on sugar but otherwise made as written. Enjoyed by fam including a 5-yo. Looking at comments, I get people want to use gochujang but bulgogi doesn’t have gochujang so I didn’t and I’m glad I didn’t. Instead for heat I sprinkled crushed pepper flakes. I can see kimchi being a good side dish for this too.