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This dwaeji bulgogi is SO SO good and takes less than 15 minutes to make! It’s so easy- I consider this a super lazy dinner but it tastes amazing and my husband LOVES when I make it.
You NEED to try this! Dwaeji bulgogi is spicy grilled pork. “Bul” means fire and “gogi” means meat. It’s the Korean equivalent of Mexican asada- meaning grilled meat. Beef bulgogi is a more well known Korean dish and is probably the first thing people try when venturing into Korean cuisine, but I personally prefer dwaeji bulgogi! It has much more flavor, plus I always prefer pork anyway, and best of all- it’s SPICY!
If you have a low spice tolerance, don’t worry- you can make it less spicy simply by using a mild gochujang instead of the extra spicy one like I do. If your spice tolerance is even lower than that, just reduce the amount of gochugaru (Korean red pepper flakes).
Ingredients
- Thinly sliced pork shoulder – I can usually find this at Hmart already sliced. It says right on the package that it’s for bulgogi. If you don’t have that option, you can just slice some pork shoulder thinly yourself. Slightly freeze your pork shoulder so that it is easier to slice. You can also use pork belly!
- Marinade- Since the pork is thinly sliced, you do not need to marinate this over night or anything like that- you can grill or pan fry right away. The marinade is a simple mix of gochugaru, gochujang, soy sauce, mirin, sesame oil, brown sugar, garlic, ginger, and black pepper. I use extra spicy gochujang for mine, but you can use the mild one if your spice tolerance is low. The brands that I use are pictured above. For the gochugaru, just make sure you get the coarse flakes, not fine.
- Garnish- these are not super important, but I do think they serve a greater purpose than just aesthetic. Add some sesame seeds and chopped green onion for added flavor.
How to cook dwaeji bulgogi
Dwaeji bulgogi is traditionally grilled over direct fire and eaten at the table while grilling. If you have a table top grill, I definitely recommend this method. Just grill each side until it develops a nice char, no more than 10 minutes total.
If you don’t have a grill, pan frying is perfectly fine and yields great results. Just add a little oil to a large frying pan and cook the pork until slightly charred.
No matter which method you choose, it should not take a long time to cook. The pork is thin, and it has a good amount of marbling so you don’t have to worry about it being tough.
How to eat dwaeji bulgogi
- Ssam– my favorite way to enjoy dwaeji bulgogi is with lettuce wraps. The fresh greens help to cut the fatty meat, and its a healthier option than eating with rice. I like mine with ref leaf lettuce, perilla leaves (깻잎), jalapenos, and ssamjang.
- With rice– go with this option for a heartier meal. Sometimes I even eat it with both rice and lettuce wraps.
15 Minute Dwaeji Bulgogi 돼지불고기 (Spicy Pork)
Ingredients
- 1 lb thinly sliced pork shoulder, or pork belly
- 1/2 small onion, sliced
- 1 tbsp oil
Marinade
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 2 tbsp gochugaru
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp mirin
- 3 tbsp extra spicy gochujang, or mild gochujang
- 2-3 tbsp brown sugar, adjust sweetness to your liking
- 4 crushed garlic cloves
- 1 tsp crushed ginger, optional
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
Garnish
- 1 tsp sesame seeds
- 1 chopped green onion
For lettuce wraps (ssam)
- red leaf lettuce
- perilla leaves
- jalapenos
- ssamjang
Instructions
- If you're going to eat the dwaeji bulgogi as lettuce wraps (highly recommend), wash and prepare all your veggies first. My ssamjang recipe is really good with this!
- Mix together all of the marinade ingredients
- Add the thinly sliced pork shoulder and sliced onions and mix thoroughly with the marinade. Since the pork shoulder is thin, you do not need to wait. You can start grilling or pan frying it right away.
- On medium high heat, add oil to a large non stick pan. Add the pork and spread evenly. Keep the heat on medium high and turn the pork over after 2-3 minutes.
- Continue cooking the other side, making sure it develops a nice glaze and slight char but do not burn it. Adjust the heat if needed.
- Continuously stir/toss the pork around so that it doesn't burn, cooking until it is shiny and slightly charred all over. Total cooking time should be less than 10 minutes.
- Garnish with sesame seeds and chopped green onions.
- Enjoy with a bowl of rice, or make lettuce wraps. I like mine with red leaf lettuce, perilla leaves, jalapenos slices, and a little ssamjang.
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
The flavor was amazing and the recipe was easy to follow!
This is a really tasty, solid recipe that I will definitely be making again. It freezes well and is easy to batch up with a frypan clean in between to get rid of any super burnt bits. When I made this I also stir fried some vegetables separately (carrot, zucchini, shitake), tossed in some extra sauce, mixed with the pork once cooked and then ate with rice. I’d recommend this if you don’t have any lettuce on hand to make wraps.
Just tried this recipe. I did marinade for 24hr because there wasn’t time to cook like I originally planned. It was very delicious! Very similar to the one in a Korean restaurant near my old house. I served it with purple rice and made ssam with it too. It’s a keeper recipe!
Hi! It looks like your Ssamjang recipe link is broken
Thank you for letting me know! I fixed it 🙂
Looks like your Ssamjang recipe link is broken again.
My family and I love this recipe. We always buy pork in bulk so it’s a great recipe to add to our rotation.
This recipe is so good! Family loves Korean food and this recipe doesn’t disappoint!
Whenever I’m short on time but need to satiate a Korean food craving, this always hits the spot ☺️ Her directions are very simple to follow and the dish turned out perfectly the first time!
This recipe is so delicious and so easy! I’ve made it for many of my friends and they all ask for the recipe after trying it. I like to use it as one of my regular meal preps as well.
I’ve made this so many times. It’s my go to when I want to make something quick and is on my rotation. I love your recipes! Thank you for sharing
I first tried this a little over a year ago and it’s still one of my favorites. This so quick and simple. It always gets rave reviews when I make it. Thanks for making me a superstar with my friends and family.
Delicious!!! Simple yet so much flavor!! Love pairing this with bok choi and kimchi!
Quick, easy and so so yummy! I have made this recipe several times and my family loves it! This recipe was what got me started on following you. Thank you for sharing your recipes!
My go to when pork shoulder is on sale! It is so quick and easy, the roommates love it. Thank you!!!
Love this yummy recipe. It’s super easy to put together and don’t have to wait for the meat to marinade.
I love this recipe, I make it every time I shop for pork now!
This dish is packed with flavor and spicy kick! I love enjoying it with lettuce and a side of rice.
This is an amazing dish if you’re trying to ease your friends and family that haven’t tried Korean cuisine before. So tasty and comforting! I’ve been following Stella for awhile and you really can’t go wrong with her Korean dishes. I’ve been meaning to try dishes that are on her website that aren’t Korean too, just haven’t gotten around to it yet. Have fun with it and have awesome yummy meals with friends and family.
This is THE BEST bulgogi recipe, hands down! I usually buy pre-made bulgogi sauce from the store, but decided to try to make it from scratch, and this recipe did not disappoint! (I had tried one other recipe before from a different food blog that I found on Pinterest, and it was underwhelming). I love the step-by-step photos, and the recipe was so easy to follow. The only change that I made was using pork belly instead of pork shoulder. Thank you, Stella! So delicious!! I will tag you in the photos of my bulgogi plate on my Instagram
Clarissa
A tried and true. So glad Stella provided us with this gem.
I made this for my husband before his bar exam! He loves this recipe because it’s not too sweet. Thanks Stella!
Love the flavors in this version of Bulgogi! I would definitely make again…so easy but super tasty.
Literally 10/10. SO GOOD even with chicken or pork. Also so easy to make and makes a week night dinner so quick
The best! We have this dish on a weekly rotation because not only is it so tasty, it’s also so easy to make! Thanks, Stella!!
I made this yesterday and it was FANTASTIC. Thank you for the recipe. You do like your food spicy. I served it with 6 different banchan and rice. Just great.
Whoops, sorry, in my last new comment I meant to say I made this with chicken tenders and they were so good! I’m gonna try this with chicken breast next!! Again, thank you for the recipe, it is a lifesaver when I am really craving KBBQ!
I made this again tonight but with chicken breast and I just wanted to say it tasted just as good! I was really craving KBBQ so seriously, your recipe is a lifesaver! lol
I’ve just done it and it was so delicious! Your blog is always go-to when I want to cook sth incredible. I’ve felt in love in Korean cuisine thanks to your blog. Thank you so much for an amazing content!
I am so happy to hear that! Thank you so much for your comment, Klaudia <3
I just made this today but with chicken thigh meat and it was absolutely amazing. i even threw in some broccoli. def gonna be a staple for me!!
Hi Ming! Thank you so much for your comment. I’m happy to hear that it is great with chicken as well. I may have to upload a separate recipe for all of my halal friends.
This was absolutely delicious and the best part is that is was done with little effort. I used a pork butt roast and asked the butcher to slice to 1/8 inch. My family said it’s a keeper! Thank you for sharing your recipes!
Thank you so much for your comment! That is one of my favorite things about this recipe- super delicious and VERY easy to make! I’m so happy to hear your family enjoyed it 🙂
This such a great, quick recipe! My husband and boys LOVED it!
Thank you for letting us know! So glad you guys enjoyed it 🙂
Hi, how many people does this recipe serve??
It depends on what you are serving it with. Just as lettuce wraps, I would say 2 people. If you are serving with rice, I think you could stretch it to 3 people. General rule of thumb is 1/2 lb meat per person 🙂
Tiktok brought me here and I’m so glad it did! This recipe is delicious! I followed the recipe exactly and also made ssamjang to garnish, and it was delicious! Will definitely be making this again.
Hello,
Can you let the pork marinate overnight or for a few hours? Or does it need to be cooked right away?
Hi! Only let it marinate over night if you are using thicker cuts of meat. Since this is thinly sliced, you don’t need to marinate at all. You can if you want to but I don’t recommend anything longer than a couple hours 🙂
Hi, 2 questions. How much onion do you add? It’s not in the ingredient list or directions. Also, what is the serving size for the recipe? I’m excited to try this!
Hi! I used half of a small onion but you can add more if you really like onions, there’s really no set amount 🙂 This was enough to feed three people, possibly 1 more if you are eating it with rice.