King Oyster Smagyupsal Bowls

I got some king oyster mushrooms on a whim because they were on sale last week. A few of them got used up in the hotpot we had for dinner a couple nights ago, but the rest have been sitting in the fridge waiting for me to come up with something to do with them. Luckily the Woks of Life had me covered. I decided to give their Korean barbecue bowls a try. This worked out doubly well since I had to run out to the grocery store to pick up some much-needed road salt today and came across some discount "Korean-style" meatballs. Since the Kidlet is currently off mushrooms (again), I figured the meatballs would make a good replacement.

I was pretty tired today, so this felt like a lot of work. But it's not actually that onerous. Especially if you already have some ssamjang on hand and opt to garnish it with plain sliced scallions rather than making the scallion salad (pajeori).

King Oyster Samgyupsal Bowls

Slightly adapted from Woks of Life

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. oil + extra for cooking
• 2 tsp. liquid smoke
• 3/4 tsp. sesame oil
• 1/4 tsp. sugar
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 2 large king oyster mushrooms, sliced lengthwise
• 1 small onion, sliced into discs
• 4 cloves garlic, halved lengthwise
• 1 bell pepper¹, sliced into rings
• 1-2 c. cooked rice²
• 2-4 leaves green or red leaf lettuce, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 2 Tbsp. ssamjang
• 2 Tbsp. kimchi³
• 1 recipe pajeori

Ingredients

1. Combine the oil, liquid smoke, sesame oil, sugar, and salt and beat with a whisk to mix thoroughly.
2. Heat a little oil in a pan (I like to use cast iron for this) and add the mushroom slices. Brush them with the oil mixture.
3. Once the mushrooms have started to brown on the bottom, flip them over and brush the other side with the oil mixture.
4. While the second side is cooking, add the onion, garlic, and pepper slices to the pan.
5. Once everything is well-browned on both sides, remove it from the pan.
6. Divide the rice between two bowls.
7. Top each with half the mushrooms, onion, garlic, peppers, lettuce, ssamjang, kimchi, and pajeori.
8. Mix and enjoy!

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¹ The original recipe called for 2 long hot peppers, but I opted for 1 bell pepper since I figured that would be a bit more appealing to the Kidlet. ^Back
2 The folks over at Woks of Life recommend ~1 c. of rice per person. I like to go a little lighter on the rice and heavier on the toppings. I think I only did ~1/2 c. of rice per person. Tailor it according to your tastes. ^Back
3 If you would like to keep this recipe vegetarian, make sure to get vegan kimchi (or omit it). If you're aiming for a vegan meal, check to make sure your sugar is vegan too. (Some sugars use bone char in their production.) ^Back