Bulgogi Hot Pot (Bulgogi Jeongol 불고기 전골 )
Bulgogi Hot Pot has many names in Korean. There are at least 3 names that I know: Bulgogi Jeongol (불고기 전골), Yaetnal Bulgogi (옛날불고기), and Bulgogi Ttukbaegi (불고기뚝배기). Bulgogi, vegetables and glass noodles are cooked in a steel hot pot right at the table or that comes boiling hot in a stone pot.
What is Jeongol 전골?
Jeongol is a Korean style hot pot that is cooked at the table where a combination of ingredients (usually a mix of meat/seafood and vegetables) are cooked in broth. Jeongol (including this Bulgogi Hot Pot) was traditionally served in the palace and hence is part of Korean Royal Cuisine (궁중음식 Gungjung Eumsik). Now, you may think, hmm.. so what is the difference between this and jjigae?
Difference between Jjigae and Jeongol?
Well, some could argue that both are basically the same thing because both dishes involve cooking ingredients in broth and they are both served boiling HOT. However, I say they are different because, Jeongol is almost always cooked and served at the table whereas Jjigae is cooked first in the kitchen and then brought to the table. In addition, this Bulgogi Hot Pot and other kinds of jeongol is most often served with ingredients neatly and beautifully arranged in the pot. Jjigae on the other hand is served where the ingredients are already all mixed and cooked before it is served.
History of Jeongol (氈骨 전골)
So.. some Korean history books record that Korean Hot Pot or Jeongol originated from soldiers using their steel helmets as a hot pot to cook different meats and vegetables in broth! Wow, I hope they washed the helmets really well!! HAHA But, I am sure this kind of hot pot with warm broth was such a wonderfully comforting food to eat while the soldiers were aways from home. In the 1700’s, a magazine called Kyeongdo Japji (경도잡지) even writes about a pot named Jeonliptu 전립투 that looks very much like a helmet and where people cooked meats and vegetables in broth.
Bulgogi Hot Pot (Bulgogi Jeongol) Recipe
Servings: 4 Prep Time: 30 min Cook Time: 15-17 min Difficulty: EASY
- Use my bulgogi recipe to marinate bulgogi in advance. I had some frozen uncooked bulgogi from before so I just defrosted them. If you don’t have time, you can just make fresh bulgogi and let it marinate while you are waiting for the noodles in step 3.
- Make Kelp broth by adding kelp to warm water for 30 min or more.
- Soak glass noodles in warm water (enough to fully cover noodles) for 30 min.
Glass Noodles in Water for Bulgogi Hot Pot - Soak dry shitake mushrooms in hot water for 30 min.
- While noodles are soaking, cut cabbage leaves into smaller pieces.
Cabbage for Bulgogi Hot Pot - Clean and cut onions, green onions, carrots and Shitake mushrooms (take the hard stem off and then cut caps into strips). Tear oyster mushrooms by hand (just something I was taught to do when I was little) and separate enoki mushroom into little bunches.
Oyster Mushroom Prep Bulgogi Stew Bulgogi Hot Pot – Vegetable Ingredients - In a small bowl, mix all sauce ingredients – guk ganjang, jin ganjang, rice wine, salt and sugar. Set aside.
- Now it’s assembly time! If you want to make it look pretty, lay out the ingredients like I did here with noodles in the center and vegetables around it.
Bulgogi Hot Pot Vegetables and Glass Noodles Then place bulgogi in the center.
Bulgogi Hot Pot – Jeongol Ingredients with sauce added If you don’t want any fuss, just dump everything in the pot. 😝
- Pour kelp broth and shitake mushroom water (from soaking shitake mushrooms).
- Pour bulgogi hot pot sauce on top of the vegetables. Close the lid and bring to boil on medium high heat.
Bulgogi Hot Pot Boiling - Once it starts to boil, reduce heat to medium to medium low and simmer for 15-17 minutes until cabbage is soft and bulgogi is cooked.
- Serve with rice and kimchi!
Bulgogi Hot Pot Stew (Korean Jeongol) Doesn’t your mouth water just looking at this?? Mine does…perfect dish for a cold and rainy day like today.
Bulgogi Hot Pot (Jeongol) Closeup And here’s how you can serve individually.
Bulgogi Hot Pot (Jeongol)
Ingredients
- 5 oz marinated bulgogi
- 2 1/2 cup kelp broth
- 1/2 cup shitake mushroom water
- 3 napa cabbage leaves
- 1/2 large yellow onion (sliced)
- 50 g glass noodles (potato starch noodles aka dangmyeon 당면)
- 3 oz enoki mushrooms (1 pack)
- 1 handful oyster mushrooms
- 5-6 dried shitake mushrooms
- 3 green onions
- 1 carrot (optional - more for color)
kelp broth
- 2 cups warm water
- 1 large piece kelp (다시마 dashima - approx palm size)
bulgogi hot pot sauce
- 2 tsp guk ganjang (soup soy sauce)
- 1 Tbsp cooking sake or rice wine
- 2 tsp jin ganjang (soy sauce)
- 1/4 tsp Sea Salt (Trader Joe's)
- 2 tsp sugar
Instructions
- Use my bulgogi recipe to marinate bulgogi in advance. I had some frozen uncooked bulgogi from before so I just defrosted them here. If you don't have time, you can just make fresh bulgogi and let it marinate while you are waiting for the noodles in step 3.
- Make Kelp broth by adding kelp to 2 1/2 cup warm water for 30 min or more.
- Soak glass noodles in warm water (enough to fully cover noodles) for 30 min.
- Soak dry shitake mushrooms in hot water for 30 min.
- While noodles are soaking, cut cabbage leaves into smaller pieces.
- Clean and cut onions, green onions, carrots and Shitake mushrooms (take the hard stem off and then cut caps into strips). Tear oyster mushrooms by hand (just something I was taught to do when I was little) and separate enoki mushroom into little bunches.
- In a small bowl, mix all sauce ingredients - guk ganjang, jin ganjang, rice wine, salt and sugar. Set aside.
- Now it's assembly time! If you want to make it look pretty, lay out the ingredients like I did here. If you don't have time, just dump everything in the pot and add 1 1/2 cup kelp broth and 1/2 cup shitake mushroom water (from soaking shitake mushrooms).
- Pour bulgogi hot pot sauce on top, close the lid and bring to boil on medium high heat.
- Once it starts to boil, reduce heat to medium to medium low and simmer for 15-17 minutes until cabbage is soft and bulgogi is cooked.
- Serve with rice and kimchi!
Nutrition Information:
Notes and Tips
- This is great as a family dinner gluten-free menu.
- Make bulgogi in large batch and freeze in plastic bags so you can make this recipe and others by just defrosting.
- Make kelp broth and soak glass noodles ahead of time and store in fridge. Then you can make this bulgogi jeongol in less than 30 min!
- Mix or substitute other kinds of mushrooms. I do recommend using dried shitake mushrooms as it adds the most wonderful flavor.
- Substitute regular cabbage instead of napa cabbage.
- Glass noodles keeps absorbing liquid as time passes so don’t cook for too long.
Happy Fall!
XOXO ❤
JinJoo
Bulgogi Jeongol (Hot Pot) Video!
It looks like sesame seeds are in the photo, but not in the recipe.
Oh that’s because sesame seeds are in my Bulgogi recipe 😉 I didn’t include the bulgogi recipe in this post because you can simply go to my post to get the recipe. Thank you!
We loved this dish !! It was so good .. loved trying all the different mushrooms… we will be making this again for sure ! Thank you so much
Very glad to hear it! Yes, you can try different mushrooms and different vegetables too. Enjoy!
How big of a pot do I need? 3 quart? 4.5 quart? 5 quart?
3 quart will work just fine. And if you can use a wider, shallower pan that will work best. Thank you for asking!
Mouthwatering!! Love it 🙂