HelloFresh Bulgogi Sauce Recipe

Spice up any Korean bbq dish with this HelloFresh bulgogi sauce recipe! This delicious condiment is easy to make and tastes great on everything.

HelloFresh is an American meal kit company that opened in 2011. Now, it sells more kits than any other company in the US, and it has branches in Canada, Europe, Australia, and Japan!

In each meal kit, you receive measured ingredients and a recipe card. Then, you can prepare a fresh dinner with minimal prep.

But if you really don’t want to cook, they also sell freshly prepared meals that you can heat and eat instantly.

One of their most popular condiments is the HelloFresh bulgogi sauce. It’s a Korean sauce that has a perfect balance of savory, sweet, spicy, and umami flavors.

“Bulgogi” actually means “fire meat,” and this sauce is perfect for grilling or stir-frying. But if you don’t eat meat, it tastes just as good on vegetables or tofu!

Bulgogi Sauce vs. Kalbi Sauce

The ingredients for bulgogi sauce and kalbi (or galbi) sauce are really similar. In fact, the main difference between the two dishes is the cut of meat, not the marinade!

While bulgogi and kalbi are both barbecued beef dishes, they look very different. Bulgogi uses very thin slices of rib-eye or sirloin steak, and kalbi uses short ribs.

Also, the preparation can be different. Although cooks usually grill both dishes, you can pan-fry bulgogi, and you can broil kalbi.

And while you can serve both dishes on their own, they also taste amazing as part of other entrees. For instance, you can make bibimbap, kimbap, japchae, or beef bulgogi bowls.

All About the Hellofresh Bulgogi Sauce Recipe Ingredients

Soy Sauce

Soy sauce is a dark-brown, fermented sauce that is very salty but also has a lot of umami in it. This means it adds a lot of richness and savoriness to your food.

Because it’s very strong, you only need a little to flavor your dish.

This condiment forms the base of your HelloFresh bulgogi sauce, so it’s really important. But if you want to lower your salt intake, you can use reduced-sodium soy sauce.

And if you’re gluten-intolerant or celiac, tamari is a great substitute.

Honey

Honey is an important sweetener for human consumption. And you can use it in place of white sugar in lots of different recipes.

However, keep in mind that honey is sweeter than cane sugar. Therefore, you should decrease the amount you add to your recipe if you’re substituting it.

Also, honey will add moisture, so you may need to decrease the liquid ingredients as well. In particular, this is important for baked goods.

Finally, honey caramelizes very quickly, so you need to watch it carefully. Additionally, your final product may be darker than if you had used white sugar.

If you don’t have honey in your pantry (or you want to make a vegan bulgogi sauce), you can substitute brown sugar. This will give you the same sweetness and dark color.

Rice Wine

This recipe calls for mirin, a sweet Japanese rice wine.

Mirin is a delicious condiment that adds both savoriness and sweetness to your cooking. In particular, Japanese chefs use it in soups, sauces, and noodle dishes.

If you can’t find mirin, you can substitute a little rice wine vinegar instead. But keep in mind this will make your sauce taste more sour, so don’t add too much.

Gochujang

Gochujang is a popular Korean chili paste used in lots of dishes.

Gochujang also adds a beautiful color to foods because it’s bright red. And, of course, it adds tons of flavor: spiciness, sweetness, tanginess, and umami.

Sesame Oil

You can find lots of different types of sesame oil in the grocery store, but in general, there are two varieties: plain and toasted.

The raw oil has a very neutral flavor, so it’s great for basic cooking, especially in Asian cuisine. However, the toasted variety has a pungent, nutty aroma that works well for seasoning.

For this dish, I like to use toasted sesame oil because it gives the HelloFresh bulgogi sauce recipe a lot of richness.

I love the nuttiness of sesame oil, but you can substitute regular vegetable oil if you don’t have any. Your sauce will have the same delicious texture, but the flavor won’t be quite as full.

Method

1. Mix Everything
   

   First, add all of the ingredients to your mixing bowl. Then, combine everything with the spoon or whisk until it’s smooth.

   If you beat it thoroughly, you’ll get a better flavor.
   

2. Serve and Enjoy!
   

   Finally, add this bulgogi sauce to your favorite dish, and dig in!
   

Ways to Enjoy This HelloFresh Bulgogi Sauce Recipe

• Usually, chefs serve bulgogi sauce on thin strips of beef for the traditional Korean dish. However, this sauce tastes amazing on any kind of meat, including pork, chicken, or lamb.


• As well, it’s a great addition to burgers instead of traditional barbecue sauce. Or, you can throw it into stir-fry dishes or drizzle it on vegetarian rice bowls.


• You can also substitute bulgogi sauce for teriyaki sauce on meat skewers or meatballs.

How to Store/Reheat This Hellofresh Bulgogi Sauce Recipe

If you have leftover HelloFresh bulgogi sauce, you can refrigerate it for 3 to 5 days. However, don’t just reuse sauce that you have marinated raw meat in!

If you want to reuse a marinade, you need to boil it in a saucepan on the stove for five minutes to kill any bacteria.

To ensure that your sauce is safe, use a kitchen thermometer to check that it maintains 212 degrees F for the 5 minutes. As well, don’t reuse a brush or utensil that touched the raw meat.