Korean home cooking is full of smart, efficient recipes that layer flavors and textures beautifully. One of those dishes is Kongnamul Bulgogi or Kongbul for short: a delicious one-pan meal made with thinly sliced pork belly, soybean sprouts, and a punchy gochujang-based sauce.
This dish is a cousin of traditional bulgogi, but instead of marinating the meat and grilling it on its own, you cook it over a bed of vegetables like kongnamul (soybean sprouts), enoki mushrooms, and perilla leaves. The vegetables steam and release moisture as they cook, creating a built-in broth that tenderizes the pork and infuses the entire dish with flavor. It’s easy, satisfying, and perfect with a bowl of hot rice.
Rinse the soybean sprouts and enoki mushrooms. Trim off the root end of the enoki and separate them. Roughly chop the perilla leaves and thinly slice the onion.
In a wide skillet or shallow pan, spread out the soybean sprouts, mushrooms, perilla leaves, and sliced onion to form an even bed of vegetables.
Lay the pork belly slices directly on top of the vegetables, distributing them evenly so they cook at the same rate.
In a small bowl, combine the gochujang, gochugaru, minced garlic, rice wine, soy sauce, and sugar. Stir until well mixed, then drizzle the sauce evenly over the pork.
Cover the pan with a lid and cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes. The vegetables will start to release moisture, steaming the pork from below.
After 5 minutes, remove the lid and mix everything together thoroughly. The pork should finish cooking in just a few more minutes, especially if it’s thinly sliced.
Spoon the pork and vegetables over bowls of hot rice.