Hello Fresh recipe Review: Beef bulgogi bowls

With meals like this one, it's easy to see why Hello Fresh is one of our favorites. The meals always come together quickly, they can please the pickiest eaters, they make plenty of food, and the options are always tasty. 

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I admit - I was a bit hesitant about this one. I'm not normally a huge fan of cucumbers (I think they kind of taste like grass), spicy foods are sometimes too spicy for me (and not in a good way - see the Chicken Tangine from this same box), and I'm always wary of anything that may not appear to be kid friendly. But here, I was wrong on all counts. This was delicious, quick, and easy, and the kid gobbled it up! 

1. Set the rice. Often, recipes for rice say to bring to a boil, and then simmer until done. That method rarely works for me. I usually get rice that is still crunchy in the middle but the water is gone, or too slimy and gummy and overdone. So what I do now is boil the rice in the water for about 2-3 minutes before turning down - sort of cooking it like pasta first. Sometimes this method does leave some excess water in the pot, but I just take the lid off and it usually evaporates off while everything else finishes. 

​2. Pickle the cucumber. ​Here, I was definitely skeptical! I don't like pickles, or cucumber, and no way was the kid gonna eat that... I did exactly what it said - half the vinegar, plus salt and sugar. The peeling part was kind of fun - though next time I'd make smaller ribbons (more on that below). 

​3. Cook the carrots (and onions). ​We almost always skip onions in all our recipes. Sometimes I will sub in some garlic if it makes sense, but here I just cooked the carrots alone in some oi until they were hot, tender, and just-charred. I love that they came pre-shredded. Plus to Hello Fresh here! 

I LOVE my copper pan. It's totally non stick, comes clean every time, gets hot without burning food. Good for cooking pretty much everything! 

4. Cook the meat. ​Easy enough. Dump the veggies out. Cook out all the pink, and keep cooking if you like it a little more done. It comes in this brick, which broke up and cooked very nicely. The first time we make these recipes we try to follow it to the letter for the most part, just to give our readers a glimpse of exactly how they turn out as directed. But here, I would recommend draining off some of the grease before the next step. If you leave it in the pan as you add the sauce, it just makes the sauce kind of greasy. 

​5. Make the sauces. ​Yep, two sauces. First dump the Sweet Korean BBQ pouch over the meat and stir it in. In a separate bowl, mix the provided sour cream, the second half of the vinegar, and as much of the sriracha as you like. I think I used about half of it. 

6. Serve. ​You can plate this one of two ways: in piles on plates (what we did), or layered in a bowl. Each eater can top with sauces and sesame seeds to their own taste. Either way is great! Kid plate on the left, mom on the right.  

our rating:

The kid liked it! She gave it a 3/5, which is very good coming from her for something new. For me, I was very impressed especially with the cucumbers. I found that the pickling marinade killed off some of that cut-grass taste that I generally dislike, and softened them up a bit, so they weren't so raw either. Slicing them really thinly probably helps too. Both sauces were great, and I found it better when all mixed together. So next time I'd make the cucumbers smaller, so that when's it's mixed up, they are more bite-sized, and serve the whole thing in a bowl for easier mixing. 

This made the 1.5 servings we had for dinner, and another two servings for packed lunches. Awesome job Hello Fresh!

We use these rectangular pyrex for lunches. They're sturdy glass so good for refrigerating, microwaving, and dishwashing. The lids make a great seal and we love that they are reusable so environmentally friendly. 

Get $40 off Hello Fresh!

Read more of our Hello Fresh reviews HERE.

Thanks for cooking with us - eat well!