Mushroom Rice Bowl, with Meat Sauce, cooked at home

Prepare the mushroom rice bowl with a variety of mushroom and meat sauce in a direct and unfussy method. It’s a great way to enjoy the goodness of mushrooms. You can try with different kind of mushroom you like.

When our daughter was about five, she suddenly decided mushrooms were off the menu—and we blame our husband.

One evening at the dinner table, he jokingly declared, “Look, fungus for dinner!” as we served a side of sautéed mushrooms. He’s never been a mushroom fan, and his comment sealed the deal for our daughter, who immediately labeled mushrooms as “gross.” For the next seven years, her mushroom aversion became a battle we were determined to win.

Not all fungi are created equal. Sure, some are better left untouched, but edible mushrooms? They’re the good guys—savory!

Thankfully, our daughter eventually outgrew her fungus phobia. Now, she happily enjoys mushrooms in a variety of dishes, including this mushroom stir-fry. A win for mom’s persistence and a reminder that sometimes food preferences evolve with time and a little encouragement. 😊

Fall is the steady time to enjoy mushrooms, with so many varieties available. This one-dish meal is short to make and fills your kitchen with the earthy aroma of fall. We used minced pork, but ground beef works too. Cozy, hearty, and full of seasonal flavors—it’s a must-try!

How to cook Korean Mushroom Rice Bowl

Rinse your rice (short grain) in water several times and drain well. Set aside.

Here are our three mushroom amigos. We used dried shiitake (soaked in water for 1 hour), oyster, and large enoki type mushrooms.

Lovely fungus, aren’t they?

We reserve the shiitake mushroom soaking water. You can use plain water instead.

Heat a little oil in a heavy bottom pot over medium heat, toast the rice for couple of minutes.

Pour the reserved mushroom soaking water (or plain water) and a large piece of dried sea kelp. Koreans call it dashima, Japanese call it kombu.

Anyway, bring them to boil.

When it reaches to a full boil, remove the sea kelp and discard.

Scatter the mushrooms over in the pot, cover with a lid, reduce the heat to low, and let the whole thing to simmer for 15 minutes. Then turn the heat off and let it rest for 5 minutes.

How the dish comes together

Meanwhile, cook ground pork or beef in a skillet until they are no longer in pink. We are making the topping sauce to go with mushroom rice.

Pour mushroom soaking water or plain water, and simmer until water is reduced a little.

Add soy sauce,

and the rest of the topping ingredients and let them simmer for 5 minutes.

That’s all. This topping sauce is savory enough to eat with just plain rice.

Look! our mushroom amigo rice is done. Looking good!

Gently toss the rice with mushrooms so they can get incorporated.

Scoop the rice in a serving bowl and top with the meat sauce. Mix it up, folks!! You just got a savory meal in your hand.

And you are supposed to give big thanks to all the fungus in the world. The culinary world would not be the same without them.

• Yield: 4
• Prep: 10 minutes
• Cook: 30 minutes
• Total: 2 hours 40 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 cups short grain rice, preferably Korean, rinsed and soaked for 30 minutes, and drained
• 6-8 dried shiitake mushroom, soaked in water for 2 hours
• 1 pkg (5 oz) oyster mushrooms
• 1 pkg (3.5 oz) enoki mushrooms
• 1 tablespoon grape seed or canola oil
• 2.5 cups mushroom soaking water
• 1 dried sea kelp (dashima)

For meat sauce

• 1/3 lb ground pork or ground beef
• 1/2 cup water
• 7 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon Korean chili flakes (gochugaru)
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon Korean plum extract (maeshil cheong), optional
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
• 3 green onion finely chopped
• 1 red chili, seeded and chopped

Method

1. Make sure your rice is soaked at least 30 minutes and drained well.
2. Take the shiitake mushrooms out of its soaking water and squeeze out the excess water. Reserve 2.5 cups of the soaking water. Slice the shiitaki mushrooms into bite size pieces.
3. Cut off the bottom end of other mushroom stems to remove dirt. Separate the mushrooms to bite size pieces.
4. Heat oil in a pot over medium heat and put rice in. Toast rice until they are coated with oil, about 30 -60 seconds. Pour the reserved mushroom soaking water and the sea kelp. When the water boil and bubbles up, remove the sea kelp. Add the mushrooms and close the lid. Turn the heat down to low and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the pot sit on the stove for 5 more minutes.
5. Open the lid and gently toss the rice and mushrooms together to incorporate. Serve warm with meat chili sauce to mix with.
6. Brown the ground pork (or beef) with a little oil until no longer pink over a medium heat.
7. Pour water and let it simmer until the water reduces to half. Turn off the heat. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir well.