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Aubergine sotbap (Korean pot rice)

By: Kyu Jeong Jeon and Duncan Robertson

Published: 30 Dec 24
Updated: 14 Jan 25

Sotbap is a traditional Korean rice dish, in which the rice and other ingredients are cooked in a heavy pot. Chefs Kyu Jeong Jeon and Duncan Robertson share their recipe for a richly-flavoured aubergine and pork sotbap with spicy plum sauce.

Kyu says: “This is one of our favourite suppers. It’s cheap, quick and, best of all, there’s very little washing up. Ideally cook it in a dolsot (a Korean granite vessel for cooking rice) to get a lovely nurungji (crispy rice at the bottom), but a heavy-based casserole with a tight-fitting lid works well, or even an electric rice cooker.”

The couple met in Paris as chefs before moving to Korea to work for a restaurant conglomerate. In 2018, they moved to Bristol and now have two well-regarded restaurants, Bokman and the newer Dongnae. Find them on instagram @bokmanbristol and @dongnaebristol

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Easy
January 2025

Test kitchen approved

Serves 2
Prep time 15 min, plus 20-30 min soaking. Cook time 45 min

Discover more incredible Korean recipes

Dairy-free

Nutrition: per serving

Calories: 880kcals
Fat: 40g (3.8g saturated)
Protein: 30g
Carbohydrates: 97g (18g sugars)
Fibre: 5.4g
Salt: 4.2g

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Before you start

Know-how The kombu (dried seaweed), dried anchovies, plum syrup and gochugaru (red pepper flakes) used in this dish are all readily available online or in Asian grocers. They also all last for ages in the cupboard.

Before you start

Ingredients

10cm square piece dried kombu
4 dried anchovies
5 tbsp vegetable oil
1 small aubergine (or 2 long, thin Asian aubergines if you can get them), cut into 3cm chunks
1 small leek, finely chopped
200g short-grain rice, washed and soaked for 20-30 minutes
Sesame seeds to sprinkle
Sliced spring onion to sprinkle
Kimchi to serve

For the marinated pork

• 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tsp finely chopped garlic
• ½ tbsp caster sugar
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 150g pork mince, at least
15% fat

For the sauce

2 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tsp mirin
1 tsp finely chopped garlic
½ tbsp sesame oil (or perilla seed oil if you can get it)
½ tbsp plum syrup (maesil-cheong)
1 tsp gochugaru

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Method

Add the kombu and 500ml water to a saucepan and gradually bring to the boil. Remove the kombu, add the dried anchovies, then simmer for 20 minutes. Strain through a fine sieve and measure out 300ml of the broth.
Add all the marinated pork ingredients to a bowl with a little black pepper. Use your hands to mix everything together, breaking up the mince to ensure it’s fully coated in the marinade. Set aside.
Pour the vegetable oil into a wide frying pan over a medium heat. Sprinkle the aubergine with salt, then add to the pan and cook for about 10 minutes until golden, stirring occasionally. Lift out with a slotted spoon and transfer to a plate, then add the leek and stir-fry for 6-8 minutes until golden and caramelised.

Transfer the leek to the plate with the aubergines, then add the marinated pork to the pan. Stir-fry for 3-5 minutes until fully cooked, then set aside.
Drain the rice and tip it into a heavy casserole with a tight-fitting lid. Pour in the 300ml broth and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to low, then spread the pork, aubergine and leek over the top of the rice. Cover and cook for 12 minutes.
Remove from the casserole from the heat and, without removing the lid, leave to steam for a further 5 minutes. While you wait, mix all the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl. To serve the sotbap, pour the sauce over everything, then mix as you dish up. Make sure you scrape up the browned nurungji (crispy rice) from the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle with some sesame seeds and sliced spring onion. A side serving of kimchi is obligatory.