Bulgogi Beef
My favourite meat at Korean BBQ restaurants has to be bulgogi or Korean grilled marinated beef. The home-cooked bulgogi is even more enjoyable, as we get to buy a good cut of beef to cook with. This recipe is very simple – just marinade and cook – with the ‘hardest’ and most ‘time-consuming’ part of this recipe is waiting for the meat to marinade in the fridge ;)
See Also:
Although bulgogi is great for barbeques, in the home version I simply pan or stir fry them in the wok.
You can eat bulgogi with steamed multigrain rice or wrap them with lettuce and a dab of home-made ssamjang (Korean spicy sauce) to make ssambap (Korean lettuce wraps). I also add it to my bibimbap occassionally. Whichever way we serve it, it is simply delicious!
In this recipe, I bought a small slab of rump steak and sliced the beef myself. It is mid-range (400 grams piece cost S$16), and the cooked beef is so tender that it literally melts in our mouths.
Besides using a fairly decent cut of beef, the pear juice in this recipe also helps to sweeten and tenderize the beef naturally. I used the “nam shui” variety of pear which can be found at local supermarkets. Any Japanese or Korean variety of pear (round and yellow) will be great for this recipe, as they are sweeter and juicier than the usual green pears.
Bulgogi Recipe
The marinated bulgogi is suitable for barbeques and stir fries. Take care not to over cook the beef.
Ingredients:
- 400 grams beef suitable cuts include tenderloin, rump steak, sirloin or skirt flank
- cooking oil for cooking beef
- sesame seeds toasted in a dry pan until golden
(A) Marinae 1 – Blend to a purée:
- 3 cloves garlic peeled
- 50 grams onion
- 50 grams pear flesh nam shui/Korean/Japanese variety preferred
- 5 grams ginger
(B) Marinade 2 – Seasonings
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp corn syrup
- freshly cracked black pepper
- chopped spring onions
- thinly sliced carrot
Serving suggestions
- lettuce leaves
- ssamjang sauce (get the recipe here)
- cooked multi-grain rice
Directions:
- Slice the beef thinly, uniformly & against the grain.
- In a blender or food processor, blend (A) to a smooth puree. Add the puree, sliced beef and (B) in a wide bowl. Combine to mix well. Cover with cling wrap and marinade for about least 2 hours or overnight in the fridge.
- Heat griddle or wok. Add a bit of oil. Grill, pan fry or stir fry the marinated beef, in batches until they are cooked.
- Serve the cooked bulgogi with multi grain rice, or as a DIY wrap with lettuce leaves, ssamjang sauce and rice.
Recipe adapted from Maangchi: Korean Beef BBQ Bulgogi 불고기