bulgogi

Awhile back I posted about bulgogi that I had tasted at Kazumi's house. She had given me the recipe soon after that, but I'd only gotten around to making it last night.

Kazumi had gone to Korea earlier in the year and learned how to make this dish from a well-known chef. This chef is the apprentice to the chef that was a consultant for the historical Korean program, "Dae Jang Geum"--A story about a women who works her way up through the royal court kitchen. (sorry, I don't have the chef's name, but I'll attach her website, if you can read Korean.)

According to the notes, bulgogi is a type of nobiani (Korean style barbeque). This recipe is really easy to make, give it a try.

600g beef sirloin or filet
2 tablespoon sake (rice wine)

Yangnyeom (marinade): 4 tablespoons shoyu (soy sauce)
2 tablespoon sugar
4 tablespoon pear juice
4 tablespoons minced green onion
2 tablespoons grated garlic
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon ground sesame seed
2 tablespoon sesame seed oil

Baste: 1 tablespoon honey

Topping: 1 tablespoon chopped pine nuts

1. Slice the meat into 5mm thick pieces.
2. With a paper towel, blot off any blood from the meat. Add the sake and set aside.
3. Make the yannyomu and add to the meat. Let the meat rest in the marinade for 30 minutes.
4. After the 30 minutes, cook over charcoal, if that isn't possible, cook in a very hot pan, laying each piece flat to cook.
5. After one side has been heated through, baste with honey.
6. Put meat onto a mesh grill and cook thoroughly. Plate and top with pine nuts.

NOTES: I bought 150g of sirloin cut thinly and made half of the marinade. Since it isn't pear season here, I grated apple and put that into the marinade instead. Also, I didn't have a mesh grill, so I just basted the meat in the frying pan. I served the bulgogi with sanchu (I think it is a type of Korean lettuce, which is quite bitter by itself) and kim chee. We wrapped the bulgogi in the sanchu with kim chee and ate it. Delicious! I'll definitely make this again. (Thanks for the recipe, Kazumi!)

p.s. I wasn't too sure at how to spell some of the Korean terms in a Romanized way, so if it is spelled wrong, I'm sorry!