Name: Bulgogi (불고기) – Korean BBQ beef
Prep time: 12 h
Total time: 19 h
Yield: 6 Servings
Ingredients: : 500g/ 1lb. beef tenderloin cut into this stakes; Soy sauce: 3 tbsp.; Brown Sugar: 1 tbsp.; Sake wine: 3 tbsp.; Mirin: 2 tbsp.; Sesame oil: 2 tsp.; sesame seeds: 2 tbsp.; Garlic: 2 cloves grated finely; Onions: ½ finely grated; Ginger: 1 tsp. finely grated; Black Pepper: ½ tsp.; : 2 pears finely grated; oil: 1 tbsp.; Onions: 2 sliced; Carrot: 1 medium julienned; Green onion: 2 stalks finely chopped; sesame seeds: 1 tbsp.

Features:

Cuisine:

Korean

Ingredients

500g/ 1lb. beef tenderloin cut into this stakes
you can use, fillet, rib-eye or rump as well
For the marinade
3 tbsp. Soy sauce
1 tbsp. Brown Sugar
3 tbsp. Sake wine
2 tbsp. Mirin
2 tsp. Sesame oil
2 tbsp. sesame seeds
2 cloves grated finely Garlic
½ finely grated Onions
1 tsp. finely grated Ginger
½ tsp. Black Pepper
2 pears finely grated
asian nashi pear or apples can be used as well
For the stir fry
1 tbsp. oil
2 sliced Onions
1 medium julienned Carrot
2 stalks finely chopped Green onion
1 tbsp. sesame seeds

Directions

If you haven’t heard of Bulgogi before, it’s OK, it just means you are not Korean. I was introduced to this amazing dish a few months ago, I can’t stop making it since.

Bulgogi is basically shredded or thin sliced Korean BBQ beef, traditionally made on a char-grill however the stir fry home addition is popular as well.

As you will see in a minute I will step away from the original recipe (I hope I didn’t make any Korean’s angry) and bring it additional personal interpretation but at any stage you can go with the original recipe.

Marinade makes magic

Marinating the beef for a few hours (preferably overnight) gives the meat its distinct Korean flavor as well as makes it tender.

The marinade consists of soy sauce, mirin, garlic, sesame oil, grated onion, sake and the dish surprising umami taste, grated pear, it acts on 2 levels, adding sweet taste and acts a softener for the beef.

I noticed in Korean recipes different variations (although the pears are the traditional marinade ingredient) there are also grated carrots or grated apples to substitute the pears in the marinade.

In some recipes, in order to make the beef even more tender we are adding some grated kiwi or papaya, it’s not in the traditional recipes and only acts as a softener.

bulgogi

The meat

You can use any kind of meat you have on mind as long as its a tender cut, we don’t want a chewy beef on our hands since the cooking time is minimal on the wok.

My favorite is beef tenderloin, rump or rib-eye, any of those sitting in a marinade for a few hours will produce a buttery tender bite.

At this point I take a different turn from the original Korean recipe and cook the meat Sous-vide style with the marinade fluids in order to make it as tender as butter. I cook the meat sous-vide in 130°F/65°c for 7 hours, you can be sure that when it comes out you can eat it with a spoon.

Afterwards all that’s needed it 2-3 minutes on the wok to sear the meat into perfection.

bulgogi

Serving Bulgogi

traditionally the Koreans don’t play to many games with this dish and eat the meat as it, with a bowl of rice by its side or with lettuce. we use the lettuce as our spoon grab a bit of the bulgogi and eat with the lettuce, the crunchiness of the lettuce versus the buttery meat is delicious.

bulgogi

For those of us that wants a real cool comforting meal to grab, I recommend a bulgogi sandwich, I just recently made some ciabattas and they were calling for a cool meat filling and the result was amazing, go for it because getting meat inside a crunchy bread is always a good idea.

bulgogi

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Steps

1 Done 15 minutes	Preparing the Marinade Mix all ingredients of the marinade into a large bowl and insert the meat. Make sure the meat is well covered and insert into the fridge overnight (minimum of 4 hours).
2 Done 7 hours	cooking the meat sous vide Take the meat out of the fridge into room temperature and set your sous-vide cooker to 130°F/65°c. Cook the meat with its marinade for 7 hour in a sealed bag. When ready, take out the meat and the marinade into a bowl, the meat should be soft as butter. Tear the meat by hand into bite size pieces or use a knife and place back in the bowl.
3 Done 10 minutes	cooking the bulgogi Place a large wok over high heat. Toast the sesame for about 1-2 minutes until golden and set aside. Pour in the oil, wait until shimmering and insert the onions and carrots, cook for 2-3 minutes until transparent. Add the meat with its marinade, reduce heat to medium-low and cook for another 5 minutes. Add the toasted sesame and green onion and cook for another minute.
4 Done 5 minutes	Serving If you want the traditional serving, place a about 2 spoons of the bulgogi on a lettuce leaf and serve, if interested in a bulgogi sandwich, cut a ciabatta add lettuce and whichever sauce you like, insert as much bulgogi as it can fit.