Bulgogi

[thistle]

My first shot at cooking something I've only ever enjoyed at Korean restaurants. I picked up top round ($2.82/lb), the bottom round was too thin, I considered the sirloin, but thought I'd try this first. Partially frozen, so I could slice it thinner, then marinated in CJ Korean bulgogi sauce. Sautéed onions & yellow peppers, rice on the side, wish me luck...

[Fishinnards]

Good luck! If you don't mind regular (factory farmed) meat, grand mart and super H both sell it pre-sliced.It's usually with the frozen meat. A great time saver. If you want a recipe for the marinade from scratch I can send you one. It's very easy. I learned it from a Korean friend from Seoul (there are different regional styles). I used to cook Korean food at least three times a week for about three years. I love Korean food .

[thistle]

it's probably factory farmed top round I get at the commissary (it's pretty cheap) & the bulgogi marinade is full of sugar & HFCS, but it's easy & the kids love it. I've thought about the pre-marinated stuff, but I'm about about 20 min from the closest H-mart (although I'm waiting to see if the closed Bottom Dollar near me turns into a GMart, as promised). I'd like your marinade recipe, the commissary even occasionally has pear apples, & this commercial one is hell on grill pans (all the sugar burns an impenetrable crust on the pan).

[Fishinnards]

it's probably factory farmed top round I get at the commissary (it's pretty cheap) & the bulgogi marinade is full of sugar & HFCS, but it's easy & the kids love it. I've thought about the pre-marinated stuff, but I'm about about 20 min from the closest H-mart (although I'm waiting to see if the closed Bottom Dollar near me turns into a GMart, as promised). I'd like your marinade recipe, the commissary even occasionally has pear apples, & this commercial one is hell on grill pans (all the sugar burns an impenetrable crust on the pan).

Cool. I will post it later for all to see. The best way to cook it is on the grill over charcoal, or actually over the chimney (charcoal starter) with a screen. The trick is not to eat it all yourself as it comes off the grill. I was only referring to the pre-sliced meat, not the pre-marinated, never tried that, but it's probably good.

[thistle]

It cooked up much better in the cheapo electric skillet than it did in the Calphalon grill pan, which is trashed, & I can't seem to find Dawn power dissolver anymore (which was my trashed pan/ grill cleaning favorite). The bulgogi was delicious, though, even cold, & the kids said I need to cook it once a week.

[Barbara]

It cooked up much better in the cheapo electric skillet than it did in the Calphalon grill pan, which is trashed, & I can't seem to find Dawn power dissolver anymore (which was my trashed pan/ grill cleaning favorite). The bulgogi was delicious, though, even cold, & the kids said I need to cook it once a week.

Get some "Greased Lightning."  It's the best de-greaser ever.  Hard to find, but it is sold at Home Depot these days.

[Fishinnards]

I found my old marinade recipe from my Korean cooking private lessons (back in 2000). Obviously there are many ways to make this, including using pear. This recipe does not use pear. It's very versatile. You can use it for bulgogi, kalbi, chapchae, etc. (anything with beef). I believe a marinade, or seasoning mix is called a mit gan IIRC. I also learned a mit gan for pork which is different and includes ginger and gochujang. I can post that one as well if anyone is interested. FYI The sugar acts a tenderizer as well as for flavor. The recipe is really just a ratio 3:2:2, you can scale up and down from there. The instructions for marinading grilling are not the only way to do it, or even the most common way. You can also use a pan on the stove. We used Kikkoman soy sauce and mirin. Of course you could use Korean soy sauce and rice wine. Mirin has sugar in it so it makes it even sweeter. If you want less sugar, use sake or Korean rice wine. Don't use Chinese soy sauce or Chinese rice wine for this, the flavors are different. Also, the grilling over a screen method is a pain in the ass, but worth it for the taste. Whenever I had it at someones home, they used a pan (usually an electric pan).

Beef Marinade for Bulgogi and Kalbi Gui:
6 Tbs. soy sauce
4 Tbs. sugar
4 Tbs. rice wine (mirin)
¼ cup chopped or crushed Garlic
½ cup chopped Spring Onions (scallions) white and green parts
1 Tbs. lightly crushed roasted sesame seeds
2 Tbs. sesame oil (dark)
1 tsp. Black pepper or more

The ratio for the soy sauce, sugar, and rice wine is 3:2:2. The rest of the ingredients are approximations. Just mix everything together in a bowl. Make sure to taste and adjust to your liking. The above amount should work for 1 ¾ lbs. of thinly sliced beef (for bulgogi) or around 4 lbs. of beef ribs (kalbi gui). Korean groceries sell thinly sliced beef (top round or tenderloin) and beef ribs cut into bite size pieces through the bone.

For the sliced beef (bulgogi): Store bought thin slices need to be handled carefully or they will fall apart. Individually dip each piece of meat into the marinade and then carefully layer them into another bowl. Layer them criss-cross so you can remove them for grilling piece by piece. Pour any remaining marinade over the top. With your hands, press down on the meat so that the liquid covers the meat. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside (in the refrigerator) for at least 4 hours.

To Grill: Light your coals and get them hot. The meat is thin so you need some sort of screen so the pieces don't fall through the grates. The screens for grilling vegetables work well, or improvise something. Put the individual pieces on the grill and grill for a few minutes on each side (till their cooked through). Tastes best strait off the grill. Eat with big lettuce leaves (for wrapping) and sesame leaves, garland chrysanthemum, 2" pieces of green onion, sliced raw garlic, and Gochujang (hot bean paste) or samjang (hot bean paste with seasonings). Make lettuce and/or sesame leaf sandwiches with the above stuff and some rice and eat. (Meat can also be broiled in the oven for 10 minutes).

For Kalbi : Grill like above (with a screen) for about 20 min or until done. Or bake in a 400 degree oven on a foil covered cookie sheet for 18 minutes, turn the pieces once and cook for 5 minutes more.

[thistle]

Thanks for the marinade recipe, I'll try this tomorrow (kids say they want bulgogi 1x/week)-I'm sticking w/ the electric skillet, I have a new Zojirushi indoor grill, but I still haven't de-carbonized the grill pan, so I'm not going to chance it.

[Fishinnards]

Let us know how it turns out. If the kids like the store-bought one better, then next time add a teaspoon of Ajinomoto  .

[darkstar965]

Love this thread.  I used to live in South Korea way back when and grew to love this dish and the cuisine more broadly.  Never have tried to make any of it at home due to my own genetic defect of thinking cuisines like this can't be fully replicated unless you're a Korean ajumah. Just kidding....kind of.

Thanks for the recipe, fishinnards!  I think I'm going to try it....as soon as I get my BGE.