Bulgogi (Korean BBQ Beef)

불고기

 

Korean BBQ Beef

Ingredients

Serves 2 to 4

  • 1 pound ribeye or sirloin (or other prime cut of beef), trimmed
  • ¼ cup soy sauce
  • 1 small Asian pear, or Bosc pear, peeled, cored, and quartered
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 1 1-inch knob of ginger, roughly chopped
  • 1 tablespoon roasted sesame oil
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon sake or pure soju
  • 1 tablespoon fish sauce or anchovy sauce
  • 1 ½tablespoon mirin
  • 1 onion, thinly sliced
  • freshly ground black pepper, to taste

TO GARNISH

  • 5 sprigs chives, finely chopped
  • 1 teaspoon mixed black and white sesame seeds

Method

Place the ribeye steaks in the freezer for about 2 hours, until partially frozen. Remove from freezer and use a sharp knife to cut the meat into slices about 1/8 inch thick. (Alternatively, buy pre-sliced bulgogi meat from your Korean grocer.) Place into a medium bowl.

In a food processor, combine the soy sauce, pear, garlic, ginger, sesame oil, brown sugar, sake, fish sauce, and mirin. Process until smooth.

Tip the marinade into the bowl with the meat and mix well, preferably using your hands, massaging the marinade into the meat. Cover and allow to marinate in the fridge for 1 hour or overnight. Remove from the fridge and mix in the sliced onions. Season with freshly ground black pepper.

Heat up a griddle pan or skillet over high heat. Alternatively, heat up a charcoal grill and place a speciality bulgogi griddle pan, fine mesh grate, or sheet of aluminum foil over the grates. Once hot, cook the bulgogi in batches, flipping often, until desired doneness is reached, about 2 minutes.

Remove from heat and plate, garnish with chopped chives and sesame seeds. Serve with rice, kimchi, and ssam leaves, or whatever you like!

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