Bulgogi (Korean Beef)

While in Ottawa, we stopped at a Korean recipe and had a few amazing dishes. I particularly liked the barbecued beef dish and went on a hunt to see how easy it would be to recreate the flavours at home. This recipe is pretty darn close to the restaurant. The marinade takes a bit of work and it requires planning ahead, but the end result it worth it. I used fondue meat to have the nice thinly sliced beef.

One year ago: Mini Chocolate Pavlovas with Raspberry Curd

Bulgogi: Korean Beef (from Use Real Butter, originally Kitchen Wench)

Ingredients
1 kg thinly sliced beef sirloin, sliced 2-3mm thick
5 cloves garlic, crushed
1 medium yellow onion, peeled
1 nashi/Asian pear, peeled (I used a bartlette)
1 sweet apple, such as fuji, grated
2/3 cup Korean soy sauce (’kanjang’), but you can substitute it with Japanese tamari soy or Chinese light soy sauce in a pinch
2 tbsps toasted sesame seed oil
2-4 tbsps sugar (this will depend on the sweetness of your pear)
2 green onions, finely sliced
freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1. If you can’t find the beef already sliced, you can freeze the meat and then thaw it overnight in the refrigerator. Using a sharp and heavy knife, slice the half-thawed beef against the grain.
2. Squeeze juice from the grated apple over the sliced beef and set aside (I was confused by the original instructions and ended up just putting the grated apple on top).
3. Grate the onion and pear into pulp.
4. Mix the pear and onion pulp with the soy sauce and crushed garlic. If it’s not sweet enough for your tastes, add sugar and taste until it meets your liking.
5. Place the meat in a bowl or a ziploc bag and pour in the marinade. Add the sesame seed oil, sliced green onions, and black pepper.
6. Massage the marinade into the meat for about 1-2 minutes, making sure none of the slices of beef are stuck together and that the marinade has been distributed evenly.
7. Cover the bowl with plastic or seal the ziploc bag and refrigerate for at least a few hours, ideally overnight.
8. Cook over a griddle or in an unoiled non-stick frying pan. You can reserve pan juices to serve over your rice (really really good suggestion).