Bulgogi: Korean Fire Meat

Or, marinated grilled beef strips, Korean-style

Bulgogi (also spelled pulgogi) is a great introduction to Korean cooking if you like beef. It’s simple to make from regular grocery store ingredients, tastes amazing and serves as a component of other dishes such as kimbap, chapchae and bibimbap. Feel free to play around with the ingredients, no two Korean moms in my experience have made it exactly the same way and my own mother wings it every time. You can try adding a bit of grated ginger to the marinade or some toasted sesame seeds or grated Asian pear. I’ve never really had a bad bulgogi so don’t be afraid to let loose. You’ll notice it’s extremely similar to Kalbi, the difference is the cut of meat used.

You can use several different cuts of beef to make bulgogi. Sirloin would probably be the most traditional, but you can pretty much anything that would be sold as London Broil as the thin slices and marinating time make the meat tender. You could also use ribeye which would be a bit pricey but good or skirt or flank steak cut against the grain (these two cuts are also excellent marinated whole and grilled). I’d probably look for something without too much gristle but a bit of marbling for flavor. Freeze the meat for 15-20 minutes before you slice it so that it will be easier to cut into thin strips.

When I made it with my mother, we used 3 lbs of beef to have leftovers to use for other recipes the next day. You can easily scale down this recipe and only make as much as you need. Or, you could make the full amount and freeze half right away. It will marinate as it defrosts and will be delicious.

Tracy’s Mom’s Bulgogi (the best you’ll ever taste, of course!)

• 3 lbs of beef (sirloin or another cut of your choosing) sliced into thin strips.
• 1/2 small onion sliced thin
• 5 small to medium cloves garlic, crushed (use your taste, Koreans like a lot of garlic)
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 cup brown sugar (adjust to taste)
• 3 green onions sliced on the diagonal into 2 inch pices

In a large bowl mix all of the marinade ingredients together, taste and adjust for seasoning. You could add more sugar if it seems too salty. Add beef and mix everything together, preferably with your hands. Cover and marinate in the fridge for at least an hour, up to about 24.

When you are ready to cook the bulgogi you have a couple of options. The best way is to make a fire outside in your grill and put the meat on when it’s ready (I have no idea about temperatures but you’ve got good judgment). The meat will cook quickly, about 1-2 minutes per side. Serve with rice, lettuce leaves (to make little bundles), Korean hot bean paste (kochujang) or other condiment of choice and vegetables or something wholesome like that. Kimchi would be excellent.

If you don’t want to grill outside, you could grill inside on a Foreman type grill or stovetop grill pan. If you have some sort of little electric grill that could go on a table, you can let your guests grill their own! In a pinch, you could even get out a big frying pan and just stir fry the meat. It’s a bit different, since it won’t have that lovely grilled taste, but will have lots of tasty juice that I used to love pouring over my rice as a kid.

I hope you enjoy this recipe and in a week or so, I’ll share the recipe for chapchae, a delicious noodle salad that usually has bits of bulgogi (but is also extremely tasty as a vegetarian dish for my readers that don’t eat meat).

Tagged as: bulgogi, Korean food, Korean grilled beef. recipes, pulgogi