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Korean BBQ Recipe

Bulgogi literally means 'fire meat'. Thin slices of beef are marinated in a soy sauce-based sauce. I use chuck roast cos it's cheap but my mom suggests sirloin.1 Sirloin tips might work well. The variant of bulgogi is kalbi which uses short ribs, tends to taste better, and is a bit more expensive than bulgogi in the restaurants.

Update: I now only make kalbi using ribs from Farmer's Choice in the Strip. They already come sliced properly at $2.99/lb. Don't buy from a Korean grocery store which might charge you about $4.99/lb!

For bulgogi, I make my slices to be about a 2" x 2" x 1/4".

For kalbi, I obtain rib slices cut such that the bone is a cross-section.2 From these larger pieces, I cut out smaller chunks of meat that are roughly 1" x 1" x 1/2".

The theatrical release recipe contains the bare minimum required to make the dish. The director's cut is what I make.

Theatrical Release:

Basic marinade: 3
For every 2 lbs of meat:
  • 1 cup of soy sauce.
  • 1/8 cup of water.
  • 6 cloves of garlic, minced or pureed with a little soy sauce or water or sesame oil
  • 4 T of sesame seeds4
  • 3 T of sesame oil4
  • 6+ T of sugar5
  • 1.5 cup (or 1/2 bunch) of chopped green onion/scallion
  • 2 t of black pepper

    Mix the marinade well (i.e. dissolve all of the sugar) and pour onto meat, making sure the green onion is distributed throughout. There should be enough marinade to just cover the meat (or more). For thin slices, let the meat marinate in the fridge for a few hours. For thicker slices (i.e. kalbi), let it sit overnight. These days I let it sit overnight regardless, but I realize not everyone can plan ahead as well as I can.

    Cooking:
    Bulgogi and kabli tastes best grilled. But I don't own a grill so I use my oven's broiler (top tray). I place a big piece of foil on the top tray and poke many holes using a fork so that the sauce and fat can drip off. On the tray below, I just put a cookie sheet to catch the liquid.

    With kalbi, you're going to get pieces that are mostly fat, bone, and little meat. It's up to you whether you want to cook these or not. Since I'm known for devouring everything (fat and tendon and all) clean off the bones, I cook these pieces as well.

    Serving and Eating:
    This dish, unlike revenge, is best served with Asian sticky rice and kimchee.6 At restaurants, we often wrap the cooked meat in a big piece of some green (red lettuce or something) adding red pepper paste or kimchee, and rice. Yum! I usually use the Kokohu brand of white rice and mix it with brown rice.

    The Director's Cut:

    The director's cut includes the following extended scenes:
    1. Right after cutting/slicing the meat, I tenderize the meat using wax paper and smashing with the bottom of a glass.
    2. Pre-soak the cut/sliced beef in rice wine (and optionally a few table spoons of pureed Asian pear) for at least a few hours (I let it soak for about half-a-day).7 Alternatively, you can just add some rice wine to the basic marinade.
    3. In addition to the above marinade, I add:
      • Half a thumb size piece of ginger pureed with the garlic
    4. Instead of just pouring the marinade onto the meat, my mom suggested the following process:
      • Dip several pieces of meat into the marinade.
      • Squeeze out the juices, back into the marinade bowl.
      • Place the pieces in a separate bowl.
      • When all the pieces have been dipped and squeezed, then pour the marinade onto the meat.

    Afterward: You can use tofu or chicken with the above recipe if you're a wussy anti-carnivore. I've tried tofu and it tastes okay.

    Notes:
    1. Grad student parties aren't worth the expense of sirloin!
    2. Giant Eagle cut slices for me, but they were thicker than I wanted so I had to cut the pieces laterally as well. Also, Farmer's Choice in the Strip say they have short ribs cut this way. Also, you can ask for kalbi meat at a Korean grocery store (e.g. Sam Bok in the Strip) but it will be about $4/lb for pre-sliced ribs. You can also get sliced bulgogi meat as well which of course will be pricier than a big hunk of chuck roast from Farmer's Choice. If worse comes to worse, just get regular ribs and hack away.
    3. All the ingredient amounts are approximate.
    4. You might be able to get sesame oil and seeds at Lotus Foods. All Korean grocery stores will carry them. Store the seeds in the fridge. If you place the container in the pantry then make sure to use a rubber band to tighten the lid or else the annoying flies will get into them. Trust me, this has happened several times!
    5. It is important there is enough sugar in the marinade. Taste the marinade to be sure it's a little sweet. If it's way too salty, add a bit more sugar and maybe a little water.
    6. Kim-chee is a Korean side-dish of pickled, spicy cabbage. You can find this at all Korean grocery stores. Ask for kimchee that has sat for about a week as it will be sweeter and less sour. Alternatively, you can buy fresh kim-chee and have it sit out for about a day.
    7. Supposedly, the pear helps tenderize the meat. For rice wine, I use Aji-Mirin a Japanese rice wine. You can get the Asian pear and Aji-Mirin for cheap at Lotus Foods. Korean grocery stores will also carry these items.