Next door to our restaurant is a Japanese restaurant run by Koreans. They always come over to buy my dad’s black bean sauce to use for their noodles. One of the cooks taught me a very simple way to make beef bulgogi, although it isn’t exactly the way Koreans themselves make it. But for a non-Korean who just likes to eat (probably more than I should), this is more than enough for a simple and easy lunch.
Traditionally speaking, I’m told that bulgogi uses a fair amount of sugar and grated pear as a part of the marinade. However, I don’t particularly like pears so I never have any around. The recipe I was taught eliminates the pear but was replaced by more sugar, so it isn’t exactly “healthy”. So here is my neighbour’s take on it as well as a side sesame broccoli salad.
Ingredients for the broccoli salad:
– 2 cups of quickly blanched broccoli. (Blanch for a minute or two and quickly remove from hot water into running cold water to stop the cooking process and to keep them crisp.)
– 1 small clove garlic, minced
– 1 tspn light soy sauce
– 1 heaped tspn sugar
– pinch of salt and white pepper
– 1-2 tspn sesame seed oil, depending on your tastes
Mix all the seasonings together to form a dressing, add broccoli and toss until evenly coated. Garnish with sesame seeds.
Ingredients for beef bulgogi:
– 100g marbled beef skirt, thinly sliced
– 2 cups thinly shredded vegetables: onion, carrot, green shallot, bean shoots
– 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
– 3-4 tblsp sweet light soy sauce [NB: make sure the soy sauce is sweet and not the Chinese-style light soy as these ones are salty. Try to use Korean or Japanese sweet soy instead. If you don’t have these, dilute Chinese light soy with water and add extra sugar.]
– 2 tblsp sugar
– 1 tblspn sesame seed oil
– salt and white pepper to taste
– 1 tblspn water
– 1 grated brown pear (OPTIONAL. Use less sugar if using this)
– oil for cooking
What to do:
1. In a medium bowl, combine wet ingredients, sugar, garlic, salt and pepper and mix to make a marinade. If using pear, add to the mix.
2. Marinate beef skirt for at least 15 minutes.
3. In a hot pan, fry vegetables until just cooked. Keep vegetables crisp. Remove and put on a serving plate.
4. In the same pan, cook the marinated beef thoroughly, keeping a constant high heat. Serve on vegetables. Use the marinade as a sauce.
5: Garnish with thinly sliced shallot, red pickled ginger and toasted sesame seeds and serve with rice.
I hope you enjoy this recipe. The first time I made it, I didn’t have any sweet soy so I just used light Chinese soy, and boy did that almost kill me. Please don’t use it, it gets pretty salty. Fortunately, I was lucky the second time. Let me know what you think or if you have your own recipe for beef bulgogi. Again, this isn’t an authentic recipe, just a little cheat I learnt from a neighbour.
Happy cooking!
My Inner Foodie 