Name: Tender Korean Beef Bulgogi
Prep time: 90 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 340 min
Ingredients: 2 lb 900g beef rib eye thinly sliced, about 1/8"thick; 1/2 Asian pear (cut up); 1/2 onion (cut up); 4-5 dried anchovies; 2 dried sea kelp (dashima); 1 cup water; 7 tbsp low sodium soy sauce; 3-4 tbsp sugar; 3 cloves garlic finely minced; 2 tbsp sweet rice wine (mirim); 1 tbsp sesame oil; 2 tsp toasted sesame seeds; 1 tsp black pepper freshly ground

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How to make authentic tender Korean beef bulgogi with soy sauce marinade. You will have a juicy and succulent Korean beef topped with onion and mushroom. Drizzle the gravy over rice. Delicious!

I bet you can find hundreds of Bulgogi recipes on the web. Many food bloggers have been posted their versions of this glorious Korean cow dish.

So why am I posting this? Because, I am bored out of my mind… Just kidding.

Well, I am a Korean food blogger, and I gotta have Korean beef recipe at some point to be eligible for that. Just like every housewives in Korea having their ways of making it, I have my version too, adapted from my own mother’s recipe.

What makes mine different?

As you see, mine has some juice in the dish. That is what authentic Bulgogi should be. It is supposed to be wet unlike Galbi.

Drizzle those flavorful Bulgogi juice on the rice, it will melt down your soul and makes you fall in love with the person across your table. ♥ ♥ ♥

I also prefer not to mix any vegetable with beef in the marinade. I prepare vegetables separately and use as topping.

Better taste, better presentation, and you get the credit. Here is how I make my Bulgogi.

INGREDIENTS

Let’s look at the ingredients.

Asian pear, sugar, soy sauce, mirin (or rice wine), sesame oil, sesame seeds, black pepper, onion, garlic, anchovies, sea kelp, and or course, the cow meat.

PREPARATION OF BEEF

This is beef rib eye. Previously frozen. You can buy this thinly sliced (1/8″) package any Korean groceries. I let it to defrost in the fridge overnight.

If you don’t have access to the Korean store, well… either slice yourself or ask your butcher to slice as thin as his humanness possible.

Now Beyond Kimchee’s special techniques are just about to reveal…

#1: Place a paper towel on the cutting board, and layer the beef slices on top just like that.

Repeat until all the slices are covered with paper towels. Let it sit like that for 10 minutes.

I am sucking some blood out. Did I ever mention that I used to be a vampire, …in a dream? This step will get rid of unpleasant odor in the meat improving the flavor. You can skip this if you don’t care about what I just said.

BULBOGI MARINADE

#2: Cut up pear and onion, and put them in a blender. I just love my mini blender that I recently bought.

My new toy in the kitchen, ho ho ho… Doesn’t the green color looks like 70th retro? Reminds me of a pair of bell bottom pants I used to wear as a child.

Let your blender do his duty.

I don’t drink coffee but I buy coffee filters. Pour your pear onion puree in the filter and drain the clear juice part, discard the other.

Filtering will help create more savoring touch to your meat juice later on.

Pour the reserved pure pear onion juice over the meat in the mixing bowl.

Mix well. Give some massage to your meat, singing some lullaby. Because they need to relax. ♪♪… ♪♪

Let it marinade for 30 minutes in the fridge. This will help break down the fibers in their macho muscles.

#3: Meanwhile make my royal highness stock. Some dried anchovies and sea kelp with water, boil and simmer until you suck the life out of them.

You will only need about 1/2C of the stock. Adding the sea flavor to cow meat is like when Harry met Sally version of love story.

Now mix all the ordinary Bulgogi marinade ingredients in a bowl. The stock, finely minced garlic, soy sauce, sugar, rice wine… etc

Pour over the meat and massage them again. This time sing some Bohemian chant…, followed by a prayer.

I keep them in a jelly roll pan in a single layer. It helps the meat marinate evenly so you don’t have to turn the meat later. You don’t have to follow on this but if you have the pan, why not?

Cover the pan and chill the meat for overnight. If you don’t have the luxury of overnight magic, give them at least 4 hours, would ya?

HOW TO COOK BULGOGI

When everyone is ready to eat, set your dinner or lunch table. Heat up your skillet over medium-high heat. Hot! No Need Oil, please! It cooks in its own juice.

Bulgogi should not cook with any oil except the sesame oil in the marinade, Period!

Add the meat to the hot skillet. Stir them gently to cook evenly. It cooks in no time since the slices are very thin. 1-2 minutes, seriously! Overcooking will make your meat dry and tough.

Done! You can eat the way it is with some rice or Serve with some sauteed onions and mushrooms on top if the presentation is important.

Just saute onion in a little bit of oil, season with some salt.

For the mushroom, I used oyster mushroom but you can use any. I sauteed with some garlic, Korean soy sauce and pepper until they get soft. Throw some chopped green onions for color.

Serve your Bulgogi warm. Don’t forget to drizzle its juice on your rice. So flavorful and comforting. Some might think what are all the fusses about extra steps.

The others wouldn’t mind to go extra miles to reach for the best.

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