Korean Beef Bulgogi

There is a wonderful restaurant in my town that serves Bibimbap (Korean rice bowl) with Korean Beef Bulgogi. I wanted to recreate the dish at home. So, I used this beef bulgogi recipe from Billy Parisi to use in the Bibimbap bowl.  It was so delicious.  This meat would also be great served in a lettuce wrap with rice.

1 cored and peeled fuji apple

4 garlic cloves

½ cup light brown sugar

½ cup granulated sugar

2 cups water

½ cup soy sauce

¼ cup sesame oil

3 tablespoons plum extract, optional

½ peeled and thinly sliced yellow onion

2 pounds thinly sliced ribeye steak

Sesame Seeds (optional)

Sliced green onions (optional)

 

To make the marinade, add the apple, garlic, sugars, water, soy sauce, sesame oil and plum extract to a blender and blend at high speed until smooth. Set aside.

 

Add the onions and steak slices to a Ziploc bag or plastic container.  (I reserved about 1/2 - 1 cup of the marinade in a separate container to make a sauce.  See below for the sauce directions.) Pour the remaining marinade from the blender over the meat and onions.  Make sure the meat and onion are completely submerged in the marinade.  Squeeze the sealed bag or shake the sealed container to make sure the marinade is surrounding the meat and onions.  Marinate the meat in the refrigerator overnight or at least 6 hours, but no more than 24 hours.

 

Cooking Options:

 

Grilling - Drain and discard the marinade from the meat and onions.  Line a grill with foil and heat the grill to 450-550 F.  Spread out the beef and onions on the foil and cook for 2-3 minutes per side or until a light char has formed on the steak. (If you don’t use foil on your grill, it will be a sticky mess.)

 

Pan Cooking - When cooking bulgogi in a pan, heat the pan over medium-high heat and add 1-2 tablespoons of sesame oil. Spread the drained marinated beef and onions around the pan and cook for 2-3 minutes per side, like on the grill.

 

Sprinkle with optional sesame seeds and sliced green onions.

Optional Sauce: Combine 1/2 TBS cornstarch into 1/2 cup of the cooled reserved marinade to make a slurry. (Make sure you use the reserved marinade.  NOT the marinade that you drained off the raw meat.)  Heat up the remaining marinade in a saucepan over medium heat. Once hot, whisk in the cornstarch slurry mixture and bring to a light boil for about 1-2 minutes or until the sauce has thickened.  I used this sauce to drizzle over the Bibimbap bowl (see recipe for Korean Bibimbap Rice Bowl).  This sauce added such a delicious flavor to the bowl.

Serves:  6

Source:  Billy Parisi - Elevate Your Everyday Cooking - Chef Billy Parisi

Kimberly