The Meatwave

Korean Barbecue Beef Bulgogi

Korean Barbecue Beef Bulgogi View Recipe

It wasn't that long ago that I was answering to the stunned responses I got when I admitted that I had never had Korean BBQ. As such a meat enthusiast, it was dumbfounding to others that I had not experienced the greatness of the cuisine. I had no excuse for not trying it, it was just one of those things that never happened, until this winter, when the wait for Korean fried chicken was too long for my rumbling tummy and Korean BBQ was the inevitable back-up in an area of the city dominated by Korean joints.

Maybe it's the fact that I had put Korean BBQ on a pedestal after so many enthusiastically sold it to me, but I was not totally blown away. Don't get me wrong, it was damn good, just not life changing as fabled stories had led me to expect. This rang most true for the bulgogi—marinated thin slices of steak—so much so it never crossed my mind to make it at home, but during last weekend's Korean meat feast, it made the cut, and what came off the grill was not only heads and shoulders above what I experienced at the restaurant, it immediately stole the show from all other meats that day.

Bulgogi

When shopping for the Meat-a-thon, I came across the required thin strips of beef for bulgogi, looking specifically cut for this application. I was tempted to take the easy route and pick up a few packages, but being a self-described Meatmaster, I much prefer to attempt the butchering myself.

The bulgogi I knew has some beautiful marbling, so I started with a search for a steak that would have a right balance between beefy and fatty, with the fat evenly distributed throughout the meat. That led me to a rib steak, which is cut from the rib primal and is incredibly well marbled, making it tender and flavor and able to withstand some high heat, like the coals on the grill.

Bulgogi

With an assured feeling I had the perfect cut, the next challenge was getting it sliced super thin. This wasn't going to be easy without a meat slicer (wish list), but from past experience I knew a firmer steak would aid in the process. So to get this steak into a good slicing condition, I stuck it in the freezer for about an hour, after which, I was able to cut it into 1/8-inch strips fairly easily.

Bulgogi

Next came the marinade, and without any previous Korean cooking experience or friends to rely on, I was left scouring the internet to piece together a recipe that seemed reliable. This was not terribly difficult, as most recipes tended to have similar ingredient lists with just some variations on exact amounts. The part that caught me up was marinade time. I found a lot calling for a quick dip—one to two hours—while others saying overnight baths would give the best results. I went with the later, letting my meat soak up all those delicious flavors overnight, which I believe was the path to success here.

Meat-a-thon

Grilling was a no brainier for bulgogi, I wanted hot and fast. In the restaurant it seemed like it cooked in no time, so it should be the same on the grill. It took only about a minute or less on each side over the high heat on the grill for the thin strips of beef to cook to perfect doneness—when just cooked through, keeping it still nice and tender.

Bulgogi

In the end I got something not so familiar—a much darker and caramelized bulgogi as opposed to the rather plain looking meat I had previously been served. Along with the difference in appearance came a taste that also didn't match up—this bulgogi exploded with the excellent flavors of the marinade, while I questioned if the one that left me underwhelmed in the restaurant was marinated at all. There was nothing lackluster about the beef here, it was tender and deep with tastes of soy sauce, sugar, sesame, and onion. Still being a Korean BBQ newbie, it's possible that the restaurant bulgogi was really "authentic" and mine may be some weird bastardization, but give me a choice between two and I'll have no problem being labeled a bastard.

Print Recipe

Korean Barbecue Beef Bulgogi

  • Yield 6 to 8 servings
  • Prep 15 Minutes
  • Inactive 2 Hours
  • Cook 2 Minutes
  • Total 2 Hours 17 Minutes

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup Japanese or Korean dark soy sauce
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 tablespoon sesame oil
  • 1 tablespoon mirin
  • 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
  • 3 medium garlic cloves, minced
  • 3 scallions, minced
  • 2 pounds well marbled rib steak
  •  
  • For serving
  • Bibb lettuce
  • Kimchi

Procedure

  1. Place the steaks in the freezer until they firm up, about 1 hour. While the steaks are in the freezer, combine the soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, mirin, sesame seeds, garlic and scallions together in a small bowl and set aside.
  2. Remove the steaks from the freezer and slice into strips 1/8 inch thick against the grain, removing any large areas of fat. Place the steak in a large Ziploc bag and pour in the marinade and seal. Toss to evenly distribute the marinade, then open and reseal the bag, removing as much air as possible. Place in the refrigerator and let marinate for at least one hour to overnight.
  3. Light one chimney full of charcoal. When all the charcoal is lit and covered with gray ash, pour out and spread coals out evenly over the charcoal grate. Clean and oil the cooking grate. Place the steak on the grill and cook until the meat is seared on both sides, about 1 minute per side. Remove from the grill and serve immediately with bibb lettuce and kimchi.

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Comments

  1. Bill I also have never had Korean BBQ and my friends and family think I'm insane... but I'm making this tonight. Looks absolutely amazing!

  2. Josh @Bill I think this would make a great weeknight meal. I'm guessing that with a short marinade that would happen on a weeknight, like one hour, you'd get a meat more like I got in the restaurant%u2014mostly beef flavor with a kiss of marinade.

  3. Scott Glad you posted the recipe, after reading the meat-a-thon I was wondering what ingredients and technique were used...

  4. Josh @Scott No problem. I'm pushing myself to get the recipes here back on track after too long of neglect. The galbi and daeji bulgogi will get their moment in the spotlight too, probably over on Serious Eats though.

  5. Dave Great looking recipe. I've made this from pre-marinated packages before, but your from-scratch version looks so much better.

  6. Chris I'm a bugogi virgin still but not for much longer. Bookmarking this to try next week. Thanks for breaking it down so easily.

  7. Debs This sounds & looks delicious. I'm a virgin to this dish too so IF I can find decent meat here (difficult in Spain) I'll try it out this summer

  8. Josh @Debs Please tell me why you say it's difficult to find decent meat, you're talking about beef and not swine? I always imagined Spain as a magical place filled with nothing but the best pork products ever, and I don't want that fantasy ruined :)

  9. starre this looks so good is dark soy a soy with sweetner in it? If so i think i have some and will try this dish

  10. Josh @starre I'm not exactly sure what makes dark soy sauce dark, but it's flavor is a little more pronounced and it definitely imparts more color onto the meat in a marinade. If you can find it, Korean soy sauce would actually be best with this recipe, but I only had a Japanese dark soy sauce, so that's what I used.

  11. starre i go to asian markets and pick up all kinds of soy. i have a dark soy with molasses in it and it has a very strong flavor soooo not sure if that is the flavor profile for this dish but i'm sure no matter which one i use it will be good. i have a rib eye in the freezer so will be making this on my next day off
    thanks

  12. Bill I made this tonight... and man it was killer - thanks for the post! I had to make a few adjustments to accomodate a sesame allergy, but otherwise it was a very tasty mid-week dinner. Pics and a writeup can be found here: http://bbqbillys.com/korean-bbq-or-so-im-told Thanks again for the inspiration.... really glad I gave this one a shot.

  13. Josh @Bill Happy to hear it turned out for you. Your post looks awesome.

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