Request: Korean BBQ Beef or Chicken (Bul gogi) recipes

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that enjoys cooking.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

surfol

Assistant Cook
Joined
Jan 10, 2009
Messages
15
Hello guys,

anyone here can recommend good recipes for Korean BBQ Chicken/Beef (Kalbi/Bulgogi) ?

thanks in advance!
 
Pork Bulgogi and more delicious recipes, smart cooking tips, and video demonstrations on marthastewart.com

You can use peanut oil instead of olive oil and add sliced sweet peppers as well as onion. Works equally well with beef.
pork-bulgogi
 
CHUCKWAGON COOKIE’S BULGOGI

1 ½-2 LB Beef, sliced very thinly (ribeye is the preferred meat)
3 TBSP Sesame Oil
½ Cup Soy Sauce
1 bunch Green Onions, chopped
2 TBSP Honey
1 TBSP Brown Sugar
2 TBSP Garlic, Chopped
1 Tsp Fresh Ginger, Minced
2 TBSP Sake/Rice Vinegar
½ tsp Black Pepper
½ TBSP Red Pepper Flakes
1 TBSP Sesame Seeds

Mix all of the above, then add the beef, which has been sliced thinly
Across the grain.
Marinate for at least 30 minutes.
The best cooking method is grilling the meat, but in a pinch you can stir fry it in small batches.

A traditional way to eat it is in lettuce wraps, with some fried rice.
Here's a dipping sauce that goes well with these:

DIPPING SAUCE
* 3 tablespoons salad oil
* 2 clove garlic, minced
* 2 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds
* 2 teaspoons scallion, minced
* 1 teaspoon Tabasco (more or less as desired)
* salt and pepper to taste
 
I often use jellies/jams that well-meaning people have given me as gifts when they travel, and once a sister made orange marmalade that didn't set, instead of sugar/honey (not berry, but many other work well). I'll also use vermouth -- either sweet or dry -- or any other fortified wine in place of the sake if that's what I can get (I've made this in some pretty obscure small towns in the Midwest; it is one of my favorite dishes). I cannot get the correct cut of ribs for kal-bi, so I buy what I refer to as "brontosaurus" ribs (regular beef ribs), cut them to individual ribs, marinade all day, and grill. Or I'll marinade a flank steak. One recipe I have calls for sprinkling the thin sliced beef (for bulgogi) with sugar for awhile before marinading. I didn't realize sugar was such a tenderizer, I over-did it and the thin slices of beef became mush. The nearest Korean restaurant is easily 2 hours away (and I wouldn't know, because I haven't found it!). So I make do. GrillingFool, I don't use a recipe any more, but you pretty much do the same as I do. I sometimes use less sugar for beef and chicken, more for pork or venison. I don't have a sweet tooth, but most like touch of extra sweet for those meats.

There are some recipes I call "very forgiving", and this is one.
 
Yup, very forgiving/flexible! My cooking buddy substitutes a good shot of Maker's Mark Whiskey for the sake, and its just as good.
I generally leave out either the honey or the Brown Sugar; it's plenty sweet with just one for me.
"Flat Iron" steaks, round steak.. I've used many cuts. Some I pound first, some I marinate longer, but they all do OK!
Cooking buddy has a good pork recipe, but I haven't made it yet.

And the bulgogi sauce adds a nice depth of flavor in the fried rice too. We once ran out of Soy Sauce and just used the marinade... quite good!
This is also one of my favorite dishes too!
 
Funny you mention it: a) Flat Iron steaks are what I seem to be able to get lately at our local grocery store, and they are so flavorful and just the right size for two. b) I was looking around for something different the last time I was stir frying to add a bit of pizzaz to the sauce, and tossed in a shot of bourbon. It was so darned good! I'll definitely consider it the next time I do a bulgogi/kal-bi marinade, although not Maker's Mark. I think that might be a capital (or is it capitol?) offense. Jim Beam is as expensive as I'd get!

I'm with you on the one or another thing when it comes to sugar. Honey or brown sugar or jam or whatever. Especially since we're speaking about beef. I only add more when I have guests I know who have sweet teeth, hubby and I do not. So just enough to mellow it a bit.

I also sometimes take the leftover marinade it and boil it (for safely, and only when it is beef), sometimes thickening it with a cornstarch slurry. Good over a scoop of rice as a side.
 
Last edited:

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom