My recipes are mostly adapted from experience and a cookbook called The Korean Kitchen by Copeland Marks and Manjo Kim.
Bulgogi:
1 1/2 lbs thinlysliced beef
4 tsp sugar
1/4 c soy sauce
3 barlic cloves, finely chopped
3 green onions, sliced
1/4 teaspoon hot pepper flakes
1 tsp sesame oil
mix beef and sugar, let rest for a few minutes. I cannot emphasize this step more -- if you leave it too long, believe it or not the sugar will OVER tenderize the meat until it is mush. I learned the hard way how strong sugar can be as a tenderizer. After a few minutes (I mean five may be too many, go 2 or 3), add the rest of the marinade, mix well, and from there you can refridgerate for up to overnight.
These are very, very thin slices of meat. You need a hot fire very close to your grill, and you put them over the fire and turn over, and eat.
Kal bi is essentially the same recipe, but it is beef ribs cut across the bones, very thin.
Chop chae is basically 'mung bean noodles' (clear noodles that you can buy most places these days). Cook according to instructions on the package, being very careful because they go from not done yet to overcooked goop in seconds. Err on the side of under cooking, because you're going to stir fry them next.
coat the bottom of a large frying pan or wok with vegetable oil. stir fry any of the following:
spinach
grated carrots
green onions
other types of onions
any kinds of peppers
mushrooms
as with fried rice, almost any veggie will be good in this.
Toss the noodles into the oil and veggies, and pour on:
2T soy sauce
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp sesame oil
dry hot pepper flakes to taste
1/2 tsp toasted sesame seeds
toss until coated and serve
the chop chae will go very fast, so make sure you have your mis en place.
I've noticed Korean food getting a lot of press in the gourmet magazines this year. I've never understood why it isn't more popular, because it is essentially grilled meat. Kimchee has a bad rep because it can be pretty smelly when you go for the fermented stuff.