BEST Korean Beef Bulgogi
Korean BBQ beef, bulgogi, is very easy to make at home with a few basic ingredients, and the thinly sliced beef doesn’t take long to marinate. This bulgogi recipe shows you everything you need to know about how to make the best bulgogi!
Ingrédients
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless rib eye steak
- 1/2 small pear, peeled and coarsely grated
- 1/4 cup reduced sodium soy sauce use ordinary soy sauce if you don't find others
- 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
- 1 tablespoon gochujang (Korean red pepper paste)
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
Instructions
- Wrap steak in plastic wrap, and place in the freezer for 30 minutes. Unwrap and slice across the grain into 1/4-inch thick slices.
- In a medium bowl, combine pear, soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil, garlic, ginger and gochujang. In a gallon size Ziploc bag, combine soy sauce mixture and steak; marinate for at least 2 hours to overnight, turning the bag occasionally.
- Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a cast iron grill pan over medium-high heat.* Working in batches, add steak to the grill pan in a single layer and cook, flipping once, until charred and cooked through, about 2-3 minutes per side. Repeat with remaining 1 tablespoon vegetable oil and steak.
- Serve immediately, garnished with green onions and sesame seeds, if desired.
Notes
GOLDEN TIPS TO MAKE EASY BEEF BULGOGI !
- Freeze beef. You can purchase pre-sliced Beef Bulgogi meat at Korean grocery stores, otherwise, the easiest way to thinly slice beef is while it is partially frozen. Wrap beef in plastic wrap and freeze 1-2 hours until it is firm enough to hold shape but still soft enough to slice. I like to cut the beef in half and place one half in the freezer until I am finished slicing the first half so it doesn’t start to defrost on the cutting board.
- Cut beef thin : Slices should be less super thin – even more thin than the beef in Beef and Broccoli or Spicy Korean Noodles. Beef Should be sliced less than 1/8” thick if cooking in a skillet and 1/8” thick if cooking on the grill. Don’t worry if the edges look a bit ragged.
- Cut beef across the grain. You can see the “grain” running through the meat in one direction. The grain is essentially the muscle fibers running through the meat. You want to cut perpendicular to the muscle fibers so they become as short as possible as opposed to long muscle fibers. Long muscle fibers will give you chewy, rubbery tough meat – so cut AGAINST the grain.
- Beef Substitutes. You can mix up the meat in this Bulgogi and use boneless pork loin, boneless short rib, skinless, boneless chicken breasts or thighs.
- Bring meat to room temperature. Let beef sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. This way your beef won’t be cold when it touches the hot skillet and immediately reduce the skillet temperature. Chilled meat also will releases more of its juices, which we don’t want.
- Use tongs. We don’t want excess moisture/marinade in our skillet in order for the beef to sear and caramelize instead of just steam, so use a pair of tongs to transfer your beef from the marinade to the skillet, letting excess marinade drip off. If there is excess moisture left in your skillet after you cook you first batch, wipe it out with a paper towel.
- Use a hot skillet. Your pan should be hot enough so that the meat sizzles as soon as it touches the pan. We want the outside of our meat to develop a nice sear while the inside remains tender, this ensures juicy steak. To do this, use a wok, cast iron or stainless steal pan, make sure your skillet is nice and hot.
- Don’t overcrowd your pan. Cook your steak in 4 batches so you don’t overcrowd your skillet which will steam instead of sear your beef. The hot skillet will evaporate any extra moisture as it sears the meat and leave you with beautifully caramelized Beef Bulgogi. It only takes a few minutes to cook each batch, so please do not try to rush the process and crowd your pan or your beef will suffer flavor and tenderness.
- Add additional sugar to taste. Beef Bulgogi is mildly sweet, but just how sweet is subjective. I think the recipe is perfect as written, but you can add more sugar while you’re cooking if you like sweeter Bulgogi. To do this add sprinkle ½-1 teaspoon brown sugar over your meat then stir fry.