I came across this really tasty sounding recipe for bulgogi a while ago. Bulgogi is a Korean barbecued beef dish that translates to “fire meat”. I liked the fact that this recipe used a pear and an apple in the marinade to add sweetness and help tenderize the meat. The bulgogi was pretty easy to make. The hardest part was slicing the beef thinly. I found that freezing the beef for an hour made it easier to slice thinly. The bulgogi was really good. It was sweet and tasty and the beef was nice and tender. I served it with rice and kimchi and I even tried making lettuce wraps with it. The leftover bulgogi mad a great bibimbap .
Bulgogi (Korean BBQ Beef)
Prep Time:1 hour 10 minutes Cook Time:10 minutes Total Time:1 hour 20 minutes Servings: 4
ingredients
- 1 pound beef sirloin (thinly sliced)
- 5 cloves garlic (grated)
- 1 inch ginger (grated)
- 1 small onion (grated)
- 1 Korean pear (grated)
- 1 Fuji apple (grated)
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 2 green onions (chopped)
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
directions
- Mix everything in a freezer bag and marinate over night.
- Cook the meat on a barbecue or in a pan on the stove.
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tigerfish says
April 7, 2008 at 9:02 amWow, you have a perfect meal set there 🙂
Manggy says
April 7, 2008 at 9:53 amAwesome! I was just thinking of new Korean dishes to prepare! The bibimbap is beautiful too! 🙂
Sylvie says
April 7, 2008 at 10:14 amI don’t think I’ve ever made anything Korean. The beef looks really good.
Peter M says
April 7, 2008 at 10:45 amI love bulgogi and you’ve got some kimchi to the side for some heat.
canarygirl says
April 7, 2008 at 11:37 amDelicious! Bulgogi is SO good. I have yet to find some decent kimchee here. 🙁 Eat a bite for me, ok? 🙂
Lori says
April 7, 2008 at 11:38 amThanks for the great idea to use pear and apple in the marinade. And now that you mention bibimbap, I am so craving that! 🙂
VeggieGirl says
April 7, 2008 at 12:27 pmso vibrant!! I always love the colorful palate of ALL of your meals :0)
Kalyn says
April 7, 2008 at 12:49 pmI’d love to try it!
Gretchen Noelle says
April 7, 2008 at 12:50 pmThe apple and pear in there is a curious thing. I like the sounds of it too!
Nilmandra says
April 7, 2008 at 1:00 pmI love bulgogi at Korean bbq. The apple and pear addition sounds interesting. Should be a nice balance to all that garlic!
Christine says
April 7, 2008 at 3:29 pmWe often order bulgogi at restaurants – it’s a great dish. I haven’t tried to make it at home. Your version looks great. Another one to bookmark 🙂
Deborah says
April 7, 2008 at 4:14 pmI’ve never had bulgogi, but now I really want some!
Elle says
April 7, 2008 at 4:18 pmI’ve always wanted to try making this! I love tat there’s pear and apple in the recipe, too.
Melanie says
April 7, 2008 at 4:25 pmI had bulgogi for the first time while backpacking around Korea about 8 years ago. It is delicious! But I’ve never quite found it to be the same here in the States at the Korean restaurants I’ve eaten at. Now, it looks like I’ll just have to try to make it myself!
Psychgrad says
April 7, 2008 at 4:44 pmLooks good Kevin! Good tip with freezing the meat too.
Sara says
April 7, 2008 at 5:01 pmYum! The grated fruit sounds really interesting. I’m going to fit this into my menu this week.
TheSassyChef says
April 7, 2008 at 5:44 pmBulgogi is one of my absolute favourite Korean dishes. Bibimbap as well. Never heard of using fruits to sweeten it but sounds like a good idea!
Gloria says
April 7, 2008 at 7:38 pmKevin, love meat with sesame, is delicious, and this looks really nice!! xxGloria
Laura @ Hungry and Frozen says
April 7, 2008 at 7:46 pmThat looks seriously good, have never seen anything like it before. 🙂
giz says
April 7, 2008 at 8:54 pmI’m such a rookie – I know absolutely nothing about Korean food and really have to do something about that. I admire your guts to just go forward and do it.
Toni says
April 7, 2008 at 10:20 pmI love this dish, and have ordered it in restaurants. The sweetness of the fruit not only helps tenderize the meat, but also offsets the heat of the “fire”.
Indonesia-Eats says
April 7, 2008 at 11:43 pmBulgogi is one of my favorite korean food. I forgot I have a Korean BBQ sauce that I bought from Korean pavilion. The lady at that korean pavilion told me to mix with pear 🙂
Anonymous says
April 8, 2008 at 12:29 amMy neighbor introduced me to this and I loved it 🙂
Jen Yu says
April 8, 2008 at 5:24 amOh… *bleeping* yum!!! I have been wanting to try bulgogi… and especially to eat it with kimchi. Just a few more months and I’ll be able to indulge. Your food looks terrific and I’m feeling pangs of hunger just looking at the pics. Great job as always Kevin!
Greg Turner says
April 8, 2008 at 10:01 amI love bulgogi, and this looks really, really good.
We Are Never Full says
April 8, 2008 at 12:14 pmI think what I appreciate most about your blog is your love of Japanese and Korean food. You have a decent amount of it her and you have the ability to make it sound easy and look delicious for those who maybe don’t have the ability to eat that type of cuisine easily where they live. It’s weird b/c Korean food is one type of food I just don’t make at home because we have such amazing and cost-effective restaurants here in new york city. one day, i’m sure I won’t live here anymore, but i hope your blog is still around!
Rosie says
April 8, 2008 at 3:55 pmOh your Bulgogi looks Delicious Kevin!! One I would love to try 🙂
Rosie x
Bellini Valli says
April 8, 2008 at 3:58 pmThanks for the trip down memory lane Kevin. I haven’t made bulgogi in years…not because it isn’t delicious, but because I eat very little red meat.I will have to break that habit:D
Greg says
April 8, 2008 at 8:31 pmExcellent. I do love Korean food. The asian pear is very subtle that you can’t really taste it but it wouldn’t be bulgogi without it.
HoneyB says
April 8, 2008 at 11:24 pmThis looks and sounds really good. I wonder about using venison in place of the beef?
Mrs. W says
April 9, 2008 at 4:30 pmKevin, you did an excellent job there. I lived in Korea for a while and often crave that yummy bulgogi. You can also make it with pork (pulgogi, or that’s what we called it anyway) using the same marinade. Well done!
denise & lenny says
April 9, 2008 at 4:54 pmI love Korean B-B-Q … making this! Thanks for posting the recipe. Love your site … fantastic photos! Keep up the great work.
cook eat FRET says
April 15, 2008 at 2:44 ambookmarked…
Jaime says
April 27, 2008 at 9:49 pmi love bulgogi! i have a much simpler recipe in my blog for it that given to me by a friend. wonder how it compares to this one?
Anonymous says
July 18, 2008 at 1:51 amNice recipe, we also like using pear to tenderize the meat, we sometimes use Kiwi as well. If you go to korean supermarket, they pre-slice the ribeye for you so that its easy to make bulgogi!
Nikki the Foodie of Lobster Gram says
March 5, 2010 at 6:57 pmI LOVE bulgogi. I always go to the same authentic Korean place in Chicago called Cho Sun Oak.
Never tried making it myself before, but I think I will now.
Thanks so much for sharing this recipe!
the dangerous mind says
March 9, 2010 at 6:36 pmHi Kevin,
I had bulgogi for the first time pretty recently… loved it! So much so, that I looked up a recipe online and made it at home! I use kiwi and I've found that it really works well – both, to tenderize and sweeten.
Take care, keep cooking.
Cheers from India 🙂