Recipe: Korean Bulgogi

M and I both chose recipes to cook last weekend. I chose meatloaf, and he chose this Korean Bulgogi recipe. He eats it all the time; there are limited food choices on the base where he works, but there's a Korean lady who sells beef and pork bulgogi at lunchtime.

It was an all day event on Saturday to find the ingredients. Well it wouldn't have been, but I accidentally left an important ingredient off of the list when we visited Talin Market.

The preparation wasn't hard at all. Basically you just throw everything into a food processor and let it do all of the work. The meat needs to marinate for 24 hrs, and then you just throw it on the grill. The final outcome was 맛있은! (hopefully this means delicious) 

Here's the recipe (courtesy of the Food Network):

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup Korean chile bean paste (gochu-jan)
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon minced ginger
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup thin soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon coarse ground black pepper
• 1 cup canola oil
• 1/4 cup sesame seed oil
• 1 cup chopped scallions
• 1/3 cup chopped cilantro
• 3 pounds hanger steak, sinew removed
• Sliced green scallions, for garnish
• Fried shallots, for garnish (optional)

Directions

In a food processor, add chile paste, garlic, ginger, vinegar, sugar, soy and black pepper. Blend well than drizzle in the oils. While still running, add the scallions and cilantro. Check for seasoning. It should not be salty since salt is added right before grilling. Remove 1/2 cup of the marinade and reserve for sauce. In a dish, completely coat the hanger with remaining marinade and let marinate overnight. On a hot, oiled grill, season hanger with salt and grill, about 8 minutes for medium-rare. Slice up meat into small strips and serve over rice.

By the way, the meatloaf never happened!