Korean cuisine hasn’t made a lot of impact in the US, even though it has some flavors and dishes that most people will appreciate. Few anglos like kimchi as much as I do, but a couple of the most popular Korean dishes are straightforward grilled meat. Outdoor cooking season isn’t nearly over, give this a try!
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Kalbi (or galbi) is thin-sliced beef short ribs, marinated and grilled. The butcher’s name for this unusual cut is “flanken style”. I went to the Korean market to get some and changed my mind when I saw the price. Beef is expensive, and in this cut you pay steak price for lots of bone. Delicious though. If making this plan on a pound per serving. |
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So instead I bought some of the store’s prepared meat, a much smaller investment in this diary.
Bulgogi is thin-sliced beef steak, maybe sirloin, marinated and grilled. That’s the title picture.
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the finished dinner with bulgogi, rice and kimchi. |
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The online recipes for bulgogi and kalbi marinades aren’t quite the same but they’re pretty close, and obviously not too different from teriyaki. This version came from a Korean co-worker about 30 years ago and I’ve been using it frequently ever since. It’s great on beef, pork or chicken.
Korean Barbecue Marinade
Makes about 1 cup (enough for 8 to 10 servings).
2 tablespoons sesame oil
¼ cup soy sauce
¼ cup mirin (rice wine) or dry sherry
¼ cup sugar
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 stalks green onion, chopped
2 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted
4 cloves garlic, minced
½ teaspoon grated ginger root
Toast the sesame seeds in a small pan for a couple of minutes. I add red chili flakes also. Mix above ingredients well. Marinate meat for at least 2 hours. Broil, bake or (preferably) barbecue.
The picture of chicken is from the last time I used this marinade, when I got the idea to write about this.
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What’s for dinner at your place? Please consider writing about it for a future WFD. Message ninkasi23 if you can.