Korean Beef Bulgogi

Korean beef bulgogi is marinated for a few hours, making it very tender, and then cooked quickly and dipped into sauce before eating. The marinade plus the dip provide the dish with a ton of flavour. We served it on white rice with a spicy kimchi, purple pickled cucumbers, and a cucumber salad. The only tricky part was getting the beef sliced really thinly.

It was fun to go to the Asian supermarket and choose some prepared pickled side dishes. I also bought an Asian pear that I was going to cut into matchsticks as a garnish, but totally forgot about it.

I found this in a cookbook called The Global Grill by Kathleen Sloan. It serves six people.

What you need for the beef marinade:

• 2 & 1/2 pounds (just over a kilogram) beef strip loin
• 1/2 cup light light sauce
• 1/2 cup dark soya sauce
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 green onion, finely chopped
• 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon minced ginger root
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted and ground

What you need for the dipping sauce:

• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 green onion, finely chopped
• 3 tablespoons dark soya sauce
• 2 tablespoons water
• 2 tablespoons rice wine or mirin
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted and ground
• 1 tablespoon hot chili sauce (I used sriracha)
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon bean paste

What you need for serving:

• rice (we used 2 cups of jasmine rice)
• sesame seeds for garnish
• green onions for garnish
• side dishes such as kimchi, pickled vegetables, salad

What you do:

1. Combine all the marinade ingredients in a container with a lid.
2. Slice the beef as thinly as you can, using a very sharp knife. If you put the beef in the freezer for about 20 minutes before slicing it is easier to get the thin slices.
3. Cover the beef with the marinade and refrigerate for about four hours.
4. Combine all the ingredients for the sauce.
5. Return the beef to room temperature before cooking.
6. Preheat a grill or frying pan to high heat. Cook the beef for about 1 & 1/2 minutes per side. Serve it right away with the dipping sauce.