Best and Easiest Beef Bulgogi – Asian Recipes At Home (2024)

FAQs

How long should you marinate bulgogi? ›

Place the meat and vegetables in a large bowl. Add the marinade and toss gently to combine everything well. Marinate the meat for 30 minutes to an hour, up to overnight. Grilling: Grill the meat on a charcoal or gas grill or pan fry in a skillet over high heat until slightly caramelized.

Boneless ribeye steak is our cut of choice for this recipe and the most popular because it is tender and flavorful with nice marbling. Sirloin is also commonly used to make bulgogi and is slightly leaner that ribeye. You can also use flank steak in a pinch with good results, but the texture won't be quite as tender.

There are three types of bulgogi that are typically served at restaurants today – Gwangyang-style of South Jeolla Province, Eonyang-style of South Gyeongsang Province and last but not least, the Seoul-style.

Serve the bulgogi with some steamed Korean rice and with other Korean side dishes. You can also use some lettuce leaves and perilla leaves to wrap the bulgogi. Don't forget to pair it with some Korean ssamjang (Korean bbq dipping sauce) and some kimchi (spicy or non-spicy) too!

Most recipes for marinating meat and poultry recommend six hours up to 24 hours. It is safe to keep the food in the marinade longer, but after two days it is possible that the marinade can start to break down the fibers of the meat, causing it to become mushy.

Steak marinade is a liquid that steak soaks in for some time. While marinades can help out the flavor of steak in about 30 minutes or so, they work their best magic when steaks soak in them for several hours, or even a full day, before cooking.

Bulgogi (Korean: 불고기; American English /bʊlˈɡoʊɡiː/ buul-GOH-ghee; from Korean bul-gogi [pul. ɡo. ɡi]), literally "fire meat") is a gui (Korean-style grilled or roasted dish) made of thin, marinated slices of meat, most commonly beef, grilled on a barbecue or on a stove-top griddle.

Once it's done marinating, the hard part is over. Throw it onto a super hot cast iron skillet or grill pan and that smoky, sweet-savory charred bits of meat will simply put you over the edge. Serve with rice and maybe a side of kimchi for a full meal.

Carrots and green onion - These two vegetables are optional and mostly added for color. Feel free to omit if you want. Soy sauce and brown sugar - These two are the base of our bulgogi marinade.

It typically consists of soy sauce, sugar, mirin (sweet rice wine), sesame oil, garlic, and green onions, along with other ingredients such as ginger, pear juice, or rice wine vinegar. The sauce is used to flavor and tenderize thinly sliced beef that is then grilled, pan-fried, or stir-fried.

What does bulgogi mean in Korean? ›

Bulgogi (불고기) is the name of a Korean dish, literally translating to “fire meat.” This famous Korean dish has existed for thousands of years, and it is now gaining popularity in Western countries like the United States and Canada.

The term 'bulgogi' comes from Korea and translates to 'fire meat' as it was originally cooked using skewers on a hwaro grill. This ubiquitous meal's early history and origin date back to the Goguryeo era (37 B.C. to 668 A.D.), when it was initially called maekjeok.

Bulgogi is commonly served with rice and kimchi. It is also served as a wrap. To make a wrap, use whole, fluffy lettuce leave such as green leaf or romaine and add any of the following: rice, hot peppers, carrots, cucumbers, bean paste.

Yoon Sook-ja, director of the Institute of Traditional Korean Food, recommends pairing dwaeji bulgogi (marinated grilled pork) with soju (clear liquor). Soju, the clear traditional liquor that comes in the iconic green bottle, is widely known to soothe the sorrows of Koreans as shown in many films and TV dramas.

It's packed to the rafters with veggies, yet still feels naughty thanks to the sweet n' salty bulgogi sauce. It's pretty much perfect in terms of “healthy-ish comfort food”.

Yes! As meat marinates, the reason it becomes tender is because it's actually breaking down. It's possible to break down the meat too much by marinating it too long. I like to marinade beef bulgogi for 4 hours, but up to 8 hours is fine.

Generally tender cuts of meat need anything from 15 minutes to 2 hours and tougher cuts of meat will need longer (At least 6 hours). A longer marination time will provide more flavour and allows the acid or enzymes to tenderise the meat more.

No, it is not recommended to reuse the marinade from bulgogi after cooking the meat in it. This is because the marinade can become contaminated with bacteria from the raw meat, which can cause foodborne illness if consumed.

Marinating can help to extend the shelf life by a day or two but do not rely on marinating to preserve foods for a long period of time. Make sure to purchase pre-marinated foods from a reputable butcher or supplier. Some places (not all) marinate meat to try and extend the shelf life of older meat that has not sold.