Making Bul-Kogi

Craig Claiborne's Bul-Kogi recipe out of the N.Y. Times International cookbook is a favorite of my daughter's. She is coming home today after about five months studying in Dublin, Ireland and this dish is on the menu. I expect I'll serve to with a Ridge Zinfandel blend with Guinness as an option. I was going to make a beef satay but have opted to do away with the skewers. Both boys will be home, too, so it should be a party, (as long as the guest of honor doesn't fall asleep !).

You rock, Jon. Congrats and y'all have a blast!!

I'm at my office (in between graduation ceremonies today) but I think I have that exact cook-book at home. Anyway can't look at it now but we have a lot of Koreans living around my part of NJ which means we have Korean-oriented supermarkets including H-Mart. I like the fact that you can buy the thin-sliced beef already cut, and if you want you can get a jar of tasty Korean BBQ marinade/sauce. If you go to a Korean BBQ restaurant around here you see that often they will grill King Oyster Mushrooms, the ones that are "all stem", along with the meat. And for the wrap, the standard seems to be red lettuce but sometimes I have used Korean shiso or "Kkaenip." Such a delicious meal. When I was doing it regularly I sometimes got lazy and just cooked the meat in a cast iron frying pan, which gets messy, but the flavor is always great. Depending on how authentic we wanted to be I would sometimes buy Soju and drink that instead of wine. Rarely, Soju can taste interesting. Most Soju (Shoju) tastes like maybe you should soak your paintbrushes in a jar of the stuff...

FWIW I don't think I've seen the spelling Bul-Kogi before. The K and the G are the same letter in Hangul, and I've seen Bulkoki or Bulgogi. The Korean pronunciation is ambiguous, like the difference between L and R in Korean. The R is a tongue-tap R which can sound just like an L (hence it's the same letter).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulgogi

불고기 -- the first cluster with the upside down A could be transcribed "bur" or "bul". Second cluster is "go" and third is "gi". That flat-top letter that hooks down on the right side is the G or K. It looks different because of the context -- "O" is horizontal and "I" is vertical.

Have fun with your kids! While everything is more cosmopoltian these days, I'm guessing not a LOT of Korean options in Dublin.

My fave Bulgogi recipe is one using hanger or skirt from Ming Tsai.

Frank, I seldom buy "ready to cook" foods, but the pre-marinated bulgogi at HMart is pretty good

Thanks, Jo Ann, Frank and Dale. And, Frank, that spelling may be unusual but it's right out of the cookbook; too bad we can't ask Mr. Claiborne how he came up with it.

Thanks FLDG, my education continues.

A dish I have not only not encountered but never even heard of before..

Last night we cleaned up 3/4s pound of loin ends and marinated them in the following Beef Bul-Kogi recipe:

5 tablespoons Soy Sauce
2 1/2 tablespoons of Turbinado sugar (use white if your will)
1/4 cup Chopped scallions
2 tablespoons Minced garlic
2 tablespoons Sesame seeds
2 tablespoons Sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon Black pepper
We whirled it in the blender and poured it over the meat; put in the fridge overnight.

Tonight we grilled them over charcoal and wild cherry chips; and served with farro salad.

Very nice; and will definitely do it again.

We had it again tonight with sweet potatoes and eggplant salad. Though oriental in origin, we find that it does have to be served with rice. It is a very versatile dish.

Carl, here's Craig Claiborne's recipe:

2 pounds beef (I cut into cut into bite-sized strips)
1 Tbsp toasted, ground sesame seeds
3 green onions finely chopped
4 cloves garlic finely minced (I usually add more)
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 Tbsp sesame oil
1/4 cup sugar
2 Tbsp sherry (I use cream sherry or beef stock)
1/8 tsp ground black pepper

(I omit one ingredient: 1/4 tsp MSG.)

Also, I usually marinate overnight. I use a tender cut of beef, like sirloin and I grill over wood coals just medium rare.
My daughter has suggested at least doubling the recipe and reducing half of it to serve as a sauce with the cooked meat - I like that idea.

My bulgogi is aimed a bit spicier, by adding chili paste (gochu-jan). I often use grated Asian pear as well
But all sound good

My bulgogi is aimed a bit spicier, by adding chili paste (gochu-jan). I often use grated Asian pear as well
But all sound good

The fruit (already in the commercial BBQ sauce) has enzymes that help to tenderize the beef -- of course when cut so thin it's not very tough anyway.