This is an authentic recipe for Korean Beef Bulgogi. It’s easy and fast to make, and the ingredients are all from the supermarket. I think you will be surprised by two key ingredients in the marinade: grated apple and grated onion. This is quite unique to Korean cooking – and it makes an incredible base for this simple, tasty stir fry!
Korean Beef Bulgogi
When I think about food trends in recent years, one of the cuisines that comes to mind straight away is Korean food.
Legends like David Chang (of the world renowned Momofuku restaurants) and Roy Choi (LA Korean fusion food truck extraordinaire) have brought Korean food into the limelight. Whereas once you had to hunt to find great Korean restaurants in Sydney, now they are really common in the city and there are growing pockets throughout the suburbs with an increasing number of great Korean restaurants.
Korean food is now cool. It’s what sushi was 10 years ago!
I have always loved Korean food, from the moment I first tried it. But honestly, it wasn’t until perhaps about 5 years ago that I started making it myself at home. You will laugh when I tell you how I got onto Korean home cooking….
It was because of my Korean hairdresser. Truly! She’s a character. Even though I now live 30km/20 miles from her salon, I still make the trek there every 6 weeks not only because she knows what she’s doing, but also because she dictates recipes to me while she colours and snips away!
One such recipe she dictated to me was Bulgogi, which is otherwise known as Korean BBQ Beef. It is probably one of the more commonly known Korean dishes in Western countries. Marinated beef which is stir fried with onion and carrots. Then served either using lettuce wraps or on rice.
The recipe she dictated to me was a loose interpretation, along the lines of “throw in some garlic, grated apple and onion, splash of sesame oil” etc, but I still jotted it down. Then went in hunt of a full recipe to follow!
That’s when I first stumbled onto My Korean Kitchen, and food blog run by Sue who is a native Korean now living in Australia. For anyone interested in making real and fusion Korean food at home (note: it’s fusion that stays on the right side of the fusion line!), My Korean Kitchen is a fantastic blog to bookmark. Not only are her recipes delicious, they always work and she goes to great lengths to ensure she explains ingredients that might not be familiar to everyone.
So this Korean Beef Bowl (aka Korean BBQ Beef) I’m sharing today is very slightly adapted from her recipe for Bulgogi – Korean BBQ Beef. So you can have absolute confidence that this is the real deal!
The use of grated apple and onion in a marinade is quite uniquely Korean. It’s a fabulous way to get a bit of sweet and touch of tang from the apple and flavour from the onion into a Marinade. This exact Marinade is fantastic used with chicken, beef and pork for grilling on the BBQ. In fact, it features frequently at my fusion-Asian BBQ’s I put on!
Hope you give this a try! It really is fabulously delish! – Nagi x
More Korean Recipes
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Korean Beef Bowl (Bulgogi)
This recipe makes enough for 2 to 3 people, served with rice as a main.
Ingredients
Beef
- 14 oz / 400 g thinly sliced beef , any good quality tender cut suitable for grilling (Note 1)
- 1 scallion/shallot stem , green and white part separated, both finely sliced (Note 2)
- 1/2 large onion (brown, yellow or white), peeled and thinly sliced
- 1/2 medium carrot , peeled, cut vertically then cut into thin slices on the diagonal
- 1 tbsp cooking oil (I use peanut or vegetable oil)
- 1/2 tbsp sesame seeds
Marinade
- 3 tbsp ordinary soy sauce (I use Kikkoman)
- 1 1/2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp mirin (Note 3)
- 1/2 tbsp sesame oil
- 2 tbsp grated onion (brown, white or yellow)
- 2 cloves garlic , minced
- 3 tbsp grated red apple (not green – they are too tart) OR nashi pears
- 1/2 tsp minced ginger
- Black pepper
Instructions
- Blot the beef dry using a paper towel then place into a bowl.
- Mix together the Marinade ingredients in a small bowl, then add the beef. Stir gently to coat the beef, cover with cling wrap and set aside to marinate for at least 1 hour, preferably overnight. Because the meat is thin, you still get good flavour even with 1 hour of marinating.
- Heat the oil in a wok or large fry pan over high heat.
- Add the onion and white part of the scallion/shallots. Cook for 1 minute.
- Then add the beef, including the Marinade, and carrots. Cook for around 3 to 5 minutes, stirring constantly, until the beef is just cooked.
- Remove from heat, then toss through the sesame seeds.
- Serve immediately with rice – or for a low carb, low cal option, try Cauliflower Rice! Sprinkle with extra sesame seeds and the reserved green part of the scallions.
Recipe Notes:
The Spicy Side of Life: Korean recipes
Korean Beef Bulgogi nutrition assuming this serves 3 and is made using Sirloin steak.
OMG, Nagi! I don’t know what to say for this amazing feature on your blog! Thank you, Thank you and Thank you! 🙂
Your bulgogi looks delicious! You definitely got the point. With grated apple/pear and onion you can make some excellent marinade. It will go well with a glass of asahi beer for sure. 😉
This is a really great recipe Sue, as are all the other ones I’ve used from your blog! I especially find the dipping sauces useful because I don’t know how to make them and they are so yummy and versatile! I have a big head of cabbage and intend to make kimchi soon!!
This beef looks incredibly juicy and mouth watering, I love korean food, but always avoided to make it at home afraid of the complexity of the recipes, I must say this one sounds pretty easy to me, so no excuses, I must gift this dish to my family 🙂
Thanks Katalina! It really is easy, that’s why I wanted to share this particular recipe on my blog, to show my readers how easy Korean cooking is! 🙂
This looks delicious! My plan of attack is to have some of the beef stir fry in lettuce wrap as an appetizer and then some with rice for the main course so that I can enjoy both versions! 🙂 I love the tip about using both grated apple and onion. It is such great way to add layers of flavor to a marinade.
That’s a great idea! I should do that too, to cut down on rice. 🙂
Oh yummy!!!
This looks delicious. I love Korean bibimbap, so will have to give this a go.
I have everything in the pantry/fridge to make this. So I will give it a go.
I’m heading over to Sue’s website to get the recipe for potato cakes. I just love potato cakes!!!! And those fish cakes. They look so good.
Thank you for sharing this blog. I love finding new blogs!
Pinning this but will be making it for lunch tomorrow I think!
X
Bibimbap is my other Korean favorite! The potato cakes…they are dangerous. Don’t make them if you’re alone in the house, you’ll eat them ALL in one sitting!
Yeah, sushi is like sooo 10 years ago, and David Chang is, no, needs to get a burger with fried egg, pineapple and beetroot down his gob. How dare he diss our burgers!
Anyhoo, bulgogi is one of my absolute faves. Actually, it’s Deans fave ever since he tried at a place in Pyrmont when we were living there. It’s the ONLY thing he used to order every time we went!
Had you posted this recipe a few hours ago I wouldn’t be making boring vegetable and tofu – yes TOFU – stir fry tonight. I’d be making this bulgogi! Am marinading the firm tofu in soy, ginger, garlic and kecap manis. Do you approve?
Of course I approve. Kecap Manis is like magic soy sauce!! You know, Indo satay chicken is made just by brushing the chicken with kecap manis 🙂 And Dean has good taste. I swing between Bulgogi, Bibimbap, and pancakes. Creature of habit! 🙂