Guest Blogger: On Orchid's Dinner Table: Korean Beef Bulgogi by Elusive Orchid

So since tonight is Tuesday and it's normally a review or recipe night, Orchid has contributed a recipe pulled from her Korean heritage. Here's to hoping some of you adventurous people out there try it. *Raises wine glass* Cheers ~ASilky

As I’ve mentioned in previous guest posts, I am an amalgam of my heritage, both natural and adopted. When it comes to food, this blend is very evident. I love to cook and along with photography and writing, cooking is on my top ten ways to relax. I can cook anything from good hearty American cuisine to authentic Italian and of course Asian. Asian includes Japanese, Chinese, some Indian and of course my favorite, Korean.

So as a Modern Girl Friday who barely has time to eat, let alone cook, I thought I would share a favorite quick and easy recipe from my Korean heritage. Bulgogi (Bull-go-ghee) is a national Korean dish almost as popular as the spicy pickled cabbage dish Kimchi. Though it is not eaten nearly as often as Kimchi, it is a favorite nevertheless.

Now for those of you who have eaten or heard about Korean food, the general consensus seems to be that all Korean food is spicy. This is not the case with bulgogi. Bulgogi is a flavorful dish that is both sweet and savory at the same time. There is no “heat” to this dish unless you add the optional fermented soybean paste before you eat it.

As with all my cooking, I’m sorry to say there are no measurements, you’ll have to adjust the amounts to the number of people you are feeding and to your taste, depending on whether you prefer saltier or sweeter.

So for those of you adventurous enough to try this recipe, here it is:

1. Thinly sliced beef steak, or you can buy bulgogi meat at your local Asian market if you’re lucky enough to have access to one.
2. Soy sauce
3. Sesame Oil, be aware this is pretty potent stuff, one whiff and you’ll get my drift.
4. White Sugar
5. Green Scallions
6. Garlic cloves, crushed
7. Rice wine vinegar
8. Black pepper, preferably freshly ground
9. Toasted sesame seeds (optional)

Take ingredients 2-9 and mix to taste. I advise you taste the mixture before you add the beef so you can adjust to your palate.

Place all of the ingredients in a Ziploc bag and marinate at minimum three hours. I prefer to mix it all the night before and let it sit in the refrigerator until the next day when I am ready to cook it. Honestly, with the beef, the longer it marinates the better it will taste.

When you are ready to cook, heat a griddle, indoor grill or even a heavy frying pan and cook the strips of meat to desired doneness. This is a very short process that needs to be watched carefully as the meat will cook quickly. This can also be done over an outdoor grill but in that case I would suggest soaking wooden skewers and placing the meat on them so it doesn’t fall through the grate.

Serve over steaming white rice and serve. For those of you who want the “authentic” experience, you can wrap the meat in a soft leaf lettuce (bib or butter). If you can find the fermented, spicy soybean paste, even better. Smear a bit of the paste on the lettuce leaf, insert beef, wrap and enjoy.

Hope you enjoy this recipe and if you try it out I would appreciate hearing from you, no matter whether you loved or hated it.

*Notes: this recipe can be used with chicken, pork and even tofu for those of you who prefer these to beef. The marinating time will be shorter though, especially for the tofu. For those of you who want measurements I am including the following link. In the end you may still want to adjust the amounts to taste as you experiment further.

http://bbq.about.com/od/marinaderecipes/r/bl20209a.htm