A little hole-in-the-wall Korean restaurant here in Nashville serves up a delicious bulgogi dish, which is the inspiration behind this recipe.
December 7, 20232 min read
Photo Credit: Justin Adams.
I've had beef bulgogi many times, but the version at this place was the most authentic I've ever had. If you've ever had authentic Asian cuisine versus the Americanized version, you know how getting to the origin of a dish's ingredients can make a world of differences.
Of course, you could buy a bottle of premade bulgogi sauce filled with ingredients you can't pronounce and loaded with GMOs and MSG, but what's the fun in that?
Also, starting from scratch is always better. You took the time to go out and hunt and harvest a big game animal, so why cut corners in this process? Trust me, it's worth it. This dish is served best with steamed white rice, charred scallions and kimchi.
Ingredients:
1-2 pound big game blackstrap, loins or roast, sliced thin
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 asian pear, peeled and roughly chopped
1 medium yellow onion, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon finely minced fresh ginger
1 bunch of scallions
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon brown sugar
Black pepper to taste
White sesame seeds for garnish
1 Cup of cooked white rice
Photo Credit: Justin Adams.
Photo Credit: Justin Adams.
Instructions
Remove all silver skin, sinew and fat from meat.
Place meat in the freezer for 30 minutes before slicing to firm it up and make slicing thinly easier.
Thinly slice the meat across the grain. Slices should all be the same size. Aim for about 1/8th of an inch (aka very thin)
In a food processor or blender, combine garlic, yellow onion, ginger and pear and process until smooth.
In a dish or ziplock, combine the meat, the garlic pear marinade, soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil, and pepper and shake or stir to combine.
Let marinade for at least 30 minutes but no longer than 24 hours.
Set the oven to high broil with the top rack on high.
Place the remaining scallions on a baking sheet.
Heat a skillet to high heat and add the meat and juices to the pan.
Cook, stirring constantly, until the liquid has evaporated and the meat starts to brown.
Place the scallions in the oven until they are charred.
Immediately service alongside white rice topped with charred scallions and sesame seeds.
