Beef bulgogi
Thin, sweet and garlicky Korean barbecue beef that caramelizes in minutes in a hot pan, piled over steamed rice.
- 55 min total
- 20 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $3.12 a serving
- 580 calories
- Good the next day
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- ½ apple
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
- 1 lb shaved steak
- 4 stalks green onions, sliced, divided
- 1½ cups jasmine rice
- 1 tsp sesame seeds (optional)
- ½ cucumber, thinly sliced (optional)
From your pantry
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- 2¼ cups water
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
Each serving has about 580 calories, 30 g protein, 68 g carbs and 21 g fat, and costs about $3.12 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No shaved steak? Sirloin steak works.
- No green onions? Chives work.
- No jasmine rice? Long-grain white rice or basmati rice works.
- No cucumbers? English cucumbers or mini cucumbers work.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the apple on the small holes of a box grater into a bowl, then stir in the soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil, garlic, ginger and pepper.
Grate. Grating means rubbing food across the holes of a grater to make fine shreds or flakes. It spreads cheese, garlic or ginger evenly through a dish so it melts right in.
How you’ll know: Even shreds fall off the back of the grater, and you stop while the piece is still big enough to hold.
Dolly’s tip: The apple stands in for Korean pear. Its juice is what makes the beef so tender.Add the shaved steak and half the green onions, with your hands until every slice is coated, then cover and it in the fridge for 30 minutes. Wash your hands.
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
Marinate. Marinating means letting food sit in a flavorful liquid, called a marinade, before you cook it. Always marinate in the fridge, and never reuse marinade from raw meat unless you boil it first.
How you’ll know: The food is coated all over, sealed in a bag or covered dish, and chilling in the fridge.
Timer: 30 min
Food safety: Wash your hands, the board and the knife with hot soapy water after touching raw meat, and don’t rinse raw chicken in the sink.
Meanwhile, the rice and bring it with the water in a .
Rinse. Rinsing means running cold water over rice or canned beans in a strainer while you swish them around. It washes off loose starch and can liquid, so rice cooks up fluffy and beans taste clean.
How you’ll know: The water running out goes from cloudy to mostly clear; it doesn’t have to be perfect.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
Saucepan. A saucepan is a pot with tall, straight sides and one long handle. It’s for things that need depth, like rice, sauces or a few boiled eggs.
How you’ll know: The food fills it about halfway, leaving room to bubble without spilling over.
High heat
Cover, turn the heat to low, and cook 15 minutes.
Low heatTimer: 15 min
Heat the oil in a large over high until it . Add half the beef in a thin layer and let it sit 1 minute to .
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Shimmering oil. Oil shimmers when it’s hot enough to cook: its surface looks rippled and wavy, like heat over a road. That’s your cue to add the food, just before the oil would start to smoke.
How you’ll know: The oil looks wavy and runs thin like water when you tilt the pan, with no smoke yet.
Brown. Browning means cooking until the outside turns brown, which is where a lot of savory flavor comes from. Give food room and time without stirring, or it steams and stays gray.
How you’ll know: The food looks brown rather than gray, and the kitchen smells toasty and savory.
High heatTimer: 1 min
1 to 2 minutes more, until no pink is left and the edges . Move it to a bowl and cook the rest the same way.
Stir-fry. Stir-frying means cooking small pieces fast over high heat in a little oil, stirring almost constantly. It moves quickly, so have everything chopped and ready before the pan gets hot.
How you’ll know: It sizzles loudly the whole time, and the vegetables turn bright and tender-crisp in minutes.
Caramelize. Caramelizing means cooking slowly until the natural sugars turn deep golden brown. It turns sharp onions soft, jammy and sweet, and it often takes 30 minutes or more.
How you’ll know: They’re soft, sticky and amber brown, and they taste sweet rather than sharp.
High heatTimer: 1 min 30 sec
Dolly’s tip: Two batches keep the pan hot. All at once, the beef boils in its own juice instead of browning.Food safety: Steak, pork chops and other whole cuts are safe at 145°F in the middle, then let them rest for 3 minutes before cutting.
Serve the beef over the rice, topped with the rest of the green onions, the sesame seeds and the cucumber.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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