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korean bulgogi fire meat seared steak

Korean Fire Meat aka Bulgogi

Been quite cold recently, hasn’t it, and in this cooler climate a hot lunch was appealing so I made me a faux bulgogi with a small piece of steak leftover from preparing my man’s dinner last night; a trimming, you understand.

Bulgogi (bul means fire and gogi means meat) is an Absolutely Delicious spicy, sweet, hot Korean dish comprising strips of steak marinated in a soy, garlic, spring onion, sesame goo and then seared in a hot pan.

About 10 years ago a huge friend of mine, Clarky (he’s 6’6”), and I ran the food and bar side of the Royal B.V.I. Yacht Club. I used to do a very varied menu so that hopefully the members didn’t get bored and were therefore tempted to dine frequently. 

One day I had some steak trimmings and decided to go for the old bulgogi ploy. This was a private members club where we knew almost every customer so it was quite a surprise when a real bone fide Korean chap came in to lunch, a guest of one of our regulars. He ordered my Bulgogi and I was nervous, fearing that I may have taken quite a liberty with his country’s cuisine but, if the gentleman is to be believed, it was spot on. He did come back in the evening for a second serving so presumably, even if it was spot off, he enjoyed it.

Korean Bulgogi

A little leftover steak turned into delicious bulgogi

Serves 3-4

500g steak – sirloin or something else good
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp soft dark brown sugar
1 tbsp sesame oil
½ tbsp toasted sesame seeds
3 spring onions – thinly sliced, diagonally is prettiest
2 crushed cloves of garlic
generous grind of black pepper
a little finely chopped hot red chili – optional but I like it
1 more spring onion sliced diagonally
½ tbsp more sesame seeds

~  Thinly slice the steak across the grain, meat cut that way is far more tender.
~  Mix together all the other ingredients, apart from the two at the end, and marinate the beef in the mixture for several hours or overnight (or day).
~  Grill or pan sear the steak over high heat till brown and cooked to your liking – it doesn’t take long.
~  Serve sprinkled with the reserved sliced spring onion and sesame seeds.

Bulgogi is often eaten wrapped in lettuce leaves together with rice and kimchi (pickled cabbage) but I prefer it with stir fried rice.

Quick & Cheaty Bulgogi

My “bulgogi” today was inauthentic; I made it by mixing together soy, sweet chilli sauce, sesame oil and some ginger syrup left over from making Buttered Rum & Ginger Ice Cream!

I didn’t add sugar to this “bulgogi” because of the other sweet ingredients.

bowl of easy, cheaty bulgogi stir fry

I always keep a few bags of cooked rice in the freezer for emergency stir fries and I used up some bits and pieces of vegetable matter laying around – sadly no red or yellow pepper to bring a bright and happy colour to the dish but for which I apologise.

Creative Ways to Use Up Leftovers

I’m so inspired by leftovers that, since writing this blog post, I have written an entire book on the subject …

seriously useful leftovers cookbook

Great Preview Here!

download free cooking tips

Having been a somewhat itinerant chef for over 30 years I was amazed, on my return to the UK, at the blatant food waste that now seems to be rife in the country; amazed and irritated. So much so that I decided to start a blog about spontaneous cooking from leftovers to show people that there are great alternatives to throwing food away.

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