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South Korean recipe

How to make Bulgogi

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Bulgogi
Photo: 국립국어원, CC BY-SA 2.0 kr

Thin slices of beef marinated in soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, garlic and grated pear, then grilled or pan-fried. The name means 'fire meat'.

Serves 4 45 min

Ingredients

  • 500 g beef sirloin or rib-eye, sliced very thin (partly freezing it makes slicing easier)
  • 4 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 tablespoon sesame oil
  • 3 cloves garlic, crushed
  • Half an Asian pear or 1 ripe ordinary pear, grated
  • 1 onion, thinly sliced
  • 2 spring onions, sliced
  • Black pepper and toasted sesame seeds
  • Rice and lettuce leaves to serve

Method

  1. Mix the soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, garlic, grated pear and a little pepper in a bowl.
  2. Add the beef and onion, mix well with your hands and leave in the fridge for 30 minutes.
  3. Heat a large frying pan or grill pan until very hot and cook the beef in batches, spread out in one layer, for 2 to 3 minutes until browned and cooked through.
  4. Sprinkle with spring onions and sesame seeds and serve with rice, or wrap bites in lettuce leaves.
Made it at home? Tick it off and it goes into your kitchen passport.

Grated pear is not only for sweetness: its juice helps make the meat tender.

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