Looking for a Korean BBQ Pork (Bulgogi) Recipe

[Pog Mo Thoin]

A friend of mine took me out to a Korean BBQ restaurant this week. The kind where you grill your own food at the table. I am somewhat sheltered food wise. My wife will not, absolutely not, eat or go anywhere where there is food she has not eaten before. We go to like three restaurants. Totally boring. If I want Mexican, Asian, or pretty much any kind of ethic food I have to go out without her. So here I am porking out at this Korean BBQ place and I get introduced to Bulgogi. Holy poop! I am in love, at least this week, with Korean BBQ pork. Anyone have a good recipe for this? I see a bunch online but I am looking for one that is tested by the Brethren.

Thanks in advance! Slainte!

 

[Moose]

Pork bulgogi is amazing when it's really good - we were spoiled where we used to live as we had a Korean market just around the corner from us that stocked pre-marinated meats - pork bulgogi, beef kalbi, and beef bulgogi, so I never needed to make these marinades from scratch.

Here's a cook thread from awhile back - I used a grill topper to cook the meat over really hot charcoal:

https://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=258307

After cooking this stuff, my entire person smelled like I had done a multi-day residency at a Korean BBQ, far from the worst smell in the world.

As far as recipes go, you might give this one a try by Maangchi, who has a very large following(we've made her spicy Korean Fried Chicken quite a few times and it's outstanding):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h942eNDfxmM&t=158s


I would substitute thinly sliced pork butt for the pork belly.

 

[jermoQ]

I made one once, from Google. Can't remember the recipe. They are all basically the same. Find one with good ratings and try it.. Now we go 25 miles up the road to an Asian grocery store and grab a marinade. There are 3 or 4 kinds and it works great.

 

[TravelingJ]

Even if you get in the ballpark, it'll be great. It's a wonderful combination of flavors. I've used my meal preps to introduce my girlfriend (and now most of her family) to Korean and Thai flavors. Most of them aren't as off the wall as they are expecting, so it's easy to just make something and say "try this" then tell them what it is.

 

[thirdeye]

I use this one from Dobie Dad, a regular on the original BGE forum.

Korean Bulgogi Marinade –

1/3 to 1/2 cup soy sauce (I prefer the 1/3 cup)
1/4 cup rice wine (or dry sherry)
1/4 cup water
4 Tbsp finely chopped green onion
1 Tbsp finely minced garlic (at least)
1 - 2 teaspoons finely grated fresh ginger (or ginger paste, or cracked ginger)
2 teaspoons crushed red pepper
1 Tbsp sugar
1 teaspoon dark (Asian) sesame seed oil
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
2 Tbsp toasted, crushed sesame seeds (we have these in a jar or you can fresh toast them)

It has done us well.

 

[okiej]

This is new to me. I have done beef kalbi, which was excellent. Now I have to try the pork version :wink:

 

[Mike in Roseville]

This one is really good (like from a Korean grandma "good"). Ribeye or sirloin cap works well. Never tried it, but some bulgogi is done with ground beef.

• ½ medium yellow onion sliced into slivers
• 2 green onions more if you want to garnish your completed bulgogi dish
• 3 cloves minced garlic
• 1/3 cup soy sauce for gluten-free, use Tamari wheat free soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• ¼ tsp red pepper flakes
• 2 pinches black pepper
• 2 tablespoons roasted sesame seeds yellow or black
• Optional: ¼ tsp ginger finely minced
• Optional: Up to a tablespoons of agave syrup or honey for additional sweetness
• Vegetable oil
• 1-1.5 lbs. of thinly sliced rib-eye steak purchased from a Korean market cut into strips. You can also slice your own rib-eye or sirloin steak across the grain in 1/8-inch slices. Partially freezing the beef will help with cutting the bulgogi beef in clean slices.

Instructions

1. Add the onions, green onions, garlic, soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, red pepper flakes, pepper, and sesame seeds to a medium bowl. Feel free to add the optional ginger if you would like. Whisk all the ingredients for about 10 seconds.
2. Add the sliced beef to the bowl and gently massage the beef with the bulgogi marinade for approximately 2 minutes.
3. If cooking the bulgogi immediately, allow the beef to soak in the bulgogi marinade for at least 30 minutes before cooking. If you plan on cooking later, cover the bowl in plastic wrap and store it in the refrigerator until ready to cook.
4. To cook the beef bulgogi, drizzle 1-2 tablespoons of vegetable oi to a hot pan – a cast iron pan works the best.
5. Add the marinated bulgogi to the pan and cook the beef in batches, not to overcrowd the pan. The beef only needs about three minutes to cook. The bulgogi should be cooked through, no medium rare beef.
6. Taste the Korean bulgogi and if you would like it a tiny bit sweeter, drizzle a little bit of agave syrup or honey in the pan. Add the cooked bulgogi back to the pan as well. Stir and cook the beef for about 10 seconds making sure the agave syrup is evenly coating all the pieces.
7. Repeat this process with each batch.
8. Serve the bulgogi with steamed rice.

Enjoy!

 

[Moose]

Since we're on the subject, I think it's helpful to understand the difference between beef bulgogi and pork bulgogi, especially since the OP asked for a pork bulgogi recipe:


Beef bulgogi uses a marinade that is nearly identical to beef kalbi(beef short ribs, either flanken or boneless), of which two recipes have already been contributed in earlier posts in this thread, though without Asian Pear, which is often hard to find unless you live near a well stocked Asian/Korean market.

Pork bulgogi, on the other hand, while its marinade uses similar ingredients as beef bulgogi, also contains gochojang, a thick, red colored chili paste that gives pork bulgogi its distinct sweet/spicy flavor. In other words, they taste entirely different!

The two photos below from the link in my earlier post show how different they look, when cooked:


Beef bulgogi:

Pork bulgogi:

 

[Mike in Roseville]

Good call Moose...

I actually just gave that recipe to a friend they other day so it was already at hand. All I saw was bulgogi and I got excited. LOL :doh:

 

[bbqwizard]

…..and now I’m hungry. Trip to the store it is! I need to restock my gochujang.

 

[SmokinAussie]

Anything you try from Maangchi or Roy Choi is Gold.

Here's a thread I did a while back on a Pork Kalbi although Roy's recipe is for beef.

https://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=290250

Handy tip: If you can't find an Asian pear for a bulgogi marinade, try some Kiwi Fruit..if you can get that too I suppose. Same kind of effect as far as I know.

Get both Maangchi's books and Roy's book. All are comprehensive and Roy's is an amazing read as well.

Good Luck.

Bill

 

[Badjak]

Thanks Aussie
Just bought the kindle book by Maangchi.
Hoping to get some nice ideas out of it