Korean food is rapidly becoming one of America’s favorite ethnic cuisines and it is no surprise given its bold, spicy flavors. Korean barbecue beef known as bulgogi is a particular favorite. This bulgogi recipe is so good it will become habit-forming. Grilling the beef instead of pan-frying it gives it that bit of barbecue flavor along with lovely grill marks. My favorite way to serve bulgogi is with rice and a side of mac salad or green salad, kimchi and homemade takuan (plate lunch!) but it is equally delicious stuffed in a banh mi with a generous amount of do chua pickles. It’s just beautiful.
After a quick soak in this flavorful marinade you’ll have the best barbecued bulgogi. Melt in your mouth super thin slices of lean, tender beef thrown on the grill is ready in just a few minutes. The original recipes calls for flank steak but I much prefer to use the more tender filet mignon or top sirloin. Thanks to TNCouch for sharing the recipe via allrecipes.com.
Best Beef Bulgogi
Adapted from allrecipes.com
Serves 4
Ingredients
1 pound filet mignon or top sirloin, slightly frozen for easier slicing, sliced very thin
5 tablespoons soy sauce
2 1/2 tablespoons white sugar
1/4 cup chopped green onions
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon roasted sesame seeds
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
Preparation
Thinly slice partially frozen beef and place in a shallow bowl. Combine soy sauce, sugar, green onion, garlic, sesame seeds, sesame oil, and ground black pepper in a small bowl. Pour over beef. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour, turning once halfway through marinating time.
Preheat an outdoor grill for high heat, and lightly oil the grate.
Quickly grill beef on hot grill until slightly charred and cooked through, 1 – 2 minutes per side.
Every now and then I have a craving for ahi tuna, either as sashimi or seared. Although Hawaii has an abundance of fresh fish, it’s not always available at the markets. Most of the premium fish is sold to restaurants who then charge premium prices. But don’t get me wrong. You’ll never have to drag me out of the house to go out to dinner. I’m always available.
Our local Whole Foods market has a small seafood section that I normally don’t pay much attention to. Instead, I head to the meat department to check out their wonderful steaks. One day as I was shopping, I noticed beautiful sashimi grade ahi blocks at the seafood counter. I couldn’t resist buying one, even though I paid dearly for it. John sliced the ahi into perfect pieces and we enjoyed it sashimi-style with wasabi soy sauce. It was delicious. So now when I go to Whole Foods, I pay more attention as I walk by their seafood section. If I see beautiful ahi, I buy it.
In Hawaii, everyone has their favorite ways of preparing this luscious fish. Here is one of mine. I coat the ahi with a bit of canola oil, season it with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, then dredge it in furikake. There are no measurements for this simple dish, just a short list of ingredients.
Furikake? Delicious sprinkled over hot rice. My favorite furikake is simple. Seaweed, white and black sesame seeds and a bit of seasoning.
Kikkoman wasabi sauce or a mixture of wasabi paste and soy sauce
Preparation
Lightly coat the ahi with canola oil and season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Sprinkle a generous amount of furikake over the ahi, pressing gently to coat all 4 sides well.
Place a small sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add 2 – 3 teaspoons of canola oil and swirl to coat the pan. Once the pan is hot and you see a few wisps of smoke, add the ahi block to the pan and sear about 1 minute per side, or until desired doneness is reached. The ahi should be rare in the center.
Remove ahi to a cutting board. Let rest for a few minutes then slice ahi into 1/3 inch thick pieces. Serve with wasabi sauce or wasabi soy sauce, a bowl of steaming rice and homemade takuan.
Chef Watanabe-san at Sushi Paradise makes the finest sushi on Maui. Sushi Paradise is a tiny restaurant with just a few tables in the dining room and few seats at the sushi bar. He is a one-man operation. On the night we dined there, a couple who didn’t have a reservation strolled in and luckily found two seats at the sushi bar. The server let them know they would be waiting at least a half hour before their sushi order arrived. They placed their order left to do some shopping at the stores in the complex and promptly returned in time for their sushi order to be placed in front of them! Now that’s what I call making good use of your time.
Edamame is always a tasty way to start the evening. Place your sushi order and nibble on these salty pods with your cold beer or sake.
California Roll.
Toro. Sublime!
Shrimp tempura roll.
Seared salmon lightly wrapped with a pat of rice and topped with finely grated toppings served with ponzu sauce.
Spicy scallop roll.
Maguro and Hamachi.
This veggie roll is the best I ever tasted. Crunchy ingredients perfectly wrapped in creamy avocado slices.
Watanabe-san at Sushi Paradise makes some of the best sushi we have ever eaten and he does not compromise by serving mediocre ingredients to his customers. Everything we ordered was fresh and delicious and of the best quality imaginable. Simple touches such as ground sesame seeds on the takuan pickles makes this place special. If you love sushi, as we do, you will find no finer than at Sushi Paradise!
This is a simple variation on sushi rice or Chirashi Sushi which means scattered sushi. Hot rice is mixed with a vinegar sauce (sushi meshi) and colorful toppings are added. It’s an excellent side dish that goes especially well with grilled teriyaki chicken, beef, fish or tofu. If you want to make it in advance, I suggest making it the same day you plan to serve it since rice tends to dry out and harden the longer you refrigerate it.
Let me introduce you to the Benriner. It is made in Japan and comes with assorted blades and a small plastic guide. I’ve had my Benriner for about 20 years. It is not fancy and as you can see this model has no container attachment for storing vegetables and I like that because it fits in your drawer without taking up too much space. You can find this at Amazon.com
Pickled Red Ginger.
Takuan (pickled radish).
Takuan and red ginger.
This little Japanese rectangular egg pan makes it simple to slice the egg into thin slivers once cooked.
Sushi Meshi
2 cups short grain white rice (uncooked and rinsed well)
1/3 cup rice vinegar (not seasoned)
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
Vegetables
12 green beans – sliced thin
1/2 medium carrot, julienned and cut into 1/3 inch lengths
1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon sake or dry sherry
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon red ginger – finely chopped
1/3 cup takuan, finely diced
1 egg scrambled and fried (do not brown) sliced in thin strips (optional)
White and black roasted sesame seeds
Preparation
Cook 2 cups of short grain white rice. When the rice is done have the vinegar sauce ready and do not open the rice cooker until you are ready to add the sauce. The rice must be hot.
For the vinegar sauce combine rice vinegar, sugar and salt in a small pot and heat on medium heat until sugar has dissolved, stirring occasionally. Pour sauce into a small measuring cup and set aside.
While the rice is cooking prepare the vegetables. Rinse out the pot you used to make the vinegar sauce and combine soy sauce, sugar, sake or sherry and water. Bring to a simmer on medium heat then add the green beans and carrots. Turn heat up to high and cook for about a minute then remove from the heat and set aside. You want to blanch the beans and carrots and not overcook them. Once cool enough to handle, drain and squeeze out the excess moisture. Set aside.
You can use as much or little of the red ginger and takuan that suits you. The ginger has a little kick to it though once you add it to the rice you will barely notice it. Takuan is pickled radish and has some sweetness to it. Drain both the ginger and takuan on paper towels before you chop them. Start with a smaller amount if you are unsure. You can always add more.
When the rice is done use a rice paddle and lightly toss the rice so that it is not clumped together. Quickly put the rice into a large baking dish (Pyrex works well) and slowly add the vinegar sauce drizzling it evenly over the rice tossing gently to mix while fanning madly with a paper fan. Trying to do this all at once by yourself might seem tricky but there is a good reason to this fanning procedure. It helps the hot rice soak up the vinegar sauce without the rice becoming mushy. I don’t have a paper fan so I use a small hairdryer and turn it to low/cool and voilà, it works like a charm. Bribing a family member to help you is even better.
Add the green beans, carrots, ginger and takuan to the rice and toss gently. Now’s the time to transfer the rice to your serving bowl. Top with the sliced egg if using, and sprinkle with sesame seeds before serving.
Korean food is rapidly becoming one of America’s favorite ethnic cuisines and it is no surprise given its bold, spicy flavors. Korean barbecue beef known as bulgogi is a particular favorite. This bulgogi recipe is so good it will become habit-forming. Grilling the beef instead of pan-frying it gives it that bit of barbecue flavor along with lovely grill marks. My favorite way to serve bulgogi is with rice and a side of mac salad or green salad, kimchi and homemade takuan (plate lunch!) but it is equally delicious stuffed in a banh mi with a generous amount of do chua pickles. It’s just beautiful.
After a quick soak in this flavorful marinade you’ll have the best barbecued bulgogi. Melt in your mouth super thin slices of lean, tender beef thrown on the grill is ready in just a few minutes. The original recipes calls for flank steak but I much prefer to use the more tender filet mignon or top sirloin. Thanks to TNCouch for sharing the recipe via allrecipes.com.
