Beef Pulkogi (Korean Barbecued Beef)

Pulkogi is marinated beef or pork that is grilled, served with steamed rice and wrapped in Romaine lettuce leaves.  My husband lived in Korea for two years so every now and then he gets a craving for Korean food.  He received this recipe from a friend in Korea.

I purchased a beef roast and had the butcher cut it as thinly as he could. When I brought the meat home I trimmed the fat off and combined the meat and marinade. I divided the meat among 5 ziplock bags and froze them to prepare later. I actually forgot about them for several weeks. When realized the meat was in the freezer, I thawed one bag in the refrigerator and had my husband cook it on the grill. It was good, but not as good as the bag we tried a few weeks later. Each time we thawed and cooked a new bag of pulkogi we found the meat absorbed the marinade more and more, making it really flavorful and tender. The photograph above is pulkogi we made from the last bag. Hands down it was the best we have ever made. All the liquid from the marinade seeped into the meat, leaving no marinade to discard once the meat was placed on the grill. It was so tender and flavorful. We will definitely do this again.

I also found a recipe for spicy cucumber salad at for the love of cooking.  As a side note, every recipe I've made from said website is so good!  I've been in search of a spicy vegetable to pair with the sweet pulkogi; these two items were really good together.  Thanks for the salad recipe, Pam!

Pulkogi

3-4 pounds beef roast, filleted

1 cup sugar

3/4 teaspoon Accent (I omitted this)

1 teaspoon pepper

5 green onions, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 piece ginger, diced

1 cup soy sauce

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1 tablespoon sesame seeds

Trim beef of fat and cut into 3-4 inch pieces. Put meat in a mixing bowl, sprinkle sugar over top and stir until beef is coated in sugar. Cover and refrigerate for 20 minutes. Combine Accent (if using), pepper, onions, garlic, ginger and soy sauce in a small mixing bowl. Turn broiler on high, put sesame seeds on a baking sheet and pour oil on top. Make sure all seeds are covered in oil. Put baking sheet in the oven and broil until seeds are golden brown. Add sesame seeds to soy sauce mixture. Pour mixture over beef and marinate for at least 30 minutes. Grill to desired doneness. You can also cook the meat under the broiler. To broil, spray tin foil generously with nonstick cooking spray and use the foil to line a baking sheet. Put the meat on the cookie sheet and place under the broiler. Cook to desired doneness, turning once or twice. The broiling method takes about twice as long. Enjoy!

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