Count us among the millions around the world who are fans of a great Bulgogi – the spicy Korean dish which (I’m told) literally means “fire meat”. Bulgogi is typically a composed of thin slices of (traditionally) beef, marinated in a garlic, ginger, soy sauce, and gochugaru (Korean red pepper flakes) mixture with a bit of grated pear for a hint of sweetness. It’s typically cooked quickly over an open flame on a grill or sautéed / stir fried in a skillet at home.
You can use whatever protein suits you to craft your bulgogi; the pictures here feature one of our favorite cuts, a thick-cut hanger steak. By the way, it’s a cinch to carve perfectly thin slices from any protein if you’ll throw it in the freezer for 3o to 40 minutes before slicing. You want it to just begin to freeze and tighten up; too long and it’ll be rock solid.
There are of course a few adjustments to be made to make this dish primal and paleo compliant, the principal one being using tamari or coconut aminos to replace soy sauce, and while most wouldn’t squawk too loudly about a tablespoon of brown sugar in a marinade, we think this is best with a bit of maple syrup or honey (it doesn’t take much given the grated pear); it’s very well flavored without any additional sweetener in fact.
When making this a few days back I didn’t have time to prepare one of our favorite salads or slaws (like this Asian Inspired Cantaloupe Salad, Thai-Inspired Celery Salad, Quick Chinese Cucumber Salad for example), even a simple spring greens salad looks, and tastes, great in the bowl.
And finally, when putting this together in a bowl, we can’t imagine serving it without a recipe of the Asian Fried Cauliflower Rice I posted last week (perhaps without the bacon for this recipe).
Give this one a spin, you come back to it again and again…
For the Simple Bulgogi
1/2 small pear, grated
3-4 tbsp tamari or coconut aminos
2 garlic cloves, grated
1 and 1/2 tbsp grated fresh ginger (peeled)
1 -2 tbsp gochugaru or 2-3 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
2 tbsp toasted sesame oil
1/2 to 1 tbsp maple syrup, honey, or sweetener of choice, optional
Thinly sliced green onions for serving
2 lb protein of choice (boneless short rib, hanger steak, flank, boneless chicken, pork loin)
Avocado, coconut, or olive oil
Good salt
1 recipe Asian Fried Cauliflower Rice
A simple salad or slaw; we like this one with one of these…
Asian Inspired Cantaloupe Salad
Thai-Inspired Celery Salad
Quick Chinese Cucumber Salad
Place your protein of choice in the freezer for 30 minutes prior to slicing; after the time has passed, using a very sharp meat knife, slice the meat into very thin strips.
While the meat is cooling, combine the grated pear, tamari, garlic, ginger, gochugaru, maple syrup, and sesame oil in a medium bowl and whisk to combine, then pour into a large resealable bag.
Place the sliced meat in the bag with the marinade, squish it around to ensure all the meat is coated, and let sit for 30-45 minutes at room temperature, or chill no longer than 12 hours.
When ready to cook, heat roughly a tbsp of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat; while the oil is heating, drain the meat. Place half the meat in a single layer in the hot skillet and cook without moving it for 1-2 minutes, until a nice sear develops. Now toss for another 1-2 minutes until cooked through and crispy around the edges. Transfer to a plate and repeat with the remaining meat.
Now building your bowl, with roughly 1/3 bulgogi, 1/3 Asian Fried Cauliflower Rice, and 1/3 the salad or slaw of choice. Artfully sprinkle sliced green onions over the bulgogi and cauliflower rice, spice it up with a little sriracha, and go to it.
Enjoy.
