Older Bolder Life

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the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: Instant-Pot Korean Beer Braised Brisket

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Those that follow my recipes here on the Older Bolder Life consistently have seen that we’ve been leaning often of late to some of the flavors of classic Korean cuisine.

My wife and I have truly been enjoying the spicy tang of gochujang in particular lately, and Korean dried chile flakes – gochugaru – are nothing like what most of us in the States have grown up using for dried chile flakes.

One other confession might be appropriate here; we’ve been very slow to come around to the Instant-Pot craze. The primary advantage of the Instant-Pot is time; that time savings is accomplished by pressure cooking foods more or less like your mom and grandmother did. Granted the Instant-Pot is packaged up nicely with a lot of electronic bells and whistles; I’d just never purchased one as I preferred to braise and slow cook using classic, if also time-intensive, methods.

Back a few weeks ago my elderly mother gave us an Instant-Pot she’d purchased on the advice of another family member; it was one of the larger units and was in fact too heavy at 18 pounds for her to even pick up.

After combing around for a tasty recipe to run a test cook or two with, I came across something fairly close to this Instant-Pot Korean Beer Braised Brisket, which is amazingly close to my favorite braised brisket recipe from childhood with the added boost of gochujang, gochugaru, and a host of Korean-inspired spices.

After cooking through this one several times, I’m not a huge fan of sautéing in the Instant-Pot; at least by my hand it was difficult to get a truly good sear on the brisket before the longer cook – I’ll still sear on the stove in a hot skillet.

That said, when cooked and chilled overnight and reheated the next day, this brisket slices like a dream, is packed with amazing Korean-inspired flavors, and is stunningly good doused in the pan juices (reduce the sauce down by about half) with a flavorful cauliflower rice dish alongside.

And I have to admit, with just a 90-minute cook under pressure, and a prep and set up that is easy peasy, this recipe is a keeper.

4 to 5 pound beef brisket, cut into 4 or 5 pieces
1 1/2 tbsp dried red chile flakes, gochugaru is best
1 1/2 tbsp good sweet paprika
1 tbsp kosher salt
1 tsp fresh ground pepper

2-3 tbsp avocado, olive, or coconut oil
1 large onion, small dice
4-5 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 tsp fresh ginger, minced

1/3 cup gochujang (Sriracha in a pinch)
2 tbsp ketchup (use this one)
2 tbsp tamari or coconut aminos
2 tsp good fish sauce
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
1 cup lager style beer

Optional
1-2 tbsp honey or dark brown sugar

Cut the brisket to size and rub with the Chile flakes, paprika, salt, and pepper. Cover and refrigerate for up to 24 hours (shoot for 12 hours plus).

Either using a large skillet or the Instant-Pot sauté function, heat a tbsp of oil over medium heat and brown the brisket pieces on all sides (add more oil as needed); then set meat aside. Add another tbsp of oil, then sauté the onion until beginning to soften and caramelize around the edges, then add the garlic and ginger and sauté for another 90 seconds.

Now stir in the gochujang, ketchup, tamari or aminos, fish sauce, sesame oil, and beer (and return to the Instant-Pot if using a skillet). Add the beef, seal, and cook on high for 90 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally for 20 minutes, then release remaining pressure manually.

Transfer the brisket to a platter and cover; now simmer the sauce for 15 to 20 minutes until reduced by at least half. Skim the fat and serve alongside the tasty brisket (sliced or pulled).

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast 26 April: Hanger Steak Bulgogi Bowl

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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.