Bulgogi with Ssamjang Sauce

My first try on Korean food was few years back when hubby (back then boyfriend) brought me to Doarae for a celebration. Can't remember was it my birthday or our anniversary. But I was just recovering from food poisoning so my appetite wasn't so good. It was all good until I reached home and vomitted everything. There goes my first Korean food, in the toilet bowl *sigh

Ever since then I had a bad impression on Korean food and never tried it anymore. Until recently there is a new Korean restaurant called Uncle Jang opening in our neighbourhood. We braved ourselves to give it a try since the price is more economical than the usual Korean cuisine. Surprisingly, I like it. I like the taste of Dakgalbi but I find it a little intimidating that they never washed the bbq plate after every use. What they do is put water and scrape all the charred bits on the plate then wipe it clean. Not sure how clean is it :s

I did make my own Dakgalbi once at home and it tasted almost like Uncle Jang's. Just lacking of Korean hot pepper flakes/ powder. Wait till I find a smaller packet of those and try again. 

My second attempt on Korean food is this Bulgogi. All the time I thought Bulgogi is an Italian food lol. Found this simple recipe from Maangchi.com, the same website I referred to for my Dakgalbi. The recipe is really simple, blend the marinate ingredients and marinate the beef overnight. Next day bbq it, or what I did was pan fried it with a cast iron skillet.

I served it with Ssamjang sauce and romaine lettuce. Delicious! 

Bulgogi (Korean beef BBQ)

Source: Maangchi.com

Ingredients:

• 1 pound of beef tenderloin, sliced thinly into pieces ½ inch x 2 inches and ⅛ inch thick

Marinade (for 1 pound of beef):

• ½ cup of crushed pear

• ¼ cup onion purée

• 4 cloves of minced garlic

• 1 teaspoon minced ginger

• 1 chopped green onion

• 2 tbs soy sauce

• 2 tbs brown sugar (or 1 tbs of brown sugar and 1½ tbs rice syrup)

• a pinch of ground black pepper

• 1 tbs toasted sesame oil

• several thin slices of carrot

Method:

1. Mix all the marinade ingredients in a bowl.
2. Add the sliced beef and mix well.
3. You can grill, pan-fry, or BBQ right after marinating, but it’s best to keep it in the fridge and let it marinate for at least 30 minutes, or overnight for a tougher cut of beef. Serve with ssamjang.

Ssamjang (Korean Spicy Dipping Sauce)

Source: Maangchi.com

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup doenjang (fermented soy bean paste)
• 1 tbs gochujang (hot pepper paste)
• 1 stalk of minced green onion
• 1 clove of minced garlic
• ¼ cup chopped onion
• 2 ts honey
• 2 ts toasted sesame seeds
• 2 ts sesame oil

Method:
Mix all ingredients together.

Just got to know that the country this month Asian Food Feast is Korea!! What a coincidence :D

I am submitting this post to Asian Food Fest: Korea, hosted by Sharon of Feats of Feasts.