Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Tasty Beef Bulgogi (Korean BBQ)


If you've read some of my other posts, you may remember that my husband lived in Korea for a year and I went over to visit him for extended amounts of time during that year. I fell in love with Korean food! Beef Bulgogi (or Korean BBQ beef) was my favorite food to eat and the first thing I learn to cook while I was staying in Korea. After my Sweet and Savory Korean Chicken Legs post, my friend Linda (at Today She Loves) asked for my Korean BBQ recipe. I was glad too because it is so good! I also grilled some veggies and then threw it all on top of veggie fried rice. If you were eating this at a traditional Korean restaurant, you would cook the beef yourself on a little grill right at your table. It's fun to do, hopefully I'll make it back there some day. Life is too short to not try this tasty meal. Oh and this time I added a twist that will have your taste buds screaming for more. Bacon. But you can't go wrong with bacon can you?

This needs to marinade for at least an hour but best to marinade overnight.

1 lbs flank steak or top sirloin steak 
5 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp honey
2 Tbsp minced garlic
2 Tbsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
4 strips of bacon (optional) (for 1 skewer of beef).
1 Tbsp Sesame seeds

For Veggie Skewers 
1 red bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
1 orange bell pepper
1/4 onion (optional)

I used sirloin steak this time but I use both flank and sirloin steak. The first thing you need to do is to slice it very thin. You can ask the butcher at the grocery store to do it for you (even if it's already in a package, they will take it out and cut it for you) or if you forget to do that like I did, you can cut it at home.

I sliced it in half and than each of those pieces in half. You don't have to make it pretty, it's going to get cut up more anyway.

Once they are as thin as you can possibly slice it, cut each thin piece into little pieces, about an inch or so long. 

Now it's time to make the marinade! In a medium size bowl, add the 5 Tbsp soy sauce, 1 Tbsp brown sugar, 2 Tbsp honey, 2 Tbsp minced garlic, 2 Tbsp Sesame seeds, 1/2 tsp ground black pepper.

Put the beef pieces in the marinade and put it in the fridge to marinade for at least an hour but best to do it overnight. 
(For the purposes of the picture the beef is on top but push them down to the bottom so they are fully submerged).

I let my beef marinade for about 4 hours. Right before I took them out, I started on the veggie skewers. To make them, cut each of the red, yellow and orange bell peppers into 4 pieces and remove the stem and seeds.

Slice the bell pepper into small pieces and put them on the skewer. I also added 1/4 of an onion to one of the skewers just for a little extra flavor.

Looks so pretty doesn't it? I wanted to eat it right away!

Now it is time for the bacon! If you're using bacon (which I highly recommend) than put 4 strips in the pan. Don't cook them all the way through. You want them to still be soft so you can wrap them around the beef. 

You can see that it's a little bit cooked but still flexible.

Tear it in half.

Take the beef out of the fridge and for non-bacon pieces slide the beef onto your skewers.

I only used bacon on 1 skewer. If using bacon, wrap the bacon around the beef and slide it onto the skewer. 

Make sure that the ends of your bacon are through the skewer to hold them on so they don't become unwrapped on the grill. The bacon tastes so good but I would do at least 1 skewer without the bacon so you can taste the real authentic flavors of Korea.

Looks so good! I can't wait to put them on the grill

Preheat your outside grill. Once it's nice and hot, add all your skewers. They should cook for about 5 to 10 minutes or until the beef is cooked through. Cook time depends on how thin you sliced your beef. The bacon skewer will take longer to cook, just be aware.

Ta da! They are done!


If your bacon still isn't cooked all the way but your beef is, you can throw the bacon back on a pan on and crisp it up a bit more. I had a few pieces that need a little more crisp to them.

I made some veggie fried rice and threw the Korean BBQ on top.

Top it off with your grilled bell pepper and enjoy! I couldn't stop taking pictures. It tastes just as good as it looks!



2 comments:

  1. This recipe looks so mouth-watering! I am sending to Picnic now.

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    1. Thanks! I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

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