Korea's Traditional Rice Cake

Songpyeon 송편

Songpyeon is a traditional Korean food made of glutinous rice. It is a type of tteok, consisting of small rice cakes traditionally eaten during the Korean autumn harvest festival, Chuseok. They have become a popular symbol of traditional Korean culture. Songpyeon are half-moon-shaped rice cakes that contain different kinds of sweet or semi-sweet fillings, such as sesame seeds and honey, sweet red bean paste, and chestnut paste steamed over a layer of pine needles, which gives them the fragrant smell of fresh pine trees. They were made into various shapes with the participation of family members and were often exchanged between neighbors.

The earliest records of songpyeon date from the Goryeo period.

Song means pine tree, and pyon means steamed rice cake. The tteok is used in ancestral rites and celebration.

Ingredients:

Frozen rice flour

salt

water

sesame seeds

sesame oil

dried and skinned mung beans

brown sugar

white sugar

pine needles

mugwort powder (ssook garu in Korean)

strawberry Jell-o powder

Directions:

Make the dough:

1. Prepare a package of rice powder (2 lbs) usually sold frozen at a Korean grocery store. Just before using it, you must thaw it until the powder is at room temperature.
2. Put rice powder through a sifter to make the powder fine.Tip: If your rice powder is very fine, you can skip sifting. If your rice powder is coarse, you may have to grind it with a food processor or coffee grinder before sifting.
3. Prepare 3 stainless bowls and put 1 cup of finely sifted rice powder into the each bowl. (Bowl A, B, and C)
4. Boil 2 cups of water for your rice dough.
5. Bowl A (white songpyeon): add a pinch of salt and 3 tbs of boiling water and mix it with a wooden spoon. (it’ll be too hot if you use your hands at first) Knead the rice dough for about 5 minutes. Put the dough into a plastic bag and set it aside.
6. Bowl B (pink songpyeon): add a pinch of salt, a pinch of strawberry Jell-o powder, and 3 tbs of boiling water. Mix it with a wooden spoon and knead the rice dough for about 5 minutes. Put the dough into a plastic bag and set it aside.
7. Bowl C (green songpyeon): add a pinch of salt, 1 ts of ssookgaru(mugwort power) and 3.5 tbs boiling water. Mix it with a wooden spoon and knead the rice dough for about 5 minutes. Put the dough into a plastic bag and set it aside.Tip: You will need to add 3.5 tbs of water because of  the 1 ts of ssookgaru.

Make the filling:

Roasted sesame seeds powder filling:

1. Grind ¼ cup of roasted sesame seeds using a coffee grinder for 15-20 seconds.
2. Transfer the ground sesame powder into a small bowl and mix it with ¼ cup of brown sugar and a pinch of salt.Tip: if you grind too long, the powder will become sticky from the oil in the seeds.

Mung bean powder filling:

1. Wash and drain ¼ cup of dried and skinned mung beans and put them in a pot with a thick bottom.
2. Add ¼ cup of water and a pinch of salt to the pot and simmer it for 30 minutes.Tip: Be sure not to burn it – simmer over the lowest heat.
3. Open the pot and use your wooden spoon to crush the beans into fine powder.Tip: if you make more than ¼ cup of mung bean powder, you may have to use your grinder or food processor to grind it finely.
4. Transfer the crushed mung bean powder into a small bowl or container and wait until it cools down.
5. Add ¼ cup of white sugar and mix it. That’s it!

Let’s make songpyeon now!

1. Break off a piece of rice dough about 1 inch in diameter and roll it between your palms to make a rice ball. Then press your thumb in the center of the ball to make it shaped like a cup.
2. Fill the cup with either sesame filling or mung bean filling using a small spoon, and seal it using your thumb and index fingers.
3. Place all the raw rice cakes (songpyeon) on a plate.
4. Wash your pine needles thoroughly with a little dish soap. Towel dry them.
5. Put some water (4 cups) into a steamer and boil it. When it starts boiling, place a damp cotton cloth on the bottom of the steamer tray.
6. Make a bed of pine needles on the wet cloth and put the raw songpyeon on top. Put more pine needles on top of the songpyeon, too.Tip: Pine needles stop the songpyeon from sticking together and give them a good flavor. 
7. Steam it for 25 minutes over medium high heat.
8. Prepare some cold water in a large bowl, and drop in a little sesame oil.
9. Dump your steamed songpyeon into to the cold water and quickly remove pine needles. Take them out, put them on a plate to serve.

(>‿◠)✌

Korean Pancake (Kimchi)

Kimchijeon 김치전

Kimchijeon or kimchi jeon is a variety of jeon, or Korean pancake-like dish, primarily made with sliced kimchi, flour batter and sometimes other vegetables. However, meat (ground pork) is also often added. Kimchi, spicy pickled vegetables seasoned with chili pepper and jeotgal, is a staple in Korean cuisine. The dish is good for using up ripened kimchi. Kimchijeon is often recognized in Korean culture as a folk dish of low profile that anyone could make easily at home with no extra budget.

It is usually served as an appetizer, snack or banchan (side dish).

When preparing kimchijeon, brine from kimchi is often added, especially that of baechu kimchi, made from Napa cabbage. The brine lends its red color to the batter but is not spicy itself. Along with kimchi, it is served as anju with alcoholic beverages such as makgeolli or dongdongju.

Ingredients:

Kimchijeon with chopped kimchi:

Kimchi

onion

salt

sugar

flour

vegetable oil

Directions:

1. In a bowl, place 1 cup of chopped kimchi, 3 tbs of kimchi juice, 2 tbs chopped onion, ½ ts salt, ½ ts sugar, ½ cup flour (all purpose flour), and ¼ cup of water and mix it well with a spoon.
2. Heat up a 12 inch non-stick pan over medium high heat and drizzle about 2 tbs grape seed oil.
3. Place the mixture of kimchi pancake batter on the pan and spread it thinly and evenly with a spoon.
4. Cook it for 1-1 ½ minutes until the bottom gets golden brown and crispy.
5. Turn it over with a spatula or flip it.
6. Lower the heat to medium and cook for another 1½ minutes.
7. Turn it over one more time and cook for 30 seconds before transfering it to a serving plate.
   *tip: Serve it right out of the pan or cool it down and cut it into bite size to serve.

Ingredients:

Kimchijeon with whole kimchi leaves:

Kimchi

ground pork

tofu

onion chives (or green onions)

onion

salt

black ground pepper

sesame oil

egg

flour

grape seed oil

Directions:

Prepare kimchi

1. Prepare 6-7 kimchi leaves (6-7 inches long – 16 cm) and ½ cup flour in a plate.
2. Coat both sides of each kimchi leaf  in the flour by hand.

Make meat mixture

1. In a small bowl, add 2 tbs ground pork (or beef),  2 tbs tofu (after gently squeezing out excess water with a paper towel), 1 ts chopped onion chives (or green onion), 1 tbs chopped onion, a pinch of salt and black ground pepper, 1 ts of sesame oil, and mix the mixture well with a spoon.
2. Set aside.

Make the pancakes

1. Place 1 egg in a small bowl and add a pinch of salt. Beat it with a fork.
2. Add some of the meat-tofu mix on one side of a kimchi stem. Add some flour on top of the mixture.
3. Put some of the meat-tofu mix on the rest of kimchi leaves.
4. Heat up a non-stick pan and add some grape seed oil (or vegetable oil).
5. Coat each kimchi leaf with beaten egg mix and place on the heated pan.
   *tip: the meat mixture should be bottom of the pan
6. When the bottom of the kimchi pancake turns golden brown (1 or 1½ minutes), turn it over and cook another minute.
7. Turn it over one more time and cook another 30 seconds before transfering it to a serving plate.
   *tip: you can serve it as it is or cut it into bite size before serving

Yummm!~ ≥Ö‿Ö≤

Korean Pancake (Green Onion)

Pajeon 파전

Pajeon is a variety of jeon with green onions as its prominent ingredient, as pa literally means 'green/spring onion' in Korean. It is a pancake-like Korean dish made from a batter of eggs, wheat flour, rice flour, green onions, and often other additional ingredients depending on the variety. Beef, pork, kimchi, shellfish, and other seafood are mostly used. If one of these ingredients, such as squid, dominates the jeon, the name will reflect that; oh jing uh jeon is 'squid jeon.'

Pajeon is usually recognizable by the highly visible green onions. It is similar to a Chinese green onion pancake in appearance but is less dense in texture and not made from a dough. It is not to be confused with bindaetteok, which is a mung bean pancake.

In Korean, a seafood pajeon is called haemul pajeon (해물파전). Various seafood are used in the batter and toppings, e.g. oysters, shrimp, squid, clams.

Dongnae pajeon is named after Dongnaesung (동래성), a former fortress in the Joseon Dynasty and now a district in the city of Busan. Dongnae was a prominent battleground during the Imjin War and legend says the people of Dongnae threw green onions while defeating the invading Japanese soldiers. Dongnae pajeon was made in honor of the victory. The dish was also presented at the king's table and became popular when the Dongnae market flourished in the Joseon era. Dongnae pajeon is usually made from a batter of rice flour, glutinous rice flour, eggs, and gochujang. Soft spring onions, beef, clams, mussels, oysters, shrimp and other seafood are also added.

Ingredients:

Green onions

flour

water

soybean paste

sugar

vegetable oil

Directions:

1. Clean, wash, and drain a handful of wild green onions (or about 10 stalks of normal green onion).
2. Cut them into 5 inch long pieces.
3. Make batter by mixing ½ cup flour, ½ cup water, 1 ts soybean paste, and ½ ts sugar in a bowl. Mix well until the batter is smooth.
4. Place a non-stick pan on the stove and heat it up.
5. Add about 3 tbs vegetable oil to the heated pan.
6. Put the green onion on the pan parallel to each other, in the shape of a rectangle.
7. Pour the batter over the green onion evenly.
   *tip: If you want some seafood (chopped squid, mussels or  fresh oysters) in your pancake add it on top of the green onion before pouring the batter.
8. While the pancake is being cooked, keep patting it, pressing it slightly, and keeping it in a nice shape with your spatula.
9. A few minutes later, when the bottom of the pancake turns crispy and golden brown, turn it over.
10. Cook a few more minutes until the bottom of the pancake turns crispy and golden brown again, and flip it or turn it over.
11. Cook another minute and transfer it to a serving plate.
12. Serve hot with sauce.

Sauce:

Mix these ingredients in a small bowl:
2 tbs soy sauce

1 tbs vinegar

1 ts sugar or honey

chopped onion

chopped green or red chili peppers

1 ts roasted sesame seeds

~~~≧◉◡◉≦~~~

Korean Steamed Dish (Beef)

Galbijjim 갈비찜

Galbijjim or kalbijjim is a variety of jjim or Korean steamed dish made with galbi (갈비, short rib). Beef galbi is sometimes referred to as "gari" (가리), so the dish can be called "garijjim". Galbijjim is generally made with beef or pork short ribs. In the latter case, it is called dweji galbijjim (돼지갈비찜).

In traditional cuisine, galbijjim was traditionally eaten at Chuseok along with songpyeon, namul, taro soup, chestnut dumplings (밤단자), chicken jjimand autumn fruit. As galbijjim is usually made from only the center part of ribs from a calf while the rib ends used to make soup stock, galbi was more expensive than other cuts of beef in South Korea, and has been regarded as a high-class dish.

Ribs are cut to size and excess blood should be removed. Knife cuts are made in the meat till the bone to allow seasoning to seep in. Surplus fat is removed from the ribs, either by cutting or removing after parboiling. Soy sauce, sesame oil, scallions, minced garlic, pepper, ground sesame with salt (깨소금), ginger juice, and sugar are mixed together with the ribs and are simmered in a large pot on a mid-flame. The cooking is done slowly, occasionally stirring from time to time. When the meat is almost cooked additional seasoning is added with jujube, ginkgo nuts, carrots, and pine nuts and boiled once again. Chestnuts, shiitake, and seogi mushrooms are added near the end of the dish. Galbijjim is usually served in a bowl rather than a plate and was traditionally served in a hap(합, bowl with cover).

There is a galbijjim street in the district of Dongin-dong, Daegu, in South Korea. It is known as the original home of hot and spicy galbijjim (매운갈비찜), as a restaurant owner served the first plate of hot and spicy galbijjim as anju for makgeolli in 1972. The district still maintains its reputation as being the place to go for tasty galbijjim.

Jong-galbijjim (종갈비찜) is a variety of pork galbijjim from the Gyeonggi-do region. Pork ribs are marinated in ginger juice, soy sauce, minced garlic, sesame oil, ground sesame with salt, and pepper. The dish is cooked on a high flame and the sauce is reduced accordingly.

Ingredients:

2 lbs (about 1 kg) of beef short ribs

water

cooking wine

soy sauce

black pepper

brown sugar

garlic

green onion

onion

sesame oil

carrots

radish

shiitake mushrooms

mulyeot (corn syrup)

Directions:

1. Soak 5 shiitake mushrooms in warm water for about 4-6 hours.
2. Soak short ribs in cold water in a large bowl for at least 30 minutes and change the water a few times.
3. Boil water in a large pot. Put in the short ribs. Boil for 5-10 minutes.
4. Take out the ribs from the boiling water and wash them with cold water to remove unnecessary fat or floating bubbles.
5. Throw away the boiling water and clean the pot.
6. Place the clean  beef short ribs in the pot.
7. Prepare a bowl to make seasoned water by mixing  2 cups of water, 4 tbs soy sauce, 8 cloves of minced garlic), ½ sliced onion, 1 tbs rice wine, and 1 tbs brown sugar.Add it to the short ribs in the pot.
8. Boil it over medium heat for 20 minutes.
9. While it boils, you can prepare the other ingredients:
• Cut carrot and radish into 5 cm-size cubes and round the edges to make several balls (the size of the balls should be like ping pong balls )
• Cut the soaked shiitake mushrooms into bite size.
  *tip: You can add several skinned chestnuts and gingko nuts
10. Open the lid of the pot and add all ingredients (carrot, radish, shiitake mushrooms) to the pot. Let it simmer for about 1 hour over low heat.
    *tip: Stir the ribs and other ingredients with a wooden spoon from time to time. Pour the liquid from the bottom of the pot over top of the meat
11. Open the lid and check if the meat is cooked fully. Use your chopstick to poke the meat. When it is smoothly going through the meat, the meat is tender enough.
12. Add 2 tbs of moolyeot (corn syrup), 1 tbs sesame oil, ½ ts black pepper, and heat it up over high heat. Mix it well until liquid evaporates
13. Transfer galbijjim to a platter before serving.

~~~≧◠●◠≦~~~

Korea's Pork Belly Barbeque

Samgyeopsal-gui 삼겹살구이

Samgyeopsal is a popular Korean dish. Commonly served as an evening meal, it consists of thick, fatty slices of pork belly meat (similar to uncured bacon). The meat, usually neither marinated nor seasoned, is cooked on a grill at the diners’ table. Usually diners grill the meat themselves and eat directly from a grill. It is often dipped into a spicy pepper paste.

The literal meaning of the word is “three (sam; 삼) layered (gyeop; 겹) flesh (sal;살)”, referring to what appears to be three layers that are visible in the meat. One can also find ogyeopsal (오겹살), with o meaning “five”.

According to a 2006 survey by Agricultural Cooperatives in Korea (농업협동조합), 85% of South Korean adults surveyed stated their favorite pork issamgyeopsal. The survey also showed 70% of recipients eat the meat at least once a week. The high popularity of samgyeopsal makes it one of the most expensive parts of pork. South Korea imports wholesale samgyeopsal from Belgium, the Netherlands, and other countries for the purpose of price stabilization as imported pork is much cheaper than domestic.

The South Korean government planned to import 70,000 t of samgyeopsal with no tariff in the second half year of 2011. Thus, importation of samgyeopsalwas expected to expand.

Samgyeopsal is popularly consumed both at restaurants and at home, and also used as an ingredient for other Korean dishes, such as kimchi jjigae.

The most common accompaniments for samgyeopsal are lettuce (sangchu; 상추) and sliced raw garlic, but very often the meat is served with other accompaniments, such as perilla leaves (kkaennip; 깻잎), sliced green chili peppers, shredded green onions, sliced raw onions, and aged kimchi (mugeunji; 묵은지). Garlic, onions, and kimchican be either grilled with the meat or consumed raw with the cooked meat. Mushrooms, such as button mushrooms or oyster mushrooms, are also grilled with the meat.

Samgyeopsal is almost always served with at least two kinds of dipping sauces. One is ssamjang (쌈장), a paste consisting of chili paste (gochujang; 고추장), soybean paste (doenjang; 된장),sesame oil (참기름), and other ingredients; the other is gireumjang (기름장), made with salt and sesame oil, sometimes also with a small amount of black pepper. Usually ssamjang is used when a diner eats samgyeopsal with vegetable accompaniments, and gireumjang when a diner wants to taste the cooked meat itself.

Prior to consumption, the large slice of the pork belly is cut into smaller pieces with scissors. A common way to consume samgyeopsal is to place a slice of the cooked meat on a leaf of lettuce or a perilla leaf or both, with some cooked rice and ssamjang, and to roll it up in the leaf and eat it. It is usually called sangchu-ssam (상추쌈). Cooked rice and other foods wrapped in Korean lettuce can also be called sangchu-ssam. Any combination of the vegetable accompaniments mentioned above can be added to the roll according to preference, the most popular is sliced garlic. Many people also add in kimchi, mushrooms, bean sprouts, and grilled onions. Usually, different types of banchan are added. Part of the reason so many people enjoy this food is they can customize it to their liking.

Ingredients:

3 pounds of pork belly (fresh or pre-sliced frozen)

Green onion salad (pajeori):

• 14-16 green onions (about 5 cups), sliced thinly
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 2 tablespoon hot pepper flakes (gochugaru)

Doenjang-gochujang dipping sauce (my special kind of ssamjang I make for samgyeopsal-gui):

• ¼ cup doenjang
• 1 green onion, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 tablespoon gochujang
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons sesame seeds
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil

Vegetables:

• 1 bunch of lettuce, washed and drained
• 2 dozens of perilla leaves (optional), washed and drained
• 2 carrots, cut into bite size sticks
• 1 English cucumber, cut into bite size sticks
• 7-8 green chili peppers, chopped
• a dozen of raw garlic, sliced
• 1 large onion, cut across into ¼ size pieces

Directions:

1. Slice pork belly into bite sized pieces. Put it on a large plate and keep it in the refrigerator.

Make green onion salad

1. Soak shredded green onion in cold water for 5 minutes. Rinse and drain.
2. Combine soy sauce, sugar, sesame seeds, sesame oil, and hot pepper flakes in a small bowl. Mix well and set aside.
3. Portion the green onion into small serving bowls, and put some sauce on top of each. Set aside.

Make ssamjang (dipping sauce)

1. Combine soybean paste, hot pepper paste, sugar, green onion, garlic, sesame seeds, and sesame oil in a bowl and mix well. Set aside.

How to cook:

1. Heat up your grill plate or pan. Put a little sesame oil on the hot plate for flavor.
2. Cover the grill plate with pork belly. Grill them and turn them over when the bottoms get a little crispy. Keep cooking and turning them over until both sides are crispy.
3. As the pieces get ready to eat, take them off the grill and put them on a small side plate. People can take the pieces from this plate, or if they’re too hungry they can take them right off the grill!
4. Eat, but keep cooking!

Jigeum yoli 지금 요리

Korea's Stir Fry Marinated Chicken

Dak Galbi 닭갈비

Dak galbi, also romanized dalk galbi, is a popular Korean dish generally made by stir-frying marinated diced chicken in a gochujang (chili pepper paste) based sauce, and sliced cabbage, sweet potato, scallions, onions, perilla leaves, and tteok (rice cake) together on a hot plate. It is a local specialty food for the city of Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, where dak galbi originates. Because of its origin, the dish is also called Chunchŏn dak galbi.

It is said that dak galbi appeared after the late 1960s as an inexpensive anju (food that is eaten while drinking) in small taverns, on the outskirts of the city to replace the comparatively expensive gui dishes which are grilled over charcoal. The dish has spread to Chunchŏn's main districts, where the livestock industry thrives and offers fresh ingredients with no need for refrigeration. There is a street known as dak galbi golmok (dak galbi alley) which has a high concentration of dak galbi restaurants. Due to the city's northern location, it is a common destination for conscripted soldiers on leave.

It is also a popular dish for university students who are on a low budget, as dak galbi is relatively cheap and served in abundance. It earned the nickname "commoners' galbi" or "university student's galbi" back in the 1970s.

Despite the fact that its name means chicken ribs, there is no rib meat in dak galbi.

The city of Chunchŏn has held an annual autumn festival dedicated to dak galbi since 2005.

Ingredients:

1 pound of deboned drumsticks (the video shows how to debone them), or chicken breast
3 tablespoons of soy sauce
10 cloves of peeled garlic, minced
1 tablespoon minced ginger
¼ cup hot pepper paste (gochujang)
⅓ cup hot pepper flakes (gochugaru)
½ cup cooking wine (mirim) or water-sugar solution (½ cup water and 1 teaspoon sugar)
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
1 pound cabbage, rinsed, cut into bite sized pieces
1 medium onion (about 1 cup), sliced
5 oz (1cup) rice cake (garaeddeok), cut into 2 inch long pieces
5 oz (1 cup) sweet potato, peeled and sliced into bite sized pieces
1 small carrot (½ cup), sliced
2 green chili peppers, sliced
2 dozen perilla leaves

Directions:

1. Cut the chicken into bite size pieces and put them into a bowl. Mix with 1 tablespoon soy sauce and  ground black pepper by hand or a spoon. Set aside.
2. Prepare the sauce by combining garlic, ginger, hot pepper paste, hot pepper flakes, 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, and cooking wine in a bowl. Mix it well with a spoon. If you  use a food processor, blend it until creamy for about 1 minute.
3. Prepare a large, shallow, and wide pan or a grill for the dak galbi. Spread the cabbage on the bottom of the pan. Add the onion, green chili pepper, carrot, rice cake, and sweet potato.
4. Add the perilla leaves on top. You can cut them a few times or place the leaves whole. The leaves will shrink when cooked, so don’t be afraid to be generous!
5. Put the marinated chicken in the center of the pan, on top of the vegetables. Put the sauce on top.
6. Cover and cook over medium high heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Stir with a wooden spoon so the pan doesn’t burn and the ingredients and sauce mix evenly.
7. Lower the heat to medium and cover. Cook for another 20 minutes, or until it’s done. Keep stirring with a wooden spoon.
8. Now you can eat. The cabbage will cook first, followed by the rice cake, chicken, and sweet potato, so eat in that order. Keep the heat low during the meal. Cook, stir, eat, and talk. The pieces will be hot, so be careful! If the dakgalbi becomes totally cooked, turn off the heat.
9. When it’s almost totally finished, add some rice and chopped kimchi to what’s left on the grill and stir with a wooden spoon over medium heat for a few minutes. Serve in separate bowls, or give everyone a spoon and let them eat from the pan together.

Delicious~ (─‿‿─)

Korean Beef Barbeque

Bulgogi 불고기

Bulgogi is a Korean dish that usually consists of grilled marinated beef. It is listed at number 23 onWorld's 50 most delicious foods readers' poll compiled by CNN Go in 2011.

The word Bulgogi literally means fire meat in Korean, and is derived from the Pyongan dialect. It refers to marinated meat, cooked using traditional grilling techniques such as gridirons or perforated dome griddles that sit on braziers, unlike deep frying or boiling in water. The term is also applied to variations such as dak bulgogi (made with chicken) or dwaeji bulgogi (made with pork), depending on what kind of meat and corresponding seasoning are used.

Bulgogi is believed to have originated from Goguryeo, when it was originally called maekjeok (맥적), with the beef being grilled on a skewer. It was called neobiani (너비아니), meaning "thinly spread" meat, in the Joseon Dynasty and was traditionally prepared especially for the wealthy and the nobility.

Bulgogi is made from thin slices of sirloin or other prime cuts of beef. Before cooking, the meat is marinated to enhance its flavour and tenderness with a mixture of soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, garlic, pepper and other ingredients such as scallions, ginger, onions or mushrooms, especially white button mushrooms or matsutake. Sometimes, cellophane noodles are added to the dish, which varies by the region and specific recipe.

Bulgogi is traditionally grilled, but pan-cooking has become popular as well. Whole cloves of garlic, sliced onions and chopped green peppers are often grilled or fried with the meat. This dish is sometimes served with a side of lettuce or other leafy vegetable, which is used to wrap a slice of cooked meat, often along with a dab of ssamjang, or other side dishes, and then eaten together.

Bulgogi is served in barbecue restaurants in Korea, and there are bulgogi flavoured fast-food hamburgers sold at many South Korean fast-food restaurants. The hamburger patty is marinated in bulgogi sauce and served with lettuce, tomato, onion, and sometimes cheese. It is similar to a teriyaki burger in flavour.

The October 2011 issue of Jamie magazine featured a stall selling bulgogi steak baguettes outside Arsenal FC's Emirates Stadium. The same stall was featured in Nicholas Lander's food column in the Financial Times in October 2012. Texas Rangers outfielder Shin-Soo Choo endorsed bulgogi in an advertisement in the March 12th, 2014 issue of The New York Times.

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

Directions:

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.

For Vegetarians:
Use the same marinade above and replace beef with mushrooms. You’ll need 10-12 large dried shiitake mushrooms. Add a few white mushrooms if you like them.

1. Soak the dried shiitake mushrooms in warm water for several hours until they’re soft.
2. Squeeze out any excess water and slice each mushroom thinly.
3. Slice some white mushrooms, carrot, and onion.
4. Mix all of it together in the marinade.
5. Grill, pan-fry, or BBQ.

(⊙o⊙(☉_☉)⊙.⊙)"