Hi guys!
If you have had Korean food before or if you love Korean food, you probably know or had at least once Korean Bulgogi.
Bulgogi is Korean sweet and savory meat- usually with beef but sometimes with pork too.
The main flavor is coming from soy sauce, garlic, fruity sweetness, and sesame oil.
Bulgogi is something that everyone loves, so I always make bulgogi when I introduce Korean food for the first time.
Let’s start making bulgogi marinate & cut veggies!
Slice onion and chop garlic.
Cut green onions into halves lengthwise then cut 3/4 from the bottom green onions (from the white to light green part) into 2-inch long pieces. Chopped the rest of the dark green part.
Combine soy sauce, mirin, sugar, plum extract, sesame oil, and sesame seeds in a mixing bowl.
Korean plum extract is something you want to invest your money in if you love authentic Korean cuisine.
It’s made with green plum, it has a tangy, fruity sweetness that brings the flavor to the next level.
The best price will be found at your Korean grocery store. I recommend this brand instead of the cheaper versions because the other ones are nothing different but using sugar or corn syrup. This one is preserved in the right way and has the slight carbonation that supposes to have.
In Korea, we use very thinly sliced ribeye for bulgogi most of the time. But you can also use beef chuck or skirt steak. Make sure to slice thinly as you can though- thinner is better for bulgogi!
Add beef, half of the onion, garlic, and long strip green onions.
Mix well with your hand and marinate for 30 minutes overnight in a refrigerator.
Heat a large skillet over high heat, add 1 1/2 tbsp cooking oil and swirl to coat. Add marinated beef and cook until beef is fully cooked about 7 to 9 minutes. Stir occasionally.
When the beef is fully cooked and the onions are softened, remove from heat.
You can serve this bulgogi right away on a serving plate, but if you want to be a little bit fancy, go ahead and bring a small cast iron pan and heat over medium-high heat. add 1/2 tbsp of remaining oil and the rest of the sliced onion.
Place bulgogi right on top of the onion.
Garnish with sesame seeds, sesame oil, and the green onion that we chopped earlier.
Serve with warm cooked rice, kimchi, and lettuce wrap if you desire!
Enjoy!
Beef Bulgogi
- Total Time: 8 mins
- Yield: 4 1x
Description
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp mirin
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp maesilaek, Korean green plum extract
- 1 tbsp sesame oil, plus more for garnish
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds, plus more for garnish
- 1 lb thinly sliced beef, such as ribeye, chuck or skirt steak
- 1 large onion, sliced, divided in half
- 5 to 6 cloves garlic, chopped
- 3 green onions, 3/4 from the bottom – cut into halves in lengthwise then cut into 2-inch long pieces. Chopped the rest of the dark green part.
- 2 tbsp cooking oil
Instructions
- Combine soy sauce, mirin, sugar, plum extract, sesame oil and sesame seeds in a mixing bowl.
- Add beef, half of the onion, garlic, and long strip green onions. Mix well with your hand and marinate for 30 minutes to over night in a refrigerator.
- Heat a large skillet over high heat, add 1 1/2 tbsp cooking oil and swirl to coat. Add marinated beef and cook until beef is fully cooked about 7 to 9 minutes. Stir occasionally. Remove from heat.
- You can serve this bulgogi right away on a serving plate, but if you want to be a little bit fancy, go ahead and bring a small cast iron pan and heat over medium high heat. add 1/2 tbsp of remaining oil and the rest of the sliced onion. Place bulgogi right on top of the onion and garnish with sesame seeds, sesame oil and the green onion that we chopped earlier.
- Serve with warm cooked rice, kimchi and lettuce wrap if you desire! Enjoy!
- Cook Time: 8 mins
25 comments
This looks delicious, but I wanted to let you know right below the photo of the meat there is an embarrassing typo where it is supposed to say “beef chuck”.
Is there a substitute for the plum extract?
The plum extract is available on Amazon, but I couldn’t find it in my very large local Asian grocery stoore. However, Plum Sauce was available in my local Asian store, and it works okay as a substitute. Lee Kum Kee brand makes a Plum Sauce that I’ve used because I couldn’t find plum “extract”.
Hi, I am a new subscriber and was reading the recipe and notice you have a typo for chuck steak. I know you would want it fixed!
Love your videos and recipes!
This was our first time eating Bulgogi. It was so delicious! I followed the recipe to the letter, and I wouldn’t change a thing. I used a gorgeous sirloin steak, because it was on sale at work. Thank you!
where’s the video?
Very top of the post!
Love it! Hi I know the recipe says lettuce leaves. What are those green leaves. They look delicious.
I think you are asking about the dark green leaves, and its called Kkat-ip aka wild sesame leaves! these can be found at a Korean grocery store.
Delicious! The first recipe I tried from the website, and I must say it was a great way to start. I think the ribeye that I used was too thick, but otherwise, flavour was on point. Never knew I could eat one full onion on its own. I can’t wait to try more Korean cooking!
I made Bulgogi an Japchae for dinner today. Delicious!
I will try your other recipes too.❤️😋
Thank you! Make sure you take a picture and tag me so I can re-share!~
Hello, Love your recipes! Do you have a cookbook with all your recipes that we can purchase?
Good day! May i know the substitute for the green plum extract?
You can use apricot jam if you cannot find any green plum extract. Hope this helped (:
What is mirin ?
Ordered the plum extract for this dish because I made other bulgogi version before and didn’t taste like it. Just cooked this recipe today and loves it!!! Taste just like what I had in Korean restaurants. Thank you so much for the recipe!!! It is legit and yummy.
Thank you so much for trying out my recipe!
I made this dish and it is absolutely delicious. I will make again.
What kind of sugar do you use and soy sauce?
I used Korean brand soy sauce and raw sugar I believe.
My first Korean recipe to try after much research and I LOVE it! I too ordered the Korean plum extract after trying apricot jam. Good investment.
This recipe is a crowd pleaser. Every time I make bulgogi I use this recipe and it’s AMAZING. Will never use another recipe
I made your recipe. When I put the beef in the pan, it release so juice released from the sauce and the meat so it didn’t really start an frying until 5 mi. Later. Is that normal?
Yes, this is normal. One way to have the juices evaporate faster is to not crowd the skillet or wok. Or, you can also use a larger pan if you have one.