My mom grew up in Seoul, South Korea, with a mother who was an amazing cook. I can personally vouch for this because, in the 1980s, my grandmother and uncle moved in with us in our home in Wichita, Kansas, where I grew up. What I remember most about that time is my grandmother cooking amazing food nonstop.
When my grandmother passed away, I know my mom regretted never having really learned from her how to cook proper Korean dishes. She ended up adopting a much more American style of cooking, and by the time my sisters and I were on the scene, she had long since perfected a few dishes for my steak-and-potato-loving dad.
But around that same time, she had a lot of Korean friends living nearby, and she learned enough from them that by the time my kids were born, she was often preparing traditional Korean dishes for them, like seaweed soup. It's funny to me that they're growing up eating much more authentic Korean food than I ever did.
Mom's bulgogi, though, is more of an American-Korean hybrid, much sweeter than traditional bulgogi, and she serves it on a bed of white rice. My mom had no idea what the measurements were or how to describe what she does because, as she said, she just does it.
But eventually, we figured it out, and I'm so glad we did because now I've captured the blueprint for what will always be a beloved meal for my kids. We've never had Mom's bulgogi with anything other than her cucumber kimchi salad, which has a clean, fresh flavor that perfectly complements the sweet barbecued beef.
From Magnolia Table by Joanna Gaines. Copyright © 2018 by Joanna Gaines. Reprinted by permission of William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
Ingredients
3 cups packed light brown sugar
1 ½ cups soy sauce
5 tablespoons sparkling dessert wine, such as Banfi Rosa Regale, or sparkling grape juice
3 tablespoons sesame oil
2 green onions (light and dark green parts), chopped, plus ¼ cup sliced for serving
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 - 5 pounds beef tenderloin, rib-eye, top sirloin, or sirloin steak, thinly sliced
For the Cucumber Kimchi Salad:
2 English cucumbers, peeled if desired, cut into ½-inch dice
2 green onions (light and dark green parts), thinly sliced on the diagonal
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 - 2 teaspoons gochugaru (Korean red pepper flakes*)
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
½ teaspoon kosher salt, to taste
Steamed white rice (for serving)
1 - 2 tablespoons thinly sliced green onion (light and dark green parts) as needed, for garnish
3 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted, for garnish
Directions
Marinate the bulgogi: In a large bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, soy sauce, wine, sesame oil, green onions, garlic, and pepper until well combined. Add the beef and coat it completely in marinade. Cover and refrigerate for 4 to 5 hours.
To make the cucumber kimchi salad: In a medium bowl, combine the cucumbers, green onions, garlic, gochugaru, sugar, vinegar, sesame oil, and salt to taste and stir gently. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Prepare a hot grill. If the pieces of beef are so small that they may fall through the grates, use a grilling skillet or place a sheet of foil on the grill.
Grill the beef on both sides until medium-well, 3 to 5 minutes, flipping halfway through cooking. Don’t crowd the skillet or foil, so do this in batches if necessary. As you finish each batch, transfer it to a serving platter and continue with the remaining beef.
Serve the bulgogi on top of steamed rice. Garnish with green onion and toasted sesame seeds and spoon the cucumber kimchi salad alongside.
Store the leftover bulgogi and cucumber kimchi salad in separate covered containers in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Note
My mom usually has the butcher slice the beef for this dish when she buys it. If you livenear a Korean market, they often sell packages of sliced rib-eye or top sirloin; sometimes, they’reeven marked specifically for bulgogi. If you buy big pieces to cut yourself, freeze the meat for about 30 minutes before cutting so that it’s easier to slice thinly and cut against the grain.
Gochugaru, or Korean red pepper, is commonly used in kimchi. It adds precisely the right amount of heat and unique flavor to the cucumber salad. Authentic Korean brands are readily available at Asian grocery stores or online, and the McCormick spice company packages it as well.
