You eat out at a lot of Korean restaurants, but now you want to learn how to make delicious Korean cuisine at home. Here's an easy recipe for bulgogi, a Korean classic of marinated beef, with a Mexican twist!
Happy Thursday, friends!
The weekend is near! Woo! :D
During college, I had a trio cooking/foodie group that included me, Joy and Michael (we were all nutritional science majors with tons of common interests, so it's no wonder that we got close to each other!). Although Michael and I have graduated and our baby Joy is about to graduate this May, we still live close enough to each other that we can see, cook and eat good food together whenever we can. So, naturally, that's what we did to celebrate Joy's birthday this past weekend!
We made bulgogi beef tacos and turmeric chicken tacos. Or, to be more correct, Michael prepared all the meat (because he is THE meat master) and I bought tacos supplies (tortilla, guac, veggies, etc). Lolol. SO, the recipe I'm showing you down below was taught to me by Michael. (Thanks for teaching me!) After one bite of his bulgogi beef, I had to share with you guys. Michael's turmeric chicken is also hella good, but you'll have to wait until he gets his own blog up and running. ;)
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Above left: Korean beef tacos with cabbage slaw, guac and a quail egg
Above right: Grapes, baked Brie, sweet brioche toasts and peach bellini with blackberries & lime
On top of our tasty tacos, I made a simple cheese platter because why not have more good food?!
If you've never had baked Brie, TRY IT! It is heavenly, especially with grapes and Trader Joe's brioche toasts. To toast to Joy's 22 birthday, we made some peach bellinis with blackberries and lime. We're cute! Lol.
I've eaten at a lot of Korean restaurants (because Korean food is AWESOME), but I'm not an expert in Korean cooking. I just love to eat and make restaurant foods at home, or in this case, make what my friends teach me! :)
Bulgogi is a dish consisting of thin, marinated slices of beef that are often grilled on a barbecue or stove-top griddle at restaurants. For this home-cooked version, I cooked my bulgogi in a regular nonstick pan because I don't have a grill or a stove-top griddle. This recipe tastes just like the restaurants without the charred BBQ taste.
Certain things I want to mention about the ingredients:
I really like this recipe because you just throw all your prepped ingredients into bowls and then let it marinate in the fridge. Once that's done, you cook the meat for 5 minutes and BOOM! You're ready to serve with whole grain rice or tortilla!
This recipe is also great because, after your meat (protein!) and whole grain of choice (healthy carbs + fiber!) is cooked, all that's left is prepping your produce. Sliced carrots, cabbage slaw, cilantro, chopped tomato, chopped onion...all these items provide lots of nourishing fiber, vitamins and minerals! If you're adding sliced avocados or guac, you're adding a healthy dose of monounsaturated fats, which helps improve blood cholesterol levels and thereby reduce the risk for heart disease. Since I have a sweet tooth, the sweet and salty flavors in this bulgogi really hit the spot. If you're not much of a sweet tooth like me, feel free to lower the sugar.
Sodium Alert! I am aware that this recipe is high in sodium. The nutrition information at the bottom of this page includes 1/4 pound beef, 2 small tacos and 1/4 portion of the marinade per serving. Since this recipe will make extra marinade, you will most likely not be eating all the sodium listed in the nutrition information if you do not consume the extra marinade. If you are sensitive to sodium, I recommend using reduced-sodium soy sauce and opting for no-salt-added stock powder.
Shout out to my Mario for helping me cook these tasty tacos!
Nutrition Information: Calories: 351 Total Fat: 7g Carbohydrates: 42g Protein: 28g Fiber: 5g Sodium: 813mg Sugar: 19g
If you try out this recipe, comment, tweet, facebook, or instagram me and let me know how it went! Also, please let me know what else you would like to see on the blog. Thank you for reading! :)
If you've never had baked Brie, TRY IT! It is heavenly, especially with grapes and Trader Joe's brioche toasts. To toast to Joy's 22 birthday, we made some peach bellinis with blackberries and lime. We're cute! Lol.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JOY!!! <3 <3 <3
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| Joy and her box of goodies from PIQ Bakery in Berkeley, CA! They're super tasty!!! (From top left: tiramisu, blueberry pastry, almond tart, raspberry tart) |
Easy Bulgogi (Korean Beef) Tacos
I've eaten at a lot of Korean restaurants (because Korean food is AWESOME), but I'm not an expert in Korean cooking. I just love to eat and make restaurant foods at home, or in this case, make what my friends teach me! :)
Bulgogi is a dish consisting of thin, marinated slices of beef that are often grilled on a barbecue or stove-top griddle at restaurants. For this home-cooked version, I cooked my bulgogi in a regular nonstick pan because I don't have a grill or a stove-top griddle. This recipe tastes just like the restaurants without the charred BBQ taste.
Certain things I want to mention about the ingredients:
- Asian pear - This is a common ingredient in Korean barbecue marinades because it contains enzymes that tenderize meat.
- Sesame seeds - All Korean restaurants will most likely have this on their bulgogi. I didn't have sesame seeds at home and, thus, I did not use it. My meat without the sesame seeds didn't taste that much different from the restaurants, so I made this ingredient optional.
- Thai chili pepper/flakes - I'm guilty of putting spicy things on everything. Knock on wood that I don't get an ulcer in the future. This is optional, but even just a little heat, made this dish all the more appetizing to me!
- Thinly sliced beef - Make sure you have a SHARP knife when slicing. Otherwise, you'll be making life difficult for yourself.
- Meat marinade (beef + cornstarch/stock powder/salt/sugar) - This is me using a Chinese technique to tenderize the meat that my momma taught me.
- Chicken stock powder - I used Knorr Chicken Flavored Broth Mix. I don't recommend if you're sensitive to MSG since it has MSG. This is constantly used in my household. I should somehow "trash" it since it's so processed, but it does deliver amazing flavor.
I really like this recipe because you just throw all your prepped ingredients into bowls and then let it marinate in the fridge. Once that's done, you cook the meat for 5 minutes and BOOM! You're ready to serve with whole grain rice or tortilla!
This recipe is also great because, after your meat (protein!) and whole grain of choice (healthy carbs + fiber!) is cooked, all that's left is prepping your produce. Sliced carrots, cabbage slaw, cilantro, chopped tomato, chopped onion...all these items provide lots of nourishing fiber, vitamins and minerals! If you're adding sliced avocados or guac, you're adding a healthy dose of monounsaturated fats, which helps improve blood cholesterol levels and thereby reduce the risk for heart disease. Since I have a sweet tooth, the sweet and salty flavors in this bulgogi really hit the spot. If you're not much of a sweet tooth like me, feel free to lower the sugar.
Shout out to my Mario for helping me cook these tasty tacos!
Easy Bulgogi (Korean Beef) Tacos
You eat out at a lot of Korean restaurants, but now you want to learn how to make delicious Korean cuisine at home. Here's an easy recipe for bulgogi, a Korean classic of marinated beef, with a Mexican twist!
Prep time: 1 hours 15 minutes
Cook time:
Total time:
Servings: 4
Serving Size: 1/4 pound beef + 2 small corn tortilla
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup water
- 8 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 small onion, sliced
- 1 tablespoon grated ginger
- 2 green onion, minced
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 small Asian pear, grated
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds (optional)
- 1/2 teaspoon Thai chili powder/flakes (optional)
- 1 pound beef, thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon chicken stock or vegetarian stock powder
- Sprinkle of salt and sugar
- 8 small corn tortilla
- Taco toppings: sliced avocado, sliced carrots, cilantro, lettuce, egg, salsa
Instructions
1. Make marinade by combining all ingredients from soy sauce to Thai chili powder (if using) in a large bowl. 2. In a small bowl, mix beef with corn starch, stock powder, salt and sugar. Leave alone for 3 minutes. 3. Mix beef into marinade. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hours. 4. In a large pan, cook meat on medium-high heat until just brown (about 5 minutes). Watch carefully or it will overcook! 5. Heat tortillas in a large pan until soft and warm. Assemble tacos and enjoy!
Nutrition Information: Calories: 351 Total Fat: 7g Carbohydrates: 42g Protein: 28g Fiber: 5g Sodium: 813mg Sugar: 19g
If you try out this recipe, comment, tweet, facebook, or instagram me and let me know how it went! Also, please let me know what else you would like to see on the blog. Thank you for reading! :)
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