Beef Bulgogi Recipe (Korean Marinated Beef)

This beef bulgogi serves two in about 50 minutes, including a 30-minute marinade. Thin beef rests in a soy sauce, sugar, grated Korean pear and garlic marinade in the refrigerator, then cooks fast in one layer over high heat. The key is to spread the beef out and lower the heat before the sugar burns.

Beef bulgogi is thinly sliced beef marinated in a sweet and salty soy sauce mixture, then cooked. At home it can be cooked in a frying pan. Regional styles differ in how it is cooked: Seoul style adds broth for a slightly soupy dish, while Eonyang and Gwangyang styles grill it over charcoal.

Encyclopedias and studies trace bulgogi to maekjeok and seoryamyeok (older grilled meat dishes) and neobiani (thin, seasoned grilled beef), but their ingredients and methods differ, so an unchanged line of descent is hard to establish. The word bulgogi appears in Hyeon Jin-geon’s 1922 story Tarakja, and it was a headword in volume three of the dictionary Keunsajeon, published in 1950. Bang Sin-yeong’s 1958 cookbook Godeung yori silseup described bulgogi as a colloquial name for neobiani.

Published recipes split on marinating time, from none to overnight. This entry uses 30 minutes in the refrigerator for thin, tender beef. The grated pear adds sweetness and aroma.

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• Frying pan, 26–28 cm (about 10 1/4–11 in)
• Bowl (for marinating)
• Grater (for the pear)
• Paper towels

1. Pat the beef dry with paper towels. Separate the slices.

   Beef, thinly sliced 300 g (10.6 oz)

2. In a bowl, mix the soy sauce, sugar, pear, garlic, cheongju, sesame oil and pepper.

   Soy sauce 2 1/2 tbsp · Sugar 1 1/2 tbsp · Grated bae (Korean pear) 3 tbsp (45 ml) · Minced garlic 1 tbsp · Cheongju (Korean rice wine) or cooking wine 1 tbsp · Sesame oil 1 tbsp · Black pepper A pinch

3. Add the beef and onion to the marinade. Mix until evenly coated.

   Beef, thinly sliced 300 g (10.6 oz) · Onion 1/2 ea (about 100 g / 3.5 oz)

4. Cover the bowl. Marinate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

5. Heat the pan over high heat. Add the oil.

   Cooking oil 1/2 tbsp

6. Cook the beef and onion in one layer for about 3–4 minutes. Turn the slices during cooking. Check that the beef is fully cooked.

7. Add the green onion. Cook about 30 seconds more.

   Green onion 1/2 stalk

8. Turn off the heat. Sprinkle the sesame seeds. Serve with rice. For wraps, serve it with lettuce.

   Sesame seeds A pinch

• The beef is fully cooked (optional check: the center stays at or above 75°C (167°F) for at least 1 minute, with a probe inserted sideways)
• The marinade has reduced and the beef looks glossy
• The onion is soft and translucent
• No burnt black marinade on the pan or the beef

Seoul-style bulgogi

It simmers with broth and vegetables until slightly soupy, sometimes with dangmyeon (glass noodles).

Eonyang bulgogi

Eonyang-style beef is marinated before it is grilled over charcoal on a wire rack in Ulsan.

Gwangyang bulgogi

The beef is seasoned just before cooking, not marinated for long, and grilled over oak charcoal.

Jeyuk bokkeum

Jeyuk bokkeum is a related species: pork cooked in gochujang (Korean red chili paste), also called pork bulgogi.

Beef galbi (grilled beef short ribs)

Beef galbi uses marinated, bone-in short ribs, while this beef bulgogi uses thin boneless slices.

• Korean Bapsang — Bulgogi (Korean BBQ Beef)
• Korean Bapsang — Dwaeji bulgogi
• Just One Cookbook — Bulgogi
• 10000recipe — Soy sauce beef bulgogi (Korean)
• 10000recipe — Quick beef bulgogi (Korean)
• 10000recipe — Beef bulgogi with pear juice (Korean)
• Stellan's Spice — Bulgogi
• Ulsan Metropolitan City — Eonyang bulgogi (Korean)
• Seoul Shinmun — Gwangyang bulgogi (Korean)
• Food Republic — Bulgogi vs kalbi
• Illinois Extension — Grilling and summer food safety
• USDA — Leftovers and food safety
• FoodSafety.gov — Cold food storage chart
• MFDS — Cooking meat safely (Korean)
• USDA — Thermometer use for thin meat (PDF)
• Encyclopedia of Korean Culture — Bulgogi (in Korean)
• National Folk Museum of Korea — Bulgogi (in Korean)
• Lee Kyou-jin — Historical genealogy of bulgogi, 2019 (in Korean)
• Lee Kyou-jin and Cho Mi-sook — Changing meaning of bulgogi in literature, 2010 (in Korean)
• National Institute of Korean History — Tarakja, 1922 (in Korean)
• Encyclopedia of Korean Culture — Keunsajeon (in Korean)