Today’s recipe is spicy bulgogi (Maeun-sobulgogi: 매운소불고기)! Bulgogi is a very well-known and old Korean dish of thinly sliced marinated meat quickly cooked over heat. Bulgogi made with beef is not normally spicy, the marinade is usually a bit sweet. I’ve heard about spicy beef bulgogi from my readers talking about it, but I had never tried it myself until I went to a new large Korean grocery store here in New York City. The store was huge but there was nowhere to eat there or nearby. Shopping there was making me really hungry.
They were selling pre-marinated spicy beef bulgogi in the meat section, and maybe it was because I was so hungry but it looked so good. Red shiny sauce was coarsely mixed with the thinly sliced beef, it looked very juicy and spicy. I don’t usually buy premade stuff at the grocery store but I thought it would make a great quick dinner when I got home, so I bought some.
I bought a lot of stuff at that store and by the time I got it all home and packed away I was glad to have that spicy bulgogi to cook. It was so easy to make and it turned out pretty good but a little too sweet for me. I knew I could make it better so after some tries I developed this recipe that I’m showing you today. I wanted to make it not too sweet and also simple and quick to make with few ingredients, something you can make for dinner very easily and enjoy right away.
It’s easy to make a vegetarian version of this, just use king oyster mushrooms instead of beef. Once you mix with the marinade, just cooked them right away. Otherwise the marinade will draw out water from the mushrooms. Of course don’t skip the fried rice at the end, for many people it’s the best part! This recipe serves 4 with fried rice and side dishes but if you want to eat the whole thing, don’t be shy. You can eat as much as you want!
Ingredients
(Serves 2 to 4)
- 1 pound sirloin beef steak (or any tender cut of beef), sliced thinly
- 4 green onions, cut into 2½ inch long pieces
- 1 king oyster mushroom, sliced thinly lengthwise
- 2 tablespoons cooking oil
- 1 bowl of rice, optional
- ½ cup fermented kimchi (preferably well-fermented and sour-tasting), chopped, optional
For marinade
- ¼ cup gochu-garu (Korean hot pepper flakes)
- ¼ cup rice syrup (or corn syrup, or sugar to your taste)
- ¼ cup gochujang (Korean hot pepper paste)
- 6 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ cup water
Directions
Marinate beef
- Combine the ingredients for marinade in a medium bowl. Mix well with a wooden spoon.
- Mix beef into the marinade by hand.
- Set aside until you’re ready to cook.
Cook bulgogi
Cook on the stove
- Heat up a large, heavy, and shallow pan or skillet over medium high heat. Add the cooking oil, green onion, and mushroom.
- Stir it for 1 minute with a wooden spoon until the green onion turns slightly light brown.
- Turn down the heat to medium and add the marinated beef. Cook, stirring with a wooden spoon for 3 to 5 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and transfer the bulgogi to a large plate.
- Serve with rice, kimchi, and more side dishes.
- Eat ssam syle (see below).
Cook at the table just like a Korean restaurant
- On your table, set out Korean side dishes (banchan) like kimchi, as well as lettuce, ssamjang, and sliced garlic for lettuce wraps. Bring your drinks, plates, chopsticks and rice. Set out everything around a cooking surface (like a Korean butane gas burner) set in the middle of the table.
- Heat up a large, heavy, and shallow pan or skillet over medium high heat. Add the cooking oil, green onion, and mushroom.
- Stir it for 1 minute with a wooden spoon until the green onion turns slightly light brown.
- Turn down the heat to medium and add the marinated beef. Cook, stirring with a wooden spoon for 3 to 5 minutes.
- Eat ssam style (see below) at the table.
Serve and eat ssam style
- Put a piece of meat on a lettuce leaf with some ssamjang, a slice of green chili pepper (if you can handle it) and garlic (also optional). Make it small enough to eat in one bite.
- Wrap up the lettuce leaf around everything and eat it in one bite!
- Everyone makes their own wrap, one by one, until they are finished.
Make bokkeumbap (stir-fried rice)
- After the bulgogi is cooked and eaten, you’ll have some spicy sauce and bits of meat in the bottom of the pan. Add rice and chopped kimchi and stir-fry for just a few minutes.
- Scoop some out in individual bowls and serve.
Posted on Friday, January 20th, 2023. Last updated on March 26, 2023.
Recipe type: BBQ, beef, easy, main dish, spicy
Tagged as bulgogi, 매운소불고기, 양념소불고기, spicy beef bulgogi, spicy bulgogi, Yangnyeom sobulgogi
