Most non-Koreans’ first intro­duc­tion into Korean includes some type of Korean bar­beque — the best known of which is bul­gogi. Bul­gogi or Korean bar­beque is sir­loin mar­i­nated in a sweet, and salty mix­ture of soy sauce, gar­lic, and gin­ger, then quickly grilled. It is often served with rice, kim­chi, and other vegetables.

I decided to try my hand at my own bul­gogi mari­nade. I wanted to cre­ate some­thing deli­cious but with a less sodium and no MSG. I wanted to cre­ate some­thing that I would feel per­fectly safe serv­ing to my 3 year old.

1 lb. bul­gogi meat or very thin slices of rib­eye
2 tbsp. dark soy sauce
1 tbsp. light soy sauce
4 tbsp. mirin
2 tbsp cook­ing sake
6 cloves gar­lic (quar­tered)
1 quar­ter size piece of gin­ger (chopped)
2 tbsp. sesame oil
3 tbsp. veg­etable oil
1/8 tsp crushed black pep­per
1 bunch of green onions (chopped into 2″ long pieces)

Tip: allow 2 hours for the meat to marinade.

Spread out meat on large plate or plat­ter or place in a large bowl.

Pre­pare the mari­nade by mix­ing all wet ingre­di­ents in bowl. then add black pep­per, gar­lic, and gin­ger, and green onions.

Pour mari­nade over beef and move to refrig­er­a­tor to marinate.

Pur­chase bul­gogi meat, or very thin slices of sir­loin or prime beef. Bul­gogi meat should be avail­able in your local Korean mar­ket or Asian grocer.

Start by mar­i­nat­ing the meat in the bul­gogi mari­nade for 2 hours. Keep the mar­i­nated meat in a refrigerator.

Heat an iron skil­let on medium or heat a grill to 400F. Cook each slice of meat for 1 minute on each side.

Serve with rice, kim­chi, let­tuce or fresh raw vegetables.