Dak~Chicken Bulgogi

Dak Bulgogi

Chicken Bulgogi

 

"Fire meat" is what Bulgogi literally means, a word from the dialect of Korean called Pony'ng. When one speaks of Bulgogi, it does imply that it is prepared with beef, unless specified to be any other kind.

Small pieces of beef, chicken, or dwaejipork are often used to prepare bulgogi, which is served up with sticky rice or rice noodles and enjoyed with chop sticks. Often, a cucumber salad is offered with it.

Originally created for royalty, this is referred to as a rich man's food. With the culinary world closer and familiar than ever before, bulgogi is now available all over the world in varied versions. Here is one you can prepare in your own kitchen.

Dak Bulgogi on sticky rice garnished with sesame seeds and green onions

Marinade:

Grate finely

1 large peeled pear 

4 cloves of fresh garlic

3 tbsp fresh, peeled ginger root

1/2 cup soya sauce

4 tsp crush chilli flakes

4 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp corn syrup, maple syrup or honey

4 tbsp rice wine vinegar

6 tbsp sesame oil 

Marinate in the above marinade for a minimum of 2 hours or up to overnight.

1 kg / 2.2 lb chicken thighs, in small pieces.

 

You will also need

 

oil to pan fry

For the garnish

4 green onions, sliced 

2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds

 

In a hot skillet, add a tbsp of oil, heat for a minute, and add the pieces of chicken to sizzle and cook. Turn it once or twice. Keep adding the marinade as needed. Lower the heat and allow it to cook through. There should be a little sticky gravy left at the end of the cooking.

Pour all of it over the bowl of rice or rice noodles.

Garnish it with green onions and toasted sesame seeds. Serve immediately.

 

Tips

Serve this with a bowl of plain or sticky boiled, jasmine or basmati or sushi white rice. 

A bowl of rice noodles is another alternate.

Also serve thinly sliced cucumber, salt, tossed in rice wine vinegar with red radish or seaweed nori pieces.

If using beef, slice the flank steak against the grain into bite-size pieces. If using short ribs, keep them small enough to pick up with chopsticks. You could also consider using Duck. Generally, duck breast is a better choice to cook with.

 

There is no salt in this recipe because of the soya (especially if one is not using the light variety) and sesame oil, but you may adjust it according to your palate. Generally, chicken needs some, while beef can do without.

Beef Bulgogi

Thhinly slice a rib eye steak

Marinate it in a marinade of

quarter of an overripe apple or pear, crushed, finely chopped or mushed

2 tsp of any korean hot pepper paste like gochujang - I used Mekhala Korean Chilli Paste

4 tbsp Tamarai soy sauce

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp sesame oil

1 tbsp plum sesame seed or any other toasted sesame seed

1 tsp garlic, minced chopped or crushed

3 finely chopped green onions

1/4 cup water

Toss properly. Cover, refrigerate for 24 hours.

Remove  and bring to room temperature. In a large skillet, heat a tbsp of cooking oil. Toss in the beef ensuring there is little or not liquid. pan fry for a few minutes. Serve this with sticky rice, cucmbers dunked in vinegar salt and sugar and seom crispy roasted cauliflower, green onions and sesame. 

My published cookbooks are available for sale through myself and on Amazon.

The World of Parsi Cooking: Food Across Borders is a 3 award winning book. It has been self published in July 2019 and will be going into its second print in 2022. 

The Art of Parsi Cooking; reviving an ancient cuisine was published in 2016 by Austin Macauley and continues to be available through amazon book depot book depository and from the publishers.

Photo courtesy Shamineh M.