Korean BBQ + banchan @ Home

I was sitting around yesterda @ work deciding what I wanted to cook for a Saturday dinner(Saturday's are typically my blow out meal of the week as i have time to cook and enjoy it without having to worry about work the next day). Opted for a Korean BBQ feast.

Grabbed up a couple lbs. of sirloin steak for some bulgogi(some use ribeye, I like sirloin). Plus the couple ingredients I didnt have for the marinade already at home(cant see buying any marinade, especially this one). Trimmed up the sirloin, and tossed the chunks into the freezer for about 20 minutes to allow thin slicing with a chefs knife. In the interim I whipped up the marinade. Sliced the meat thin, but not too thin(I didnt want the meat to slip between the grill grates. I lightley salted the meat, and then covered the meat with the marinade, it has been in the fridge overnight.

I want this meal to be more than just Korean meat & some leaf lettuce, I wanted to tackle some of the banchan that I have had @ SSGS & hae Woon Dae.

First one I did this a.m., was a Korean potato salad(potato cubes, carrot, egg, scallion, etc.), pretty simple, and tasty. Other banchan started shortly will be Pajeon(scallion pancake) from scratch of course, Japchae(marinated beef, bok choy, red pepper, green onion, carrot, serrano pepper), . Of course I will have white rice on the table, plus a dipping sauce for the Pajeon. I am also throwing a Chinese twist into the meal, some shuimai(pork and shrimp filled), figured this finger food would fit in well.


sliced sirloin for bulgogi:



salted sirloin:



in the marinade:



Korean potato salad:




I will be grilling the bulgogi on the Weber kettle over the high heat producing Coconut shell charcoal I use lately.

Ill post more of the dishes later as I make them & then depending on how much and when I start drinking.

Vangie & Shay think I knocked it out of the park with the Korean BBQ last night. Hits for me were the bulgogi - overnight marinade made this a great batch, Japchae, nice version, beef, shrimp bok choy, etc, shuimai - really nice, and really easy to make, Korean potato salad - simple but really nice version. Scallion cakes were good, but need some tweaking.


The bulgogi was packed with flavor, and the meat had really tenderized overnight. A quick sear on the roaring hot coconut shell charcoal and it was done. Japchae was done in the wok, a really nice version, reminded me of Filipino pancit. Shui mai was top nitch, I ground the pork myself, and minced some shrimp into the mix as well as ginger, green onion, mirin & a few secret adders. Really tender wrapper, and a nice filling.

shuimai:



steamed shuimai:



bulgogi on the Weber:



finished bulgogi:




Korean potato salad:



Japchae:



the feast:




Alot of fun yesterday in the kitchen.

All I can say is WOW!!! In fact, let me say it again.... WOW!!! I really admire your tenacity in refusing to buy anything store bought. Intially in reading this post, I thought you had purchased premade shumai. It blows my mind now looking at the gorgeous pictures that you made them homemade. WOW!! You are my idol. I live two blocks from Mitsuwa where I'd surely buy most of the meal you made already premade. Everything looks fantastic.

Question - Do you wing most of these recipes or do you have some basis for them already?

Either way, fantastic looking dinner, jimswside!!

Jim wins again!

The shumai are fantastic—you make my efforts look like those of a rookie. Next time you make them, would you do a step-by-step for us? I'd really like to learn how you do it.

I took a class two weeks ago in Brisbane which taught me how to make gyoza. I'll swap you a step-by-step on that for your shumai tutorial!!

Geo

What is your marinade for the Bulgogi?
My type of meal. Well done!-Dick

Gorgeous Jim (and homemade banchan--what a great idea for a thread)!

Geo wrote:The shumai are fantastic—you make my efforts look like those of a rookie. Next time you make them, would you do a step-by-step for us? I'd really like to learn how you do it.

The most recent Cooks Illustrated has a recipe for shumai. I believe Cathy2 has tried it. Jim, your pics make me want to go get some wrappers and try them tonight.

thanks folks,

geo, the shuimai recipe I did was pretty basic.

I used 3/4 lb of pork for chop suey ground by me
6 medium raw shrimp
2 tsp minced green onion
2 tsp minced ginger
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp mirin
splash of fish sauce
1/2 tsp sugar

I ground the pork in the food processor then tossed it in a bowl and added the minced ginger and green onion. shrimp were peeled and brined for about 10 minutes before mincing. I added the minced shrimp, sesame oil i made(basically toasted sesame seed infused veg oil). the mirin, the sugar and the splash of fish sauce and mixed by hand.

here is what the mix looked like:



I cut the square wont ton wrap into circles using a pint glass as my guide.

I set out each individual won ton wrap, and wetted around the entire edge with some warm waer with my finger. About 2 tsp of the filling in the middle and then folded up oposite ends of the wonton, and worked my way around, making a basket, and crimping them as I could.

I put a diced piece of reb pepper in the middle of each.. Steamed for 10 minutes and they were done. Next time Ill not group them as close together as I lost some that had stuck together because they were touching when I steamed them.

The bulgogi marinade is:

3/4 cup lite soy sauce
3/4+ cup of water
1 onion rough chopped
1 bosch pear cubed
8 cloves garlic chopped
1 tbsp minced ginger
1/4 cup honey
1/8 cup brown sugar
1/8 cup Dr Pepper
4 green onions
splash of fish sauce
1 tbsp mirin
2 tsp sesame oil
1/4 tsp black pepper

I used the food processor and about 1/4 cup of water to make the onion, garlic and ginger into a thin paste. I then added the liquid ingredients and the chopped green onions with the paste into a bowl and mixed.

Im glad I marinated overnight. the meat was popping.

Seamus wrote:
Question - Do you wing most of these recipes or do you have some basis for them already?

thanks for the kind words, it is appreciated.

I wing all recipes, I read alot, and get the basics & and then add my twists from there, Not having grown up with alot of these recipes I also credit eating out a bit, and taking mental notes of how things should taste, and the ability to disect what was done.

thaiobsessed wrote:and homemade banchan--what a great idea for a thread

Please someone start this thread! And please start with the slightly sweet pickled shredded daikon, whatever it is called!

Jim, those shumai look fabulous, I am definitely going to try that at home!

For bulgogi, galbi and doejigi I use a slight variation on the marinade:

Equal parts of
Chopped or grated garlic
Chopped or grated ginger
Sesame paste
Sesame oil
Sugar
2X soy sauce
Cayenne to taste

The sesame paste is a great addition, really kicks up the sesame level and browns nicely on the grill. I'll have to add scallions next time, it sounds like a good bonus for flavor. I've used honey, I've used grated apple or pear, neither of which seems to have made much difference in flavor for me. For doejigi I always add more cayenne pepper.

Jim, I have missed your posts on the BBQ thread, but this new twist to your cooking more than makes up for it? Maybe we will get some sort of taste at the LTH picnic?

razbry wrote:Jim, I have missed your posts on the BBQ thread, but this new twist to your cooking more than makes up for it? Maybe we will get some sort of taste at the LTH picnic?

thanks razbry,

I am on a big asian style food kick right now(still doing a little bbq here and there). thinking korean or vietnamese wings for the picnic.

With the promise of wings, I might even get my son to come along!

HI,

In summer, I will cook the bulgogi on my Weber chimney for a short, intense cook. I bought at H-Mart a hinged wire grid that closes shut with a longish handle. I layout out the marinaded bulgogi on there to cook. For three people, it is a good enough pace for a dinner.

I notice Jim's marinade has pear in it. For those who buy their marinade (yeah, it happens), I remember prior discussions here to make sure it has pear. I always thought such thin pieces of meat needed a brief marinade. I buy the precut meat at H-Mart. It seemed to me the longer it was in marinade, the more difficult it was to handle later. How was your experience with your hand cut meat?

If I think about panchan in advance, I make some sweet sour daikon radish and maybe thin slices of black radish, too. I have an encyclopedia of cooking from the late 1960's that has a good quartet of panchan recipes. The recipe is written poorly, though the result is pretty good.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote: I buy the precut meat at H-Mart. It seemed to me the longer it was in marinade, the more difficult it was to handle later. How was your experience with your hand cut meat?

It held up pretty well, It was in the marinade about 21 hours total. Perhaps my hand sliced beef was a little thicker than storebought(i didnt want to lose any through the grates, and I used sirloin which isnt as tender as the ribeye that is typically used. I like the sirloin for the beefy flavor(it is one of my favorite cuts of steak)

With marinades(being cautious when there is any fruit with enzymes involved of course), I always find an overnight marinade better than say 6 hours. When I have done a day of marinade I am always thinking as I am eating, I wish I would have gone overnight with it.

That looks great! I do something very similar w/a plum marinade and sauce, I'll have to try using pear next time.

Attrill wrote:That looks great! I do something very similar w/a plum marinade and sauce, I'll have to try using pear next time.

plum marinade, sounds interesting.

The marinade I used this time was as close as I have come to duplicating SSGS & Hae Woon Dae versions which I like.

beef short ribs for Galbi are butterflied and in the marinade as I post.

marinade is: sesame oil, olive oil, sugar, mirin, fish sauce, garlic, ginger, L & P, black pepper, soy sauce.

No panchan tomorrow, Ill probably do an asian themed pasta in the wok with some bok choy, carrot, onion & garlic. Also some steamed white rice.

this batch was the shiznit... Shay said it was better than going to McD's.

butterflied short ribs in the marinade:




on the kettle:



late summer night in Gods country:



galbi... mercy:



how its done:



all good:



seared the buterflied short ribs, then moved them indirect and added some alder wood,, and cherry. Let the fat break down.

wrapped in green leaf lettuce with sriracha & serrano peppers. really nice.