Korean Restaurant gone / new chicken bulgogi?

I’m desperate. I thought I could manage to survive until summer without Korean Restaurant, but I really need some good thick, juicy, sweet, spicy chicken bulgogi.

Is there another place that can come close? I’ve tried San Soo Gab San, good kalbi, but the chicken isn’t up to my specific standards. I frequent Chicago Food Corp, good fast food but no chicken. While I love them both, I’m missing that chicken badly.

Any suggestions?

believe Hae Woon Dae has marinaded chicken bulgogi... but i do not believe it's of the spicy kochu jong - spicy bean paste - type.

spicy chicken bulgogi is actually one of the easier things to make at home, i can post up a "family" recipe later tonite if you wish... FWIW it's not considered a traditional Korean bbq menu item...

TonyC wrote:believe Hae Woon Dae has marinaded chicken bulgogi... but i do not believe it's of the spicy kochu jong - spicy bean paste - type.

spicy chicken bulgogi is actually one of the easier things to make at home, i can post up a "family" recipe later tonite if you wish... FWIW it's not considered a traditional Korean bbq menu item...

I'd love to see that, and a beef bulgogi recipe, as well, if you happen to have one.

TonyC wrote:believe Hae Woon Dae has marinaded chicken bulgogi... but i do not believe it's of the spicy kochu jong - spicy bean paste - type.

spicy chicken bulgogi is actually one of the easier things to make at home, i can post up a "family" recipe later tonite if you wish... FWIW it's not considered a traditional Korean bbq menu item...

Yes, please! I've turned into a serious addict of chicken bulgogi.

Kang Nam has a spicy chicken bulgogi ... I'm a neophyte when it comes to Korean bbq, but I do like it!

Kang Nam Galbi
4849 N. Kedzie
Chicago, Il
(773) 539-2524

Hi,

I am fairly certain Garden Buffet has a marinated chicken. Since it is very important to you, I would certainly phone in advance to double check.

Garden Buffet
5347 N. Lincoln Ave.
Chicago, IL
773-728-1249

Regards,

gleam wrote:

TonyC wrote:believe Hae Woon Dae has marinaded chicken bulgogi... but i do not believe it's of the spicy kochu jong - spicy bean paste - type.

spicy chicken bulgogi is actually one of the easier things to make at home, i can post up a "family" recipe later tonite if you wish... FWIW it's not considered a traditional Korean bbq menu item...

I'd love to see that, and a beef bulgogi recipe, as well, if you happen to have one.

I don't know if this is considered sacriligious but...
I don't know if many Korean households make their own bulgogi seasoning, but we just purchase our own pre-sliced bulgogi from Chicago Foods or other local Korean markets and marinate in the bottled bulgogi sauce w/ 18% Asian pear (advertised on the label) and green onion a/o yellow onion. Looking at the bottled stuff labeled for kalbi vs bulgogi it just seems to me that there's more "artificial ingredients" in the kalbi marinade (thus we use the bulgogi marinade for kalbi too). I've daydreamed about making bulgogi marinade from scratch and using my juicer to obtain the 18% Asian pear juice/puree. One plus (or minus) in making my own marinade would be no MSG I suppose. On a side note, we've recently discovered the pajun flour mix and have been making haemul pajun and dungeness crab brain/roe pajun this weekend - it's so easy I'll never order it in the restaurant again.

Thanks guys!
I'll give them all a try! I'd also love to try to cook some if you have the recipe.

thanks!

(caveat: the recipe was given to me w/ NO measurements, you too, can adjust accordingly. the dad in the family hated sugary meats, hence it was left out of the original recipe. as we all know, Korean food = sugar. the addition of sugar balances the MSG + salt in the kochujang well)

Spicy Chicken Bulgogi

4 pieces of boneless chicken breast
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1-2 tablespoon of sugar
1.5 tablespoon of sesame oil
2 tablespoon of pear nectar (think Jumex)
1 teaspoon of roasted sesame seeds
3 tablespoon kochujang (spicy pepper paste), NOT samjang
1 tablespoon of Korean red pepper powder (to taste)
multiple cloves of minced garlic (to taste)
pinch of minched ginger (to taste)

kochujang to the left, samjang to the right:


to raise the heat, pour in more pepper powder, use more kochujang

slice chicken breast, mix in all ingredients, marinade + refrigerate for at LEAST 30 minutes. toss onto hot wok or grill, do not overcook.

Jay K, i've used instant bulgogi marinade as well, but after finding out the ingredients (including 2 secret ingredients) i was ashamed of myself... and no, i won't share. - insert buncha cliched reasons why i can't here -

TonyC wrote:Jay K, i've used instant bulgogi marinade as well, but after finding out the ingredients (including 2 secret ingredients) i was ashamed of myself... and no, i won't share. - insert buncha cliched reasons why i can't here -

Well, reading off the back label of the bulgogi marinade:
soy sauce, high fructose corn syrup, pear puree, sugar, water, onion, garlic, salt, MSG, caramel, xanthan gum, black pepper powder, citric acid and sesame

I suppose if I made it at home I'd omit the corn syrup, caramel, MSG and xanthan gum. Re: your secret ingredient, I think I recall hearing of individuals adding regular coke (ie: high fructose corn syrup, citric acid and caramel) to their marinade.

actually kosher Coke works best...or Coke from Mexican grocery stores (the stuff in the glass bottles). The sugar from the Coke carmalizes nicely on the grill. Coke is like a magical 'meat sweetner'!

Coke works in a lot of contexts evidently. When we're cooking carnitas we sometimes add Coke -- or some people use orange juice -- to get that carmelization on the exterior of the meat.

Hey, it works!

Cathy2 wrote:Hi,

I am fairly certain Garden Buffet has a marinated chicken. Since it is very important to you, I would certainly phone in advance to double check.

They do have a marinated chicken, and it is quite good--but as Cathy2 said, phone in advance as they rotate the meats available on the buffet (especially during lunch hour). Also make sure they keep you supplied with hot coals, because for some reason their charcoal seems to cool off in a hurry, and medium-rare chicken is no fun for anyone. (Although I left a piece of kalbi in the corner of the grill once during most of the 60 minute meal my friends and I had, and when I took it off it was the best piece of meat I'd ever cooked. Guess it slow-cooked.)

Also, after experimenting with a couple of bulgolgi marinade recipes, we do what JayK does and just buy the stuff in the jar (the one with the pear in it). It's tasty and handy when we need it. Sure, I still make my own teriyaki, but that's because bottled teriyaki is, without fail, atrocious (and it's stupidly easy to make from scratch).

Thanks again everyone, I will try Garden Buffet when i get back to chicago (i'm out of town for work right now). I may try cooking some while i'm out! Thanks LTH i love you

Getting ready to make some tonite!

It was really easy to make, and pretty good, almost as good as the real thing. I wonder what those secret ingredients are now, i didn't taste anything missing. Perhaps next time i'll try adding some pureed pear or kiwi to the mix to give it a little more texture.