Korean Beef Bowl (Bulgogi)

1. As with all stir fries, this cooks very quickly so you need to use a decent cut of beef for it. Rump, flank, sirloin, t-bone and scotch fillet are excellent for this recipe.

Slice the beef against the grain. When you look at the beef, you will notice that the fibres are mostly going in one direction. Place the beef in front of you so the fibres are going left to right. Then cut through the fibres i.e. cut perpendicular to the direction of the fibres (see here for illustrative image). Cutting it this way makes the beef more tender!

Slow cooking cuts, like chuck, are not suitable unless you tenderise it (seeHow to tenderise beef the Chinese restaurant way)

You can actually find very thinly sliced frozen beef at Asian grocery stores. If you have one in your area, this is a fantastic tip! Note only is it cheaper, you save yourself the cutting time and it is super handy to have in your freezer for quick stir fries.

2. I separate the green and white part of the scallion because I cook the white part and use the green part as garnish.

3. Mirin is a sweet Japanese rice wine used for cooking. You can substitute with dry sherry or sake + 1/2 tsp of sugar. If you cannot have alcohol in your cooking, substitute with 1 tsp apple cider vinegar + 1/2 tsp sugar.

4. Adapted from this recipe: Bulgogi - Korean BBQ Beef by My Korean Kitchen. A wonderful blog for authentic Korean recipes and provides great information about Korean ingredients. It's run by Sue who is a Korean living in Australia which is great because it means I know I can get all the ingredients she uses!