Recipe and photos by Launie Kettler

Now, this may be just us, but we love our Korean dishes with a little extra titch of sauce, especially when it comes to beef bulgogi. I mean, if it’s delightful enough to start the dish with, wouldn’t you want a bit more of it at the end to tie it all together?

The answer is – of course – yes, we want some extra sauce at the end to tie it all together! Especially when the sauce is made with fresh ginger, scallion whites, diced Asian pears, and a delightful mixture of soy sauce and toasted sesame oil with just a kiss of sweet mirin. That’s why the marinade in this beef bulgogi recipe also serves as a sauce to top it off.

To say this dinner is delightful is a massive understatement. It’s salty, nutty, a little sweet, and a little spicy. A perfect blend of flavors.

Another thing we adore about this dish is it makes a perfect weeknight meal! You'll literally spend more time freezing the meat to show off your expert knife work than you do with hands-on time making the marinade and cooking the dish. (Although, there is a hands-off 1-hour marinade time, which isn’t much – just kick your shoes off, pet the dog or cat, say hi to the family,and ding, ding, ding! An hour has passed and your meat is flavorfully marinated!)

Now, that’s something we can get behind. So go ahead and round up your ingredients, get that cutting board ready, reach for your F.N. Sharp chef’s knife or utility knife and let’s make some Korean Beef Bulgogi!

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Easy Korean Beef Bulgogi Recipe

Serves 4.

Beef Bulgogi Recipe Ingredients:

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Beef Bulgogi Recipe Instructions:

Freeze the steak in a large resealable plastic bag for 20 minutes. In a large bowl, whisk together the pear, scallion whites, both soy sauces, mirin, brown sugar, sesame oil, ginger, 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, and chili flakes. Slice the steak into ¼-inch pieces and return to the large resealable plastic bag. Pour half of the marinade over the steak and refrigerate for 1 hour. Reserve the other half of the marinade. Add remaining vegetable oil to a large cast iron skillet over medium heat. When the oil shimmers and the pan is hot (about 5-7 minutes), add in half of the steak in a single layer. Cook for 2 minutes, flip, and cook for an additional 2 minutes. Reserve to a plate and tent with foil. Repeat with remaining steak. Add reserved marinade to the hot pan and bring to a light simmer. Add in the cooked steak and stir well to coat. Serve on cooked rice or noodles and garnish with scallion greens, and matchstick radishes.

(Note: Kimchi or even quickly pickled spicy cucumbers would also be fantastic accompaniments!)

About the Recipe Creator

Launie Kettler is a food writer and photographer who cooks big food in a small kitchen in northern Vermont. Her husband and cats are tolerant of the fact that she plays the same Wilco and Son Volt albums over and over while pontificating about the beauty of cumin. 

Launie is also the co-author of The Everything Mediterranean Slow Cooker Cookbook and her recipes have been featured in Where Women Cook, Fresh Magazine, and on Salon.

You can find and follow Launie's adventures on her social handle @teenytinykitchenvt on Instagram, Facebook, Threads and her blog at TeenyTinyKitchen.com.