🥩 Bulgogi
Bulgogi, 'fire meat', is thinly sliced beef marinated in soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, garlic and grated Asian pear, then grilled or seared over high heat. The pear tenderises the meat and the sugar caramelises at the edges, giving a sweet-savoury, smoky flavour. It is eaten with rice, often wrapped in lettuce leaves.
Diets
Allergens
Contains (in a typical recipe):
What it is made of
Recipe
Ingredients
- 600 g beef sirloin or ribeye, very thinly sliced
- 4 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 4 garlic cloves, grated
- ½ Asian pear, grated
- 1 onion, sliced, and 2 spring onions
Method
- Mix the soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, garlic and pear.
- Toss the beef and onion in the marinade and leave for at least 30 minutes.
- Heat a grill pan or skillet until very hot.
- Cook the beef in batches for 2–3 minutes until browned at the edges.
- Scatter with spring onion and serve with rice and lettuce leaves.
How to make it lighter
- Choose a lean cut like sirloin and trim visible fat.
- Use 1 tbsp sugar and let the pear give most of the sweetness.
- Wrap the beef in lettuce and keep the rice to a small bowl.
History
Grilled marinated meat has a long history in Korea, and bulgogi is often traced to an older court dish called neobiani. The modern style became a national favourite in the 20th century and is now one of the best-known Korean dishes abroad.
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Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →