Korean Grilled Marinated Pork (Daeji Bulgogi)

After a particularly busy week at work, I had a craving for my favorite Korean dish, Daeji Bulgogi, made with thin slices of pork and sweet onion, marinated in Korean hot pepper paste, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, sugar and other yummy things.  The marinated pork is grilled on a stovetop grill and served on green leaf lettuce leaves with a spicy bean paste.  You’ll probably need to take a trip to an Asian market for the Korean hot pepper paste, Korean red pepper flakes and bean paste, but this is REALLY GOOD stuff!  

Ingredients:

2 Tbs rice wine vinegar
2 Tbs soy sauce
2 Tbs sake
1/2 cup gochujang (a Korean hot pepper paste that comes in a red plastic tub: shown below)
3 Tbs minced garlic
3 Tbs minced fresh ginger root
1 Tbs Korean red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp black pepper
3 Tbs white sugar
3 green onions, cut into 2 inch pieces
1/2 sweet onion, cut into slices (end to end)
1 (2 pound) pork loin, cut into 1/8 inch slices
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
1/4 cup canola oil
Bean Paste (In the brown plastic tub, shown below) for the lettuce leaves
Steamed rice

Directions

Put the pork loin in the freezer for about 1/2 hour.  This partially freezes it and makes it much easier to slice.  Slice the pork loin into 1/8” slices with a very sharp chef’s knife (you can also buy it pre-sliced and frozen at most Asian markets.)

Gather the ingredients; grate the ginger, mince the garlic and slice the onion into strips.

Stir together the vinegar, soy sauce, hot pepper paste, garlic, ginger and 1 Tbs of the Korean red pepper flakes (package shown below).

Add the black pepper, sugar, sliced sweet onion, sesame seeds and canola oil in a large bowl. Add the pork slices, mixing well until completely coated.

Place into a re-sealable plastic bag, squeeze out any excess air, seal, and marinate in the refrigerator at least 3 hours.  Heat the Korean stovetop grill (about $25 at the Asian market) over medium-high heat. Add the pork slices in batches, and cook until no longer pink in the center, and lightly browned on the outside, about 5 minutes per batch. Place some foil around the grill to catch any spatters and speed cleanup.

Be careful when cooking the meat, the spicy fumes will “zing” your nose!  Garnish cooked pork with sliced green onion and serve the pork on green leaf lettuce leaves with some, rice and a small amount of bean paste.