Open Sesame: Korean Bar-be-Que

Kind of in a food mood this week, considering last week's quandary.

As you may recall, I recently was at a loss over what to cook for dinner. You know, since my peeps are away, and all. May of you wonderful friends had the 4-1-1 for my 9-1-1, so now my recipe box has been replenished. Thanks!

One of the more interesting~and tasty~recipes I received was from friend Tara R., over at If Mom Says OK.

This dish is called Bulgogi. Translated, that's Korean Bar-be-Que. And although the flank steak is prepared on a grill, there's not much BBQ-ish about it at all. But it's spicy and tasty, and I'd like to share:

Bulgogi
1 pound flank steak
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup sesame oil (can substitute ½ cup sesame oil, and ½ cup canola oil)
2 cups low sodium soy sauce (regular is too salty)
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger
1-3 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes (to taste, depending on how hot you like it)
2 cups jasmine rice, cooked
Season beef with salt and pepper.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine oil, soy sauce, garlic, ginger and red pepper flakes. Place meat in a shallow pan, pour marinade over the meat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or over night. (Tara R. puts the steak into a heavyduty plastic freezer bag and pours the marinade into the bag, remembering to turn the bag over occasionally for even marinading.) Remove beef from marinade, and bring to room temperature. Pour leftover marinade into heavy saucepan, over medium heat, bring to a boil and cook for 6-8 minutes. Set aside and keep warm.

Preheat grill. Grill the steak a few minutes on each side to desired degree of doneness. Remove from grill, let sit for a couple minutes, then cut into very thin slices. Serve over hot rice and garnish with hot marinade.

Tara R. also turned me on to sautéing some cabbage in the marinade to serve with the steak. She suggested pre-cut cole slaw mix, if we couldn't find Bok Choy, which is Korean cabbage. I took it one step farther, and sautéd broccoli slaw. Can you say delish?

Tara cautions that "Sesame oil can be an acquired taste. It can be a little overpowering," she says. "If you’re not sure if you will like the full flavor of this oil, you can ‘cut’ the sesame oil, 1:1 with canola oil. If you prefer chicken, you can substitute four boneless, skinless chicken breasts for the flank steak."

For more mouthwatering recipes, or "receipts," as my Nana used to say, please visit Rachel, From the Land of Monkeys and Princesses.