isithalal.food · Recipes

Beef bulgogi

Korean beef bulgogi marinated in soy, grated pear, garlic and sesame, with no mirin, soju or rice wine, and Halal beef sliced thin.

Korean · Main · Easy · 4 plates with rice · 90 min

Each method follows published technique for the dish, and every Halal substitution is checked against the ingredient pages we cite. Photographs come from our ingredient library rather than the finished dish.

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Why Halal checks matter here

Many bulgogi marinades add mirin, soju or rice wine, pork bulgogi exists, and Korean table grills often cook pork belly on the same plate.

Halal-critical ingredients

• Mirin, soju and rice wine: Many bulgogi marinades add mirin or soju; both are alcoholic drinks or seasonings, not flavourings used in trace amounts. Leave them out; grated pear, a little sugar and rice vinegar replace them. See Sake.
• Soy sauce, gochujang and ssamjang: Naturally brewed soy sauce is generally accepted, but some bottles and some chilli pastes list added alcohol or rice wine. Read the bottle and the tub for alcohol, jujeong or rice wine. See Soy sauce.
• Beef and the grill: Pork bulgogi exists, and Korean barbecue restaurants often cook pork belly on the same grill. Halal beef at home; at a restaurant ask what else goes on the grill. See Bulgogi.

Ingredients

Beef

• 600 g (1.3 lb) Halal beef ribeye or sirloin, partly frozen and sliced 3 mm thin

Marinade

• 75 ml (5 tbsp) soy sauce with no added alcohol
• 120 g (½ pear) Asian pear (or a ripe Bosc pear), grated
• 60 g (½ small) onion, grated
• 20 g (4 cloves) garlic, crushed
• 5 g (1 tsp) ginger, grated
• 25 g (2 tbsp) brown sugar
• 15 ml (1 tbsp) honey
• 15 ml (1 tbsp) toasted sesame oil
• 5 ml (1 tsp) rice vinegar
• 1 g (½ tsp) black pepper, ground

To cook and serve

• 15 ml (1 tbsp) neutral oil
• 4 (4) spring onions, cut in 4 cm lengths
• 5 g (2 tsp) toasted sesame seeds
• 600 g (4 cups) short-grain rice, cooked
• 1 (1 head) lettuce leaves, for wrapping

Method

1. Slice the beef thin. Freeze the beef for 30–40 minutes until firm, then slice it across the grain as thin as you can, about 3 mm. Thin slices are what let bulgogi cook in a couple of minutes and stay tender. Some Korean and Asian grocers sell ready-sliced bulgogi beef; buy it only with a Halal certificate.
2. Mix the marinade without alcohol. Stir together the soy sauce, grated pear, onion, garlic, ginger, sugar, honey, sesame oil, rice vinegar and pepper. Many recipes add mirin or rice wine for sweetness and to soften the meat; the grated pear already does both, and the teaspoon of rice vinegar gives the brightness. Check the soy sauce label for added alcohol.
3. Marinate. Toss the beef in the marinade until every slice is coated. Cover and chill for at least 1 hour and up to 12. The enzymes in the pear tenderise the beef; much longer than a day and the texture turns soft.
4. Sear fast and hot. Heat a large cast-iron pan or grill plate until smoking, add a little oil and cook the beef in two or three batches, spread out in one layer, for 1½–2 minutes per batch, turning once, until browned at the edges. Add the spring onions to the last batch. Crowding the pan steams the meat.
5. Serve. Scatter with sesame seeds and serve with rice and lettuce leaves for wrapping. If you add gochujang or ssamjang, read the tub: some list alcohol (jujeong) as a preservative.

Allergens

soy, sesame, gluten (most soy sauce)

How this recipe was researched

Method specified editorially from Korean bulgogi technique (thinly sliced beef marinated in soy sauce, sugar, grated Asian pear, garlic and sesame oil, then seared fast on high heat) and this site's Bulgogi, Soy sauce and Sake pages. Timings follow published technique rather than a kitchen test.

Photograph from our ingredient library, not the finished dish.