“I gave her the recipe” the woman sitting in front me at the movies said to her friend.
“You shared your recipe? I’ve been asking you for the recipe for over a year!” the other woman exclaimed, hand to her décolletage in an outraged and offended manner.
“Well I had to, she was the Graham’s boss’s wife” she said grudgingly and then sniffed and turned away. She turned back to her friend a few seconds later and said “but I left out two of the most important ingredients!” They both giggled conspiratorially and I hid a little smile.
Many protect their recipes like they were precious secrets-I understand the instinct to protect them but doing what I do, I’m always one to share a recipe, after all what would the blog be if I had left out the secret ingredients that turn a pale recipe into a blockbuster? And I’m always so delighted when I meet people that are generous with a recipe or a secret cooking tip too. When I met Mrs Kim through her daughter in law Rochelle who is engaged to one of Mr NQN’s friends, Mrs Kim’s son Kevin (long story) I asked Mrs Kim if she had a recipe for bulgogi beef. My entire family, and including my “Cantonese only food” father love the perfectly seasoned, umami flavours of the bulgogi beef marinade and the tender beef and had only seen marinade mixes in bottles at the store.
“Oh that’s easy!” Mrs Kim said to me laughing and I took out my notebook and a pencil and happily took down her recipe. It was fabulously easy and could not wait to go to the store to buy the ingredients. As my parents are newly converted lovers to bulgogi beef traipsing off to the south western suburbs to buy the meat and cook it at home, my mother was curious to see what it was like.
Using a pre sliced beef the process for creating the marinade took all of five minutes (it would take about 10-15 minutes if you were slicing the beef yourself tops). The aroma of the meat was fantastic and the frying was literally a matter of a few minutes as the beef was sliced so paper thin that it didn’t require much time. In fact cooking the rice took the longest time.
We dipped our chopsticks into the rice with the beef. By George Mrs Kim had done it, she had given us a fantastic bulgogi beef recipe. The beef was richly flavoured, the sauce divine and the plain steamed rice was the perfect foil for the tender meat. Even my father who loathes new things came back for third helpings-something rare enough for my mother to notice and comment on.
So tell me Dear Reader, are you a recipe sharer or keeper?
Korean Bulgogi Beef
Adapted from a recipe by Mrs Kim
Preparation time: 5-15 minutes (plus marinating overnight or during the day)
Cooking time: 5 minutes
- 400g scotch fillet or porterhouse steak
- 2 sticks green spring onion, chopped
- 2cm piece of ginger, chopped finely
- 1-2 cloves garlic (1 if big, 2 if small), chopped finely
- 1 teaspoon ground sesame seeds*
- 5 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon sugar or honey
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 2 teaspoons vegetable oil for frying
- 1 teaspoon white sesame seeds to garnish (optional)
Buyer’s tip: you can buy the ground sesame seeds from Asian grocery stores. Mrs Kim definitely recommended buying this and using it for an authentic flavour. You can also buy thinly sliced beef at Asian grocery stores (usually in the freezer section).
1. Slice the scotch fillet very thinly-it is easier to slice thinly if it is semi frozen. You can also buy thinly sliced beef at Asian supermarkets in packets (which is what we used). Combine the rest of the ingredients except for sesame oil and sesame seeds in a bowl and mix together. Marinade beef in the mixture overnight.
2. Heat a barbecue, grill or a frypan onto high heat. Add the sesame oil to the beef mixture and mix to distribute. Add the vegetable oil and fry the beef until browned and cooked through. It will cook quite quickly as the pieces are very thin. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve with boiled rice.
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83 Comments | Add your own
Bulgogi tastes so good! A lovely recipe.
Cheers,
Rosa
Yummy! And only 5 minutes cooking time!
I’m a sharer if I come up with the recipe. However, if someone shares a recipe with me and shows me how to make something, I will not share it. If they want to share it with everyone, then they can. Don’t want to get on the bad side of someone who shares recipes! Then there’s no more recipe sharing:(
Yum, this looks wonderful!
I’m a share-er as well
I was never a fan of Korean food, having been introduced to it via a food tent at the Brisbane Expo in 1988! But having (grudgingly) given it a go at a new local eatery (which admittedly was a French fusion Korean restaurant!) I am now a converted bulgogi eater! So thank you and Mrs Kim for sharing this recipe. I find some of the pre-marinated versions too spicy so being able to adjust the seasoning to suit is great. I am definitely a sharer although I also understand if a recipe has been handed down through generations that others would prefer to keep it to themselves. I’m trying to get my hands on the most decadent chocolate cupcake recipe I have ever tasted at the moment but no luck unfortunately!
yummo! Mr BBB especially would love this!
Oh yum! Have friends round for lunch on Saturday and this is totally diet friendly!
I’m totally all about the recipe sharing – spread the love
this beef looks amazing! I’m yet to really get int Korean food, Ben loves it but I’ve had some soup a few times that make me feel a bit funny :S must try it again as so many people rave about it!
Heidi xo
I love Bulgogi–and this recipe looks wonderful. Like you, I don’t have a recipe that I’m not happy to share. So glad you shared this one!
I love to share recipes. How mean to leave something out deliberately.
i’ve not heard of bulgogi before but it certainly sounds really interesting..
i’m happy to share any recipe i have ..the only problem is that i don’t tend to cook a recipe the same way twice and little changes and tweaks can make a big difference to the final outcome of the dish..
Oh that looks so delicious!!
I know I would love the flavours!
I am a recipe sharer, although I have known people who purposely leave out ingredients of their “secret recipes”
My family really likes this beef, the ground sesame is the secret!
I share most recipes- but not those I earn my living from. The cakes and such that I sell to cafes are closely guarded, or they wouldn’t need me!
I once caught an apprentice out, she had gone through my bag, into another bag inside, to get my recipe book, and was copying down of my secret recipes. I was furious!!!! I made her rip out the page and she swore it was only that one, I didn’t believe her though. The next time she left her book lying around, the manager and I flicked through it, and I ripped out the rest she had copied- she never said a word. If she had simply asked me for them, it would have been a whole other story, especially if she said ‘Please’
I forgot to say that now I write my secrets in code!
I am a recipe giver, if you ever watch the series by Jo Seagar from Oxford near Canterbury NZ. She says “recipes are like kisses they are no good to you until you give them away”
I love bulgogi beef! I even love the bulgogi beef roll at costco!I drive there just to get my fix sometimes
I’m definitely a sharer! I must tell you that I prepared a Halloween feast using recipes from your past few years Halloween events, a couple from the real N.L. and a few of my own. Our guests were so impressed that they asked whether Heston Blumenthal was going to turn up as a surprise guest!!
thank you for the inspiration! Ps. I gave you full credit 
Looks fab, definitely going to try this at home! Like you Ms NQN, I am a sharer. You can always tell when you make a recipe that has been altered / downgraded for sharing.
I share my recipes! My friends aren’t very adventurous when it comes to trying new recipes and perfectly them… so they get me to do the hard work and pass it on!
Well that does look easy. I think I could finely slice the beef with my electric knife.
I’m always a recipe sharer. I don’t really see the point of keeping them secret. Unless you’re saving them up for some secret recipe book you plan on selling I think it’s the ultimate compliment if someone asks for a recipe.
Bulgogi is a favourite of mine. My mum’s friend uses pears to make the beef even more juicy. My mum is a bit precious about recipes too. She always tells me not to tell people as it’s a family recipe. I on the otherhand always blab. Food is for sharing and if its tasty, I think the whole world should know about it.. Thank you Mrs Kim for sharing your recipe with us.
I am a sharer!
I had a terrible bulgogi beef a few weeks ago, so am keen to try this recipe and see what it is supposed to taste like.
mmm looks good.
What is the soy sauce used in the recipe? Is it a Korean soy sauce, Kikkoman, Chinese light soy, dark sauce??? There are so many out there.
Now this looks like something the men in this house would enjoy. I don’t cook much Asian food, but this looks so simple and easy I’ll give it a go, thanks.
And – yes, I’m a recipe sharer too, and NEVER leave out any ingredients.
Thanks for this – I have been meaning to look up a recipe for a while (having experience only with the bottled sauce variety) – so am very excited.
I am a sharer which conflicts with the keepers of my family!
that looks great! i can almost smell and taste it.
i don’t share recipes of our family, but i share whatever is mine and mine alone.
Always share. I can’t understand people that won’t give out a recipe. How mean is that? Although I have to say, I’ve had quite afew recipes that friends have “shared” with me not turn out. You’ve made me suspicious now!
Thank you Lorraine
Bulgogi is one of my favorite food in the world especially with kimchi 
Unless a recipe is for one of my commercial uses I always share never omitting an ingredient, plus from my days as a cooking teacher I can promise that ten people following one recipe will come up with ten different results… What isn’t shared are the years of cooking that have developed culinary instincts, that must be earned… Thanks for the bulgogi recipe, my very young Korean-American grand-daughters call them “bull cookies”. Your recipe looks spot on, I will try it this week for sure, thank you.
So easy, I’m salivating at the look of this even if I’ve just made a batch of scones and having a cuppa whilst reading this !
Hubby is a big-time meat lover, I’m sure this will be a hit with him.
I like to share my recipes if :
1. The response to something I have made is complimentary and overwhelming
2. The request is genuine
3. I know that the request is coming from someone who is recipe poor
The only recipe that I keep close to my chest is for my Italian Christmas Biscottini as I give these out at Christmas to family and friends. If I were to reveal the recipe then they wouldn’t be ‘special’ any more!
Woot, just as I was stressing about what to do with some beef I got stowed in the back of the fridge! Thanks for sharing Mrs Kim’s secret with us
Yum! Love Korean food, especially easy stuff you can do at home
This looks really delicious. Its my favourite dish to order at a Korean restaurant. I like sharing my recipes – I may be even infringed some copyright laws as I publish all my recipes! (I do credit them if I know the source)
—Looks Lusheous, Lorraine!
Oooh, seeee alliteration!
I share. I share everything
)
Blowing kisses from MN.
I am one for sharing recipes..but I’ve come across rogue recipes…=(
I love bulgogi, haven’t had it in a very long time, now I am craving. Does the recipe have all the details, or a few details accidentally left out:) Let us know if you manage to get your hands on Colonel’s recipe! I never conceal details, there are many recipes floating around, no point intentionally leaving out details.
OMG, one of my favourite recipes – have it marinating in the kitchen at the moment to be cooked for an early lunch. Except I had not thought of the white sesame seeds and now will and I used some hoi sin instead of honey/sugar. And I ‘muck it up’ and have mixed Chinese vegetables stir-frying on the same grill pan and toss the whole mix together at the last minute before putting on rice [and NO, it does not taste like 'dog's breakfast'
!]. Sharing recipes: of course – half the fun in cooking – every cook puts their own spin on their dishes anyhow 
! But, thanks!
Sounds great – and no chilli, which is even better!!
I share recipes – and will do so even more from next week when the Thermomix is delivered. At some stage will you do something about TM and a recipe or two? They seem to be taking over the world, and with what appears to be a very limited supply of ‘official recipes’ which are, apart from the new book, rather dull, it is important for users to share their more adventurous recipes. Just an idea!!
LOVE Mrs Kim’s Korean Bulgogi Beef, TRUE!
Always better to share recipes, as REALLY what recipe is an “actual” original too…
Handed down from generation to generation, ingredients, quantities change over time!
Hoping today you enjoyed my rhyme
This looks great! I normally have these ingredients in the hosue, so definitely is soemthing I should try. I share recipes generally.
Sharing is caring!I know people who guard their recipes wit their lives, no idea what the fuss is all about !
Yum Yum I love bulgogi. Thank you for sharing the recipe Lorraine! I love sharing recipes – it’s a way of “sharing the love”
Share the knowledge, we all need inspiration to stay away from our boring go to dishes. Is it not easy to grind you own sesame?
What? She left out not 1 but 2 important ingredients??? It’s going to be a totally different dish!
This looks fab. I’m a sharer
I love Bulgogi – thanks for Sharing
My dad kept his Char Siu recipe from me for years, my brother in-law asks & dad writes it out in full on a napkin for him.
Oooh this looks perfect for a weeknight dinner. Have you tried adding crushed fruit to bulgogi?
My mum’s got a chiffon cake recipe which is a strict family secret! Makes for awkward moments when people ask.
Sorry, can’t share this one with my friends. I’m a keeper
Yum, I love bulgogi. I think I may have to try this recipe at our next BBQ! I’m a sharer of recipes I think.. I take it as a great compliment when someone asks for a recipe
Hee hee, I think you know I used to ‘accidentally’ forget an ingredient on purpose, but that was only because a particular sharee repeatedly would ask for my favourite recipes than pass them off as her own. Particularly annoying when asked to bring a plate to events and she would bring ‘my’ specialty dish. Luckily my taste buds have grown apart from hers, so she wouldn’t try something like this yummy dish, let alone ask for the recipe, which I can’t wait to try. And yes, I now share nicely!
Oh my gosh, I do NOT understand that and I never have! The whole ‘leaving ingredients out’ thing makes me pull my WTF-combined-with-scorn face. But perhaps, as food bloggers, we know the utter joy of sharing in a way that old fuddy-duddies never could
I share recipes. If someone is going to go to the effort to recreate a dish I consider it a high compliment and want them to enjoy it!
@ pigpigscorner: I am not at all certain whether you meant me by your comment ‘she left out not one but two ingredients’, and I humbly apologize if I am misreading. First, ‘she’ has a name. Secondly, I most certainly do not leave the sesame seeds from the dish, only the top of it, because I further mix it. Honey provides sweetness, so does sugar, so does hoi sin [with added smokiness]. Thirdly, every recipe has many variations: I have been making mine for some four+ decades and it’s a mix twixt Korean and Japanese + personal taste. I apologize again if I misread. Lorraine, to you too
!
Bulgogi is such a treat! Yours looks like it can bring down heaps and heaps of rice!
So fresh, delicious and easy!
Yum, will definitely make this recipe. Yes, I share all of my recipes if someone asks. I usually add comments about variations I sometimes make or other suggestions, sometimes even drawing sketches to show how something is done!
I just made bulgogi myself too, but the spicy version
. I don’t really understand why so many people are so protective with their recipes, people from the food business, yes I do get it but ‘normal’ people like us? Anyway your bulgogi looks super duper delicious!
I love to share recipes, I always take it as a compliment if someone asks for it. I gave my SIL a recipe for Apricot Slice once and the next time she came to my house, she bought the slice with her!!!! Huh? I would have preferred she bring something else. What about something new and different so that I could ask her for the recipe!
Yay thanks!! I’ve been dying to try this at home, we love the Costco version. Can’t wait to try it!! thanks
xo
Oh yum….I feel like this now. YUM!
what a great overhead conversation – reminds of why the cinema is so much more fun than a dvd! I love sharing recipes and wonder if people who wont share them are insecure???
I love getting secret family recipes!
I don’t make a lot of Korean food, but this looks delicious, Lorraine.
Sharing is fun because most people will add their own twist to a recipe and often it’s better than the original!
The beef recipe looks delicious, I’ve never heard of bulgogi but it looks quick and easy so i’ll give it a go this weekend with the Asian food mad Glam Teens. I’m a recipe sharer definitely. GG
I love it when people are generous with their recipes like this! And thanks for passing it on to us, Lorraine…it looks incredible!
Gosh, that looks good!
Oh, I’m definitely a sharer, love, recipes, everything!
Awesome, it sounds so flavorful and so easy to make!
This looks utterly delicious. I just had my dinner and I want to eat again! I think I am a recipe sharer. I keep an actual diary where I write recipes, and it’s often borrowed by friends.
I never cook something Korean, the only Asian food I was able to cook was Chinese, in fact, cantonese, as it is the most common in Perú, but reading the ingridients of this one I think it something I can make.
I think that if people don’t want to share a recipe because it is a family tradition, or a secret, it’s ok, it’s their choice, but what I hate is when people share a recipe and do not share it coplete.
When I write a recipe in my blog I do it without secrets, I love when somebody told me she tried it and it works.
Wow the recipe does sound quite simple, can’t wait to try it and thanks for sharing! Did you know that there’s pre-marinated bulgogi at Costco, made from grain-fed beef? I was rather skeptical at first but it’s delicious!!
Hahaha Im a sharer – although I did have a little giggle at their convo – would be a fab way to get back at the bosses wife that you arent necessarily a fan of
So, i fricking LOVE bugolgi right.. and you know what’s awesome? At Costco (oh yes, I said Costco) you can buy a whole enormous tray of prepared bugolgi (as in cut up, marinated etc) enough to feed an army for about $10!!! HEAVEN! And it tastes good!!
I LOVE Korean food!
I have a bottle of bulgolgi sauce (the only premade sauce I own), but now I know it’s this easy to make from scratch!!
Kamsahamnida Mrs Kim!
Big bowl of rice – that’s what I need for this yummy bulgogi!!!
I must confess to never having tried Korean food… but wow this looks amazing! And I like to share (hence my food blog!), and hope to follow your foot steps and share a little more with my own cook book one day!
I definitely want to make this. Is there a difference in buying the ground sesame or grinding the seeds yourself? Sounds like there is from what you write, but don’t know if I can find this ingredient…
Yum yum! Is the ‘ground sesame seeds’ component different to tahini?
Thanks!
Hi everyone! Thanks for the lovely comments!
the ground sesame seeds are different from tahini. Try and find it if you have a Koraen store near you:)
Yum Korean food is always so flavoursome. This looks delish.
I’m a sharer – after all if you sharer maybe you’re recipe will be made for you
Very nice! I need to bookmark this and make it for Barry some time. We both love Korean food but I rarely get round to cooking it at home.
omigoodness this sounds absolutely amazing. i am a recent convert to bulgogi having only just this year been given a taste of what it should really taste like, and i cannot wait to try this! thank you! do you have a recipe for bibimbap too? it is EXTRA delicious with cheese on top (i dunno, somehow it works)
You should try putting some finely grated Nashi pear in your bulgogi next time, it gives the meat a bit of tenderizing while it’s marinading and a little bit of added sweet/fresh flavour! Wrap your bulgogi in a lettuce leaf with a bit of rice, and a smidgen of korean hot bean paste for an authentic bite
I’m a sharer, I was accused of leaving an ingredient out once, I was a little saddened by that.
I can’t find the ground sesame!!! I’ve looked in a couple of Asian grocers but maybe I need to go to a Korean one. What does it look like? Is it a powder or a paste?
I love Bulgogi. I can’t eat Korean without getting this, which means I never try anything new
Hi Toothfairy-I believe this is what it looks like-roasted sesame seeds sort of pestled or ground up
http://www.koreanhomefood.com/?p=292
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