Korean Pork Loin Bulgogi with Radish Sprouts and Yulmoo Gat Kimchi

Bulgogi!

     Korean bulgogi has been a trendy item recent years.  Bulgogi is rated as one of the tastiest recipes in the world!  

     Some people refer to bulgogi as street vendor food, but it is a traditional Korean meal that has been around for over 2,000 years.  Bulgogi was orignially skewered marinated meat cooked over a fire.  The word bulgogi translates to fire meat!  This was originally a high class meal that was served to Korean nobility.  The recipe later changed to grilling the marinated meat on hot stone or a steel grill.  That is how bulgogi is cooked to this day.

     Bulgogi is served as street vendor food, but it is also a classy great tasting Korean restaurant entree.  During the last few years, Mexican Korean fusion street vendor style cuisine has adopted bulgogi as a featured item.  Las Vegas has a few restaurants and mobile food trucks that sell the new Mexican Korean Fusion Cuisine and that style of food is getting raves!

     For today's blog recipe, I cooked a traditional Korean pork loin bulgogi.  I will post a Mexican Korean Fusion Bulgogi recipe soon.  I purchased more than a pound of very thin sliced pork loin at the Greenland Market in Korea Town, Las Vegas and I have several portions to cook.  

     For modern bulgogi, the meat has to be very thinly sliced.  The meat must be partially frozen, so that paper thin slices can be cut.  This is best done on an electric slicer, but it can be done with a sharp large chef knife or asian cleaver.  Any good asian butcher can cut paper thin slices of pork loin on request. 

     Yulmoo Gat Kimchi is radish top kimchi.  Las Vegas Korean markets offer a large variety of hand crafted kimchi.  The kimchi at the local markets looks good and fresh!  Fresh kimchi is usually served as a side dish.  When kimchi gets old, it is usually used for making hot cooked recipes like jjigae.  American grocery store kimchi in a jar is usually not very fresh.  If you like good fresh kimchi and you don't make your own, now you know where it can be found!

     Radish sprouts have a crisp fresh zesty radish flavor!  Radish sprouts are popular for garnishing sushi platters.  I made authentic Japanese sushi at the chef school and they had no further use for the leftover radish sprouts, so I asked if I could take the leftover sprouts home.  I made good use of the radish sprouts!  French chefs always brag about wasting nothing, but the sprouts were destined to be tossed in the trash by order of the French chef teacher.  Viola!  I saved the radish sprouts from their doom and used them for three very nice plates of food!  

     Korean Pork Loin Bulgogi Marinade Recipe:

     Place 6 to 7 ounces of paper thin sliced lean pork loin into a mixing bowl.

     Add 1 handful of thin julienne sliced onion strips.

     Add 2 chopped green onions.

     Add 1 1/2 teaspoons of garlic paste.

     Add 1/2 teaspoon of ginger paste.

     Add 1 tablespoon of thin soy sauce.

     Add 1 tablespoon of Korean coarse read serrano chile pepper sauce.

     Add 3/4 tablespoon of sugar.

     Add 1 tablespoon of ground sesame seed.  (Use a spice grinder or a food processor if you have one.  I ground and chopped sesame seeds by hand with a chef knife the old fashioned way for this recipe.)

     Add 3/4 tablespoon of sesame oil.

     Add 2 to 3 pinches of white pepper.

     Gently toss the ingredients together, so the pork slices do not tear.

     Refrigerate for 3 hours, so the ingredients marinate.

     

     Korean Pork Loin Bulgogi with Radish Sprouts and Yulmoo Gat Kimchi:

     Note:  For the next step, you will have to work quickly!

     Heat a seasoned cast iron griddle or a seasoned cast iron skillet over medium/medium high heat.

     Brush the skillet or griddle lightly with vegetable oil.

     Remove the pork slices from the marinade and grill them on the pan.  (Only cook a few slices at a time.  The thin marinated pork will cook very fast!)

     Cook the pork slices on both sides, till they become browned.

     Remove the cooked slices, set them aside and keep cooking a few more at a time, till they are all done. 

     Add the marinade to the pan and cook the onions in the sizzling marinade.

     Allow the marinade to reduce to a glaze consistency.

     Return the cooked pork slices to the onions on the pan.

     Toss the onions, sliced pork and marinade glaze together.

     Immediately place the pork loin bulgogi on a plate.  Try to mound the bulgogi neatly on the plate!

     Generously garnish the plate with trimmed radish sprouts.

     Place a portion of yulmoo gat kimchi or your favorite kimchi on a side dish plate.

     Serve with as many Korean side dishes as you wish!

     Serve with a covered bowl of steamed rice.

     Pork loin bulgogi is such a great tasting entree!  This is a world famous Korean recipe that is a must to try.  The radish sprouts are perfect with pork loin bulgogi.  Yum!  ...  Shawna