This food blog thing really isn’t good for my waistline. B.B. (Before Blog), the little angel on my right shoulder and the devil on the left used to have a healthy debate, often lasting for a couple of minutes. “Poached Chicken Breast or Gorgonzola Stuffed Hamburger?” The playground was fair, the game was clean. Angel used to win, oh about 51% of the time. The game totally rigged now - sweet angel gently tugs on my ear, reminding me that I really should be cooking healthy tonight, something under 500 calories, light, refreshing, a mixed baby green salad perhaps. And all the little devil on my other side has to say is: “
Oh, its for the BLOG.”
POOF! the devil has won and without any consideration, the angel gets whacked in the head, pushed off my shoulder….she somehow ends up landing in the pile of carrot skin compost. Its totally insane that this blog is my reason for choosing to eat like a queen everyday. Its not like this little venture provides me with fame and fortune!
Korean BBQ
If you ask my friends what their favorite meal is at my home, the Korean BBQ Party wins, hands down. The meal itself isn’t that unhealthy, its just that Korean BBQ is so damn good that you just can’t refrain from stuffing yourself silly. Its also so incredibly easy too - the overnight marinade does all of the work, and you get all of the credit. There are 2 main types of beef in the Korean BBQ lineup: Kalbi (short ribs) & Bulgogi (thin slices of rib-eye). The marinated Kalbi gets thrown on the super-hot BBQ grill and the Bulgogi is cooked at the table on a portable butane-powered grill. You certainly could just cook it in your kitchen and bring it to the table to serve. I also have Kimchee (spicy, pickled cabbage/carrots) at the table, lettuce leaves and lots of white short-grained rice on the table.
KALBI are short ribs, cut on the cross-section (is that the right terminology?) They are thin 1/2″ slices of ribs that are marinated in soy sauce, brown sugar, pear juice, garlic, ginger and sesame oil. Every Korean family has their secret concoction for the marinade. But sometimes, I get lazy to create the marinade from scratch. I do the Sandra Lee thing…i know i know….(wince) just slap me for even mentioning her name…and use the marinade that comes in a jar + add freshly shredded carrots and onions. Get a good Korean brand (you can tell, usually the authentic stuff is in Korean, claims of using real pear juice on label (see below).
I promise you that it will taste mind-blowingly, lip-smackingly, soul-satisfyingly good.
This is Kalbi ready for the grill:
Store-bought Kimchee…because if I made Kimchee myself, dug a hole in the backyard to bury the Kimchee, the alligators that live 10 yards from my house would probably dig up the jar and try to eat it.
Headline: “Woman Kills Alligator with Kimchee” Anyways, I digress…..here is a Kimchee glamour shot:
And other banchan, or side dishes:
p.s. Did you know that the South Korean Ministry of Kimchee has developed an official scale for how fermented and spicy a Kimchee is? See Serious Eats for the article.
BULGOGI is paper-thin slices of rib-eye, marinated as well. I have a butane-powered little table-top grill: 
Inexpensive ($15 from Amazon) and it also is great for emergencies…like if we had a massive hurricane or flash flooding - we could totally still have our Korean BBQ Party!
A good hostess never lets a silly thing like a natural disaster ruin a party!. Grab the largest fry pan that you have (or a fancy griddle) - and now you have a table-top grill - everyone can cook their own Bulgogi. The Bulgogi marinade is slightly different from the Kalbi marinade - look at the jars and get one of each.
Step 1: fry a piece of Bulgogi
Step 2: lettuce in palm of hand, add rice, add Bulgogi, top with Kimchee
Step 3: eat Or, you could just skip the wrapping thing altogether:
What you need for Korean BBQ Party
The Meat
3-4 Kalbi ribs per person
1/4 lb of Bulgogi per person
1 jar of Kalbi marinade
1 jar of Bulgogi marinade
1-2 carrots, shredded or julienned
1 julienned onion
2-4 stalks green onion, sliced in 1″ lengths
2-4 cloves garlic, minced
I get my meat from my local Asian market (the owner is Korean and he sells Kalbi and Bulgogi meat frozen. I defrost and marinate. Or you could go to your butcher and ask him to cut the short ribs for you. Instead of rib-eye, you could use thinly sliced flank steak or really any type of thinly sliced beef) - Combine marinade, some carrots/onion/green onion/garlic and Kalbi in large zip-top bag.
Do the same for the Bulgogi. Marinate the meat overnight, up to 3 days - Kalbi gets the BBQ grill treatment - Bulgogi is cooked at table
**Gluten free notes - while the marinade in the bottle is NOT gluten-free, I tagged this meal as Gluten-Free because it is easy enough to make your own marinade gluten-free. Hmmm…yeah. I should have just written the recipe for making the marinade from scratch….ok, I’ll do that soon. In meantime, just google for a recipe for the marinade and substitute with gluten-free soy sauce.
The Rice
Lots of white short grained rice (Korean or Japanese style) - I make enough rice to have 1-2 cups cooked rice per person. Here is a great 3-part tutorial on Korean Rice.
The Supporting Players
lettuce leaves (leafy, soft), kimchee, other picked radishes, salted seaweed sheets (you can use seaweed to wrap the meat instead of lettuce)
The Dessert Not Korean, but its the perfect soothing and cooling dessert after all the heat: Tapioca Pearls with Sweet Coconut Milk & Cantelope
May 25th, 2007 at 11:40 am
Oh, yeah, I can totally identify with the whole “It’s for the blog” thing. But (and mine’s a big one), we recently did a video documentary of a fundraiser with over 40 chefs. Mary was shooting at one point, turned the camera toward me, I got the footage into the editor … and wuz thankful we wuz shooting in w-i-d-e-screen …
I love Korean BBQ! We have a couple places up here in SE Michigan that are very nice. I’ve yet to take Mary to any of these, and she’s yet to try kimchee, but we’ll get there. Either that, or I’ll try what you’ve written up here myself. The one foodservice shop I frequent up here has those little cookers for $27, but they also include a case. I found one with a cracked case, and they went ahead threw in a four-pack of the cans of gas fer nuthin! Yup, the cooker was in perfect shape, and I really don’t even need the case.
Oh, and BTW, at that same fundraisers, those little cookers were everywhere! Some chefs had set up two side-by-side and put the large-and-deep rectangular metal pans on them so they could keep things hot or even let something simmer in large quantity. Others had set up a pair and thrown on a long cast-iron griddle for cooking. The darn little beasties are so useful, everyone should have at least one.
May 25th, 2007 at 1:30 pm
I hear ya, it’s always for the blog.
Galbi was actually one of the first recipes I added to my blog (the picture is hideous lol). I use orange juice in my galbi marinade instead of pear because I like to eat asian pears and can’t bear to sacrafice them for a marinade. I broil or pan sear the short ribs. Yum… so greasy and delicious.
May 25th, 2007 at 1:33 pm
Oh I forgot to add that your photos are the most gorgeous korean bbq ones I’ve ever seen. I feel my mouth gravitating towards that one shot with the bite on chopsticks. *drools*
May 25th, 2007 at 2:00 pm
That first shot of the short ribs looks amazing. I’ve always seen the short ribs frozen at the Asian market too, have you ever found them fresh? If I go to the normal butcher, how should I ask him to cut the short ribs?
May 25th, 2007 at 3:19 pm
I think we need to set up a support group! Hi my name is…
The photos look great. I am definitely going to try this recipe.
May 25th, 2007 at 7:13 pm
It’s ok to do the Sandra Lee thing once in a while for marinades. Just don’t dress up in the same color code as your kitchen decor and tablescape, and refrain from saying “Keep it simple, keep it sweet, keep it semi-homemade”.
May 25th, 2007 at 9:12 pm
LPC- we should be portable butane burner hawkers. we’d make a fortune!
Amy- i’ve never tried using apple juice…makes sense though because you really can’t taste the pear…I think the pear adds some sweetness but more importantly tenderizes meat. apple juice’s acidity would do the same. thanks so much for the photo compliment!
Marvin- I get them frozen all the time, mainly because I live in an area that doesn’t have a big Asian population. If you live in a big city, that should be no problem. Ask butcher to cut the short ribs cross section 1/2″ pieces. Better yet, print out the picture above and show it to him!
SGC- Yeah, we need to call it “BOA” Blogger Overeaters Anonymous
Sim- haha!!! Keep it asian. Keep it fatty. Keep it semi-lazy.
May 25th, 2007 at 11:15 pm
Hey there,
I saw your link on Teczscape’s food blog and stumbled in. You have great photos of food porn here and I must say, that Korean Bulgogi grilled beef looks smashingly good! I feel hungry already and I just had dinner
And if you don’t mind, i would like to pop in more often to see what’s up in your kitchen. I’m going to link you up to my foodblog
Keep up the good work, Jaden!
May 26th, 2007 at 3:02 am
I feel I’m having a korean all-you-can-eat BBQ of kalbi and bulgogi from wandering chopsticks to steamykitchen, then having many rounds back and forth.
Headline:Woman killed tigerfish on the grill ;p
May 26th, 2007 at 3:14 am
I am not much a meat eater, well, you can tell it from my site, but I love the dessert you presented. The Malaysian version is called bubur cacar and the people in Hong Kong actually translated it to Cantonese so it sounds something like “Mo mo cha cha.” (Ask your mother if you don’t know what I mean, LOL!) It has various ingredients: taro, sweet potatoes (yellow and orange), bananas, tapioca, black-eyed peas, starchy gelatin thingy…it’s so colorful and good. I will have to make it one day!
May 26th, 2007 at 5:27 am
Oh dear. It all looks so good, and probably impossible for me to recreate.
(Do I remember you saying you went out to a Korean BBQ restaurant for your first date with your now husband.)
I think someone should start this here in England. It would be very successful.
May 26th, 2007 at 6:17 am
Jaden,
Jinx!
May 26th, 2007 at 7:23 am
Expedited Writer- Welcome! Please stop by any time, my door is always open.
Tiger- OMG, you just made me laugh so hard I snorted my coffee. (ouch!) LOL
RM- haha! I’ve never tried the Malaysian version - you’ll definitely have to make it and teach me how to use the sweet potatoes.
Melinda- Yeah! Our first date was Korean BBQ - it was love at first bite.
WC- you and me - foodie sisters 4ever!
June 17th, 2007 at 5:37 pm
I just recently enjoyed some Korean Kalbi ribs for the first time at a friend’s house. The marinade gives them such an incredible flavor, I was instantly hooked. I haven’t been able to find the ribs at my local asian market (I checked just a few days after having them the first time because they were so good) so now I know what to tell the butcher!
June 26th, 2007 at 8:25 pm
I must add, your blog is so inviting and your images are BEAUTIFUL !!
I was searching online for a table top grilil/burner and landed on your blog.
June 26th, 2007 at 8:43 pm
Alex- go my son and spread the gospel of Kalbi!!
Linda- Thank you! I’m glad you found me courtesy of search engines.
July 22nd, 2007 at 3:07 am
I’d rather eat Korean BBQ for dinner than poached chicken breast with salad because if I eat the latter, my stomach will not be satisfied and I will find myself eating midnight snacks….
September 10th, 2007 at 2:21 pm
OMG!!! Where have YOU been all my life?!?!?! I love you!! If I were a man and you weren’t married, I’d be on a flight and kiss you smack on the lips, then fall to one knee and ask for your hand in marriage. BUT since I’m not this will have to do:
I live in Dallas and have had a HECK of a time trying to find GOOD food that does not involve a steak and a potato! I am orignally from San Francisco and I can admit that I am spoiled when it comes to Asian food. So one day, I went surfing on the internet for recipes to make shrimp blankets for my daughter and…POOF… Google sends me to heaven on my laptop!! It landed me square in the middle of the Steamy Kitchen!! Halleujah!!! (trumpets sound) Not only did I find my blankets, but Kalbi too!! I love you!! (did I say that already?) I can’t wait to finish all of the blogs..yes ALL! I will not rest until I have looked at every one of them and drooled over every picture… let’s begin….
February 22nd, 2008 at 7:16 pm
I am trying to find a barbeque co Korean.food-Bulgogi-02.jpj oker
Its a Round Barbeque cooker that is placed in the middle of the table,
with a slotted barbeque plate,
some are not slotted and are surrounded with a water trough
Hoping that you can help
Kind regards
Ray
February 23rd, 2008 at 8:57 pm
I’m desperately looking for something BBQ for tomorrow’s Oscars food fest. Crank up the barbie and all that sort of thing — This sounds sooooo good I don’t know if I’ll be able to wait until tomorrow. Hmmm…wonder if we have Korean take out around here? Be back…