Pork Bulgogi with Quick-Marinated Cabbage
Pork Eggs Grilling Recipes Meat Dishes
After a few attempts, I achieved the perfect balance of sweet, spicy and salty in this Korean grill. Add to that the tangy cabbage and creamy egg yolk. Magic!
Ingredients
350g pork neck
fried eggs
3 spring onion stalks
toasted sesame seeds
Marinade
2 large garlic cloves (1/2 teaspoon crushed)
1 teaspoon grated ginger paste
25g Gochujang paste (fermented hot pepper paste)
1 tablespoon mirin
1/2 tablespoon salty soy sauce
1/2 tablespoon fish sauce
1 teaspoon honey (10g)
1 level teaspoon chili flakes
2 tablespoons oil (neutral flavor)
3 tablespoons water
1 pinch salt
5 grinds black pepper
Quick-marinated cabbage
300g red cabbage
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 level tablespoon sugar
1/2 tablespoon fish sauce
2 tablespoons water
salt
Servings: 2-3
How to prepare pork bulgogi with quick-marinated cabbage
- Prepare the cabbage ahead of time because it needs a few hours to marinate, ideally leave it overnight, this way it will get a uniform fuchsia color.
Shred the cabbage as thin as you can. Sprinkle generously with salt and knead until you feel it has softened slightly and become moist. - In a small bowl, dissolve the sugar in water, then add the vinegar and fish sauce and stir. Pour over the cabbage and mix well. You'll see that the cabbage color is already starting to change slightly. Taste for salt now and add more if needed.
- Pack the cabbage into a bowl with a lid or a zip-lock bag and leave it in the refrigerator for at least a few hours, ideally overnight. When you open the fridge and see it, shake the bowl to mix the cabbage with the juice at the bottom, this way it will marinate evenly.
- Put the pork neck in the freezer for 2 hours so it can be sliced more easily. Then cut into slices, making sure to hold the knife perpendicular to the grain of the meat. Identify the direction of the fibers and then cut slices as thin as you can. Use a sharp knife or, if you have one, use a long ham slicing knife. It's okay if the slices aren't all equal or perfect.
- In a bowl, mix all the marinade ingredients, you'll get a slightly liquid reddish marinade, it shouldn't be sticky. Add the pork slices to the marinade and then mix well, until each slice is coated. I find it easiest to mix with my hand, because the thin slices tend to stick to each other and it's easier to separate them by hand.
- Let the meat marinate for at least 1 hour at room temperature, or several hours (even overnight) in the refrigerator.
- Heat a grill pan well, for 5 minutes over high heat, without fat.
- Place pieces of meat in the pan, spaced apart from each other. Let them cook for about 1 minute per side. Thin meat cooks very quickly. Transfer the slices to a bowl and repeat until you finish all the meat (I did them in 3 batches).
- Serve the grilled meat with the marinated cabbage salad, fried eggs (1-2 per serving; the yolk must be runny), sprinkling everything with sliced spring onion rounds and toasted sesame seeds. You can accompany everything with rice (sesame rice or Japanese rice). When serving, break the egg yolks over the meat, the result is amazing, I guarantee it.