Filed under Beef, Pasta + Noodles + Rice · Print This Post
What possessed you? the Dr. asked as he cleaned off his bowl of bibimbap. I’ve always done Korean kalbi at home but have never done bulgogi, so I guess it was just about time. I haven’t had Korean food in a while and I was craving that sweet meat flavor.
In Korean, bulgogi is “fire meat” because rib-eye or sirloin is traditionally grilled. Bibimbap is translated as “mixed rice.” A bibimbap bowl consists of warm white rice topped with sautéed vegetables, the bulgogi and a fried egg. Kochujang, a spicy Korean condiment made of fermented soy beans and chilis, is served with it. You mix everything together just before eating.
The Dr. said my version tasted “just like the real thing.” I even think it looked like the real thing! I think I deserve some points.
Ingredients:
1 small carrot, julienned
1 bunch spinach, thoroughly washed
4 shiitake mushrooms, dirt rubbed off using a dry paper towel
1 egg
1 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted
1 tbsp sesame oil
Korean kochujang paste
For the bulgogi:
1 pound rib-eye boneless beef steak, sliced in 1/4-inch thick pieces
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 Asian pear, grated with juices
2 tbsps finely chopped garlic
1 small white onion, roughly chopped
2 stalks scallions, roughly chopped
1 small knob ginger, peeled, grated
2 tbsps light brown sugar
1 tbsp honey
2 tbsps sesame seeds, toasted
2 tbsps sesame oil
a pinch of ground red pepper
black pepper
1. Whisk together all the bulgogi marinade ingredients in a large baking dish. Add the thinly sliced beef and turn to coat. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
2. When ready to prepare bibimbap, heat a stove top grill to high. Grill marinated beef for 1 to 2 minutes per side without overcrowding. Remove to a plate.
3. In the meantime, using a frying pan, heat some peanut oil and sauté spinach. Season with some salt. Remove to a plate. Using the same pan, add the mushrooms and sauté by adding in sesame oil. Remove to the same plate. Keeping the same frying pan, add a little more peanut oil and fry the egg over easy. Remove to the same plate.
4. To serve, put a serving of cooked rice in large slightly shallow bowl. Place bulgogi on top to one side. Cover the rest of the rice by adding the vegetables and mushrooms. Put egg on top. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serve with kochujang paste on the side. To eat, mix well.
Related post/s:
Korean kalbi is also as good
Serve with Korean pickles, or kimchi
Filed under American, Upstate New York · Print This Post
630 Bedford Road, Pocantico Hills
914/366.9600
$720 for three tasting menus, with wine pairing, with tip
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
Is there such a thing as too much? We arrived at Blue Hill Stone Barns just in time for our 5pm table where we were welcomed by fresh air and green grass. We sat in the lounge with our pickled ramps and cucumber martinis and black currant cosmo while they prepared the dining room. When we were seated, we met our waiter for the evening, Andrew, who happens to be from Brooklyn. He also introduced us to the sommelier, Thomas, after we decided that the farmer’s feast tasting menu with the wine pairings was the way to go. We hoped to stay for less than four hours–we thought it would be enough time to eat, chill and take the 40-minute train ride home. So how did we end up staying until 11:30pm? And how did Andrew end up snipping fresh herb leaves for our tea while we sat out in the garden? Sometimes, you just accept things as they happen and try remember every detail the next day.
As far as I can recall, we had a few amuse-bouche that featured the summer tomatoes and watermelon from the Blue Hill gardens. There was a tomato gazpacho we drank like a shot, with small tapioca bubbles that tickled our tongues. There were small balls of watermelon and cantaloupe sprinkled with black pepper that were so playful they reminded me of our night at Alinea in Chicago. There were the colorful tomato pulps that otherwise would have been discarded stuck vertically on pins held by a wooden block.
There was feta cheese and watermelon granita served in small wine glasses–a sharp icicle-like texture and smoothie in our mouths. There were roasted heirloom tomatoes covered with goat cheese mixed with arugula. There was the watermelon sliced like a thick cracker, topped with crispy pancetta, currant tomatoes and goat cheese foam. It was a beautiful presentation using the simplest ingredients. Only several dips broke the watermelon-tomato parade: fresh ricotta with honey and black pepper, roasted eggplant, whipped lardo, arugula salt and carrot salt accompanied by Balthazar-baked bread.
One of the main dishes I remember was the waxed beans with farm-fresh egg sprinkled with pistachios, a Blue Hill stand-by. The egg was encrusted in breadcrumbs which made it fun to break. I recalled the chickens running free as soon as our cab entered the Stone Barns property. I pretty much checked out after that: there was pork belly served with the chicken mushrooms they were parading earlier in the evening, and then there was apparently a lamb belly with peas–I couldn’t tell the difference between the two after several glasses of wine. But I remembered the mock-risotto made of summer corn with tomato reduction. Andrew grated an embryonic egg as if it was aged cheese before we took our first taste. The desserts were, unfortunately, erased from my memory completely. I was told that there was a granita of some sort with some whipped cream, but a third one that involved cheesecake came with a lit candle. Andrew knew it was one our birthdays, but he couldn’t let the rest of the table feel left out so we all had our own candlelit dessert.
He could have stopped there, but he made us feel more special by inviting us to check the herb garden in the back. He snipped some of the mint and thyme leaves while we sat out in the garden. He made us some tea to end our evening. It was an expensive night, but one I will remember for a long time, even if some of the details escape me.
Related post/s:
I’ve been at the Blue Hills in the city twice, with a new friend visiting during dinner
Alinea in Chicago
