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–+ servings

Easy Beef Bulgogi Stir Fry for Your Weeknight Dinner

Experience authentic flavor with this easy beef bulgogi stir fry. Perfectly sweet and salty, it’s a classic Korean dish made simple!
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Servings: 1
Course: Dinner, Stir Fry
Cuisine: Korean
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Beef
  • 14 oz / 400 g thinly sliced beef , any good quality tender cut suitable for grilling (Note 1)
  • 1 scallion/shallot stem , green and white part separated, both finely sliced (Note 2)
  • 1/2 large onion (brown, yellow or white), peeled and thinly sliced
  • 1/2 medium carrot , peeled, cut vertically then cut into thin slices on the diagonal
  • 1 tbsp cooking oil (I use peanut or vegetable oil)
  • 1/2 tbsp sesame seeds
Marinade
  • 3 tbsp ordinary soy sauce (I use Kikkoman)
  • 1 1/2 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp mirin (Note 3)
  • 1/2 tbsp sesame oil
  • 2 tbsp grated onion (brown, white or yellow)
  • 2 cloves garlic , minced
  • 3 tbsp grated red apple (not green – they are too tart) OR nashi pears
  • 1/2 tsp minced ginger
  • Black pepper

Method
 

  1. Pat the beef dry with paper towels and place it in a bowl.
  2. Combine marinade ingredients in a small bowl and add the beef. Stir gently to coat, cover with plastic wrap, and marinate for at least 1 hour or overnight.
  3. Heat oil in a wok or large skillet over high heat.
  4. Add the onion and the white parts of the scallions, then cook for 1 minute.
  5. Add the beef, marinade, and carrots. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes while stirring constantly until the beef is just cooked through.
  6. Remove from heat and toss with sesame seeds.
  7. Serve immediately over rice or cauliflower rice, garnished with additional sesame seeds and the reserved green scallion tops.

Notes

1. As with all stir fries, this cooks very quickly so you need to use a decent cut of beef for it. Rump, flank, sirloin, t-bone and scotch fillet are excellent for this recipe.
Slice the beef against the grain. When you look at the beef, you will notice that the fibres are mostly going in one direction. Place the beef in front of you so the fibres are going left to right. Then cut through the fibres i.e. cut perpendicular to the direction of the fibres (see here for illustrative image). Cutting it this way makes the beef more tender!
Slow cooking cuts, like chuck, are not suitable unless you tenderise it (see How to tenderise beef the Chinese restaurant way)
You can actually find very thinly sliced frozen beef at Asian grocery stores. If you have one in your area, this is a fantastic tip! Note only is it cheaper, you save yourself the cutting time and it is super handy to have in your freezer for quick stir fries.
2. I separate the green and white part of the scallion because I cook the white part and use the green part as garnish.
3. Mirin is a sweet Japanese rice wine used for cooking. You can substitute with dry sherry or sake + 1/2 tsp of sugar. If you cannot have alcohol in your cooking, substitute with 1 tsp apple cider vinegar + 1/2 tsp sugar.
4. Adapted from this recipe: Bulgogi – Korean BBQ Beef by My Korean Kitchen. A wonderful blog for authentic Korean recipes and provides great information about Korean ingredients. It’s run by Sue who is a Korean living in Australia which is great because it means I know I can get all the ingredients she uses!