I can’t even tell you how super pleased I was the night I made this Korean pork dish – it was so fantastically delicious I was caught off guard! The dish is just spicy enough to leave your mouth warm, with a bit of sweetness from the fruit, and the pork is super tender. You can serve this over rice, in lettuce wraps, or as part of some other Korean dish such as bibimbap. It’s pretty much going to be a success no matter how you serve it!

The daeji bulgogi in the back, kimchi on the left, and garlic/soy zucchini on the right.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound pork – You can use pork shoulder/pork butt, or use tenderloin for a less fatty cut. My supermarket doesn’t seem to have shoulder/butt, so tenderloin for me!
• 1/2 cup gochujang (Korean chili paste)
• 5 cloves garlic (grated)
• 1 inch ginger (grated)
• 1 small onion (grated)
• 1 Korean pear (grated)
• 1 Fuji apple (grated)
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 green onions (chopped)
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• rice, lettuce, etc as desired for serving

A coworker brought this for me from South Korea for watching her plant while she was gone, but you can definitely get it at Asian grocery stores, possibly at other grocery stores, and most definitely online.

Place the pork in the freezer for about an hour, the remove and thinly slice. The freezing will make the meat sturdier, for easier cutting. Place in a large plastic bag and set aside.

Combine the remaining ingredients. If you have a food processor with cutting/grating disks, you can do this in about two minutes and it’s super easy.

So very fast!

If not… get out your cheese grater and get going! Transfer this mixture to the bag with the meat and seal, pressing out as much air as possible. Squish/rotate/manipulate to mix well, then refrigerate overnight.

So attractive…

The next day, cook the meat on a bbq or in a pan on the stove. I heated a tablespoon of sesame oil (haaate sesame seeds, love the smell of heating sesame oil!) over medium-high heat, then put about half the mixture in the pan, trying to keep the meat in a single layer so it would cook.

I think it’s probably normal to throw out most of the grated fruit with the excess marinade, but it tastes good so I cooked it as well. Once the meat appears cooked on the bottom (no longer pink, maybe 3-4 minutes?), flip and cook on the other side until also done, then remove to a plate/serving dish, and repeat with the remaining raw meat.

Serve over rice, in lettuce wraps, or as otherwise desired.

Gotta get some chopsticks!

Seriously. Try it. Sooo good!

Daeji Bulgogi

From Closet Cooking.

• 1 pound pork – You can use pork shoulder/pork butt, or tenderloin for a less fatty cut.
• 1/2 cup gochujang (Korean chili paste)
• 5 cloves garlic (grated)
• 1 inch ginger (grated)
• 1 small onion (grated)
• 1 Korean pear (grated)
• 1 Fuji apple (grated)
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 green onions (chopped)
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• rice, lettuce, etc as desired for serving

Place the pork in the freezer for about an hour, the remove and thinly slice. Place in a large plastic bag and set aside.

Combine the remaining ingredients. Transfer the mixture to the bag with the meat and seal, pressing out as much air as possible. Squish/rotate/manipulate to mix well, then refrigerate overnight.

The next day, cook the meat on a bbq or in a pan on the stove. If cooking on the stove, heat a tablespoon of sesame oil over medium high heat, then add enough meat to cover the pan in a single layer. Let sit until the bottom is cooked, 3-4 minutes, then flip and cook until no longer raw. Remove from the heat and repeat with remaining raw meat.

Serve over rice, in lettuce wraps, or as otherwise desired.