Bulgogi Ciabatta Sandwich
Bulgogi is “ONE” of my favorite Korean dishes. It is really hard for me to pick a favorite among many tasty dishes to pick one. However, my love for grilled food is well known.
Even when I am fullest I will still eat it, or at least taste it!
I get quite a few requests not only for bulgogi but for other Korean dishes too.
Since the last request was just a few days ago, I thought to actually make one of a popular fusion kind of sandwiches that includes bulgogi.
Bulgogi is available in all Korean restaurants, however, it is also very simple to make at home, too. Bulgogi in literal translation means “bul” fire and “gogi” meat, so it refers to “cooking the meat on fire” or “over open flames”. It is, of course, a cooking technique or better-said barbecue.
It has a very long history. Originally, bulgogi was known as “maek-jeok”, meaning that the beef being grilled on a skewer. “Neo-biani”, meaning “thinly spread” meat and was traditionally prepared especially for the wealthy and the nobility class.
One of the things that I love is learning about history and food from many different countries.
Now, I know history can be rewritten, but when it comes to food, usually it is carried from generation to generation.
Click here for more tasty Korean Dishes.
Many of you know that bulgogi is eaten with leafy veggies, rice, and/or other side dishes (banchan), but it also depends on how you prefer to eat it. This was…
How to put this into words? This sandwich you would not believe how good it is. I am still drooling!
Beef is marinated for a couple of hours, but you got to marinate for at least an hour to get that nice flavor. It actually crosses between sweet and savory.
Bulgogi is one of those non-spicy Korean traditional recipes. Once you start to pan fry it or grill it all the flavors that beef was soaking comes out, and the taste is spectacular.
Beef becomes tender and so delicious.
My family goes nuts over it, and it is a “must make” when we grill. We have a pretty big man-made fire pit, so I use my trusty old saute pan to make bulgogi in it.
Yes, you can make this on your stovetop in the house, but man when the smoke from the charcoal fire surrounded that pan and beef started to sizzle.
It sure was amazingly delicious, I think I can still smell it.
If you try my Bulgogi Ciabatta Sandwich, please share it with me on Instagram @sandraseasycooking. I would love to see it and with your permission share it!
Bulgogi Ciabatta Sandwich
Tasty Recipe for Bulgogi Ciabatta Sandwich
Ingredients
- Ciabatta Rolls/Bread
- 1 Lb. Beef Tenderloin rib-eye steak or top sirloin
Marinade:
- 1/2 onion
- 1 tsp. Ginger minced
- 5 garlic cloves 5 smaller ones or 3 bigger cloves
- 1/2 Carrot
- 1/2 cup 7 up or 1/2 Asian Pear peeled
- 1 Tbs. Sugar
- 3 Tbs. Soy Sauce Or to taste
- 2 Green Onions/scallions
- 1/2 tsp. Ground Black Pepper
- 1 tsp. Sesame Oil
- Handful julienned Carrots*optional
Topping options:
- Sauteed/grilled Onion/scallions
- Grilled garlic
- Mushrooms
- Sesame Seeds
- Cheese
- Lettuce
- Peppers
Instructions
- In a food processor place onion, ginger, garlic cloves, carrot, and 7 up or 1/2 Asian Pear (it is acting as a meat tenderizer), process until pureed.
- Take a beef tenderloin that is slightly frozen and cut into thin bite-size slices or you can use already pre-cut meat that is thinly sliced. (read note)
- In a large bowl or container place meat, then add puree, sugar, soy sauce, sliced scallions, ground black pepper, sesame oil and a handful of julienned carrots (optional). Mix everything together so marinade could code each slice of beef; cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for an hour or more. You can use less soy sauce and add salt to taste, instead.
- Preheat the grill or lightly oiled/greased saute pan or skillet and add beef slices. Cook until meat is no longer pink and it starts to sizzle and juices are almost gone.
- 5 minutes before beef is done I like to add more garlic, scallions and onion slices, sometimes mushrooms too.
- You can serve it with rice and vegetables (side dishes) or place it in the toasted Ciabatta bread like I did today, add other sauteed/grilled vegetables, lettuce together with the beef and top it with cheese and other condiments if you desire.
Notes
You can place beef to marinade in the fridge overnight. I like to do it at least an hour in advance, but the more is marinating, meat becomes more tender. I have done overnight before!
I used Beef Tenderloin today, but The best beef for this is rib-eye steak or top sirloin. Of course, you may use any cut but you will know the difference if you make it with ribeye steak because fat is where a lot of the distinctive flavor of beef comes from, making ribeye one of the richest, beefiest cut available.
You may also find it already precut beef in the Korean or Asian market “for bulgogi”. If you do not want to use 7 Up or Asian Pear then add 1-2 Tbs. (more) of Sugar. Both 7 up and Asian pear not only make beef tender but also gives sweetness, if you omit you have to add sugar or even honey if you desire.