Beef Bulgogi

Sirloin dishes can really change up the same old routine. If you look through my posts, you may notice I do a lot of chicken recipes. This is in large part due to the fact I have this one "in stock" more commonly. But it's also ac comfort zone thing.  I have my chicken cooking methods down and so it makes everything easier and faster.

But, I do run a tiny but mighty (at least for me!) food blog. This means I can't get caught into too many routines and I would never have a new post if I didn't try different recipes. The past few weeks, I've used my pressure cooker more. I find that it is a speedy way to cook things and keep the moisture and flavor in. I say, "I find," like it is my discovery, but that is kind of the point of the pressure cooker.

This particular recipe came about in the usual manner, where I set out on a mission, slip and fall, then tumble down the hill until I finally find a rock to grab on to. The rock in this case is beef bulgogi.

Maybe you've heard of it, maybe you haven't. But beef bulgogi is a Korean dish with roots dated as far back as - you're not going to believe this - anywhere from 37 BC - ~600 AD. Did your jaw drop? Yeah, me, too. Talk about an extensive history. Of course, back then the thinly sliced beef was called neobiani, and for complex reasons, including war, the name evolved. You can read more here.

I did not go the marinate route for this because I was using the pressure cooker, but if I were making this without it, I'd marinate the beef overnight (or for at least a few hours) in the sauce mixture before cooking it on a skillet. Just laying that out before I go on.

For this recipe, I decided to use thin sliced sirloin tips, though the recipe I initially looked at called for a roast, but I saw this in my freezer and went, "YES!" Already sliced thin and a good cut of meat = a better chance my quick cooking method would be successful.

I sliced the steak into strips and placed it in the pressure cooker. In a bowl, I mixed the broth, brown sugar (I scaled back the quantity from what I'd seen), gochujang paste, minced garlic, minced ginger, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, and pepper together. The gochujang can be adjusted depending on spice preferences. I like moderately spicy, but not to the point I can't enjoy the flavor of a dish, so did mid-level with 2 tablespoons. 

I cooked it for about 15 minutes in the pressure cooker, but let it sit an de-pressurize on its own (this took about 15 more minutes). Note that I left the post-cooking photo out of there. I literally said out loud while looking through the photos, "Well that doesn't look very good..." So, since I normally post photos for my own sake and anyone who stumbles on this to see what it *should* look like, I'll just say, if the meat is cooked and you've got a stew amount of reddish sauce, you are good to go.

I moved along to serving this over some rice and steamed broccoli.

You know, I would have thought 2 tablespoons of gochujang would be a kicker, but it was a subtle spice. It did let the garlic and other flavors shine through.

It made a perfect quick dish and easy lunches for a few days. This was great since I've been tied up with work and intense cooking just hasn't happened.

Is this the most authentic of all beef bulgogi recipes on the internet? Absolutely not. Is this a speedy way to have a steak dish ready for dinnertime? You betcha. I was mighty impressed by how good this turned out with a rapid cooking job. Pair it with rice or potatoes or any veggie your heart desires, and you've got a pretty lean and filling dinner ready to go.

Beef Bulgogi Recipe

Ingredients:

2 pounds thin sliced sirlion tips (I used 1.6 lb)
1/2 cup beef broth (or beef bullion in water)

1/4 cup brown sugar

3 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons gochujang paste

2 tablespoons minced garlic

1 tablespoon minced ginger

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1 teaspoon pepper

Instructions:

Mix sauce ingredients in a bowl, then whisk or stir with a fork. Cut steak into cubes and place into pressure cooker.

adapted from instant pot korean beef