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Beef Bulgogi

Total
50 min
Cost
Difficulty

Thin-sliced ribeye strips in a soy-pear marinade, seared hard in cast iron and served over black rice. Traditional bulgogi is already fairly lean, so there is no dairy swap here. The fat comes down through a lean pre-cut strip (about 3.5g fat per 4 oz) and 1 tbsp of sesame oil across the whole batch, where traditional versions run 1.5 to 2 tbsp. Black rice brings more fiber and protein than white. Built with Heritage brand ribeye strips for convenience, with trimmed flank as the from-scratch option.

520cals per serving

4servings

40%Carbs51g
25%Fat14g
36%Protein46g
  • batch friendly
  • beef
  • high protein
  • rice
  • stovetop
Beef Bulgogi

Nutrition

CaloriesCarbsFatProteinRatio C/F/P
Per serving~52051g14g46g40 / 25 / 36
Whole batch (×4)~2,080204g56g184g-
Traditional per serving (sirloin, standard marinade, white rice)~52539g23g41g30 / 39 / 31

Ingredients

4servings

Beef

  • 1.5 lb ribeye steak strips, pre-cut (Heritage brand), or flank steak with visible fat trimmed, hand-sliced thin against the grain

Marinade

  • 1/3 cup low-sodium soy sauce

  • 2 tbsp brown sugar

  • 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil

  • 1 Asian pear (or Bosc pear, or apple)

  • 4 garlic cloves, minced

  • 1 tsp fresh ginger, grated

  • 1/4 tsp black pepper

  • 1/2 onion, thinly sliced (red or white)

Cook and serve

  • 1 tsp avocado oil, for searing

  • 3 cups cooked black rice

  • 4 scallions, chopped

  • 1 tsp sesame seeds

Steps

Prep (~10 min)

  1. Using flank: trim the visible fat, freeze 20-30 min until firm, then slice thin against the grain. Pre-cut ribeye strips skip this step.

  2. Peel and grate the pear. Mince the garlic, grate the ginger, slice the onion, and chop the scallions.

  3. Whisk the pear, soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil, garlic, ginger, and pepper together. Toss with the beef and onion. Marinate 30 min to 1 hr for ribeye, up to 2 hr for flank, and never past 4 hr.

Cook (~40 min)

  1. Rice first. Cook the black rice per the package directions, about 35-40 min. It is the longest step, so start it while the beef marinates.

  2. Sear the beef. When the rice has about 10 min left, heat the avocado oil in a cast iron pan until ripping hot. Sear the beef in batches without crowding the pan, until charred at the edges.

  3. Finish. Toss in the scallions for the last 30 seconds. Serve over the rice and top with the sesame seeds.

Notes

Make or break

  • Cast iron, ripping hot. It holds heat when the beef lands, so the strips char instead of steam. A thinner nonstick pan can't hold the same heat

  • Sear in batches. Crowding drops the pan temperature and the beef steams

  • Peel the pear before grating. The skin turns bitter and stringy in the marinade

  • Mind the marinate time. The pear is an active tenderizer, so past 4 hr the texture turns mushy. Ribeye needs only 30 min to 1 hr, since it isn't fighting toughness the way flank is

  • Keep the sesame oil at 1 tbsp. It is a bigger fat lever than the cut, and it clings to the seared meat instead of staying in the bowl

  • Scallions in the last 30 seconds. They keep their bite and color

  • Slice flank thin and against the grain. It is the step that makes bulgogi taste like bulgogi, and flank has a clear grain to follow

Fixes

  • Beef steaming instead of charring: the pan wasn't hot enough or too much went in at once. Heat it longer and cook smaller batches

  • Beef mushy: it marinated too long. Stay inside the time ranges above

  • Flank chewy: slice thinner and make sure the cuts run against the grain

Levers

  • Lower carb: the rice is nearly all the carbs. Dropping from 3/4 cup to 1/2 cup of cooked rice per serving cuts about 15g carbs and 75 cal, and lettuce wraps with no rice land near 5g carbs, which is also a traditional way to serve it

  • Rice swap: per cup cooked, wild rice runs about 166 cal and 35g carbs, white about 205 cal and 44g carbs, and black about 265 cal and 52g carbs. Wild rice or a white and wild blend lowers calories and carbs, and the numbers above are for black rice

  • Pear: Bosc pear or apple works in place of Asian pear

Nutrition numbers are estimates tracked in MyFitnessPal. Your brands and portions will shift them a little.