Bulgogi.

Bulgogi is the gateway Korean dish — sweet, savory, almost impossible to mess up. The whole thing comes together in 30 minutes once you've got the marinade memorized. And the marinade is just four numbers.

Soy sauce brings the salt. Sugar lets the meat sear and caramelize. Sesame oil adds the unmistakable nutty aroma. Garlic builds the backbone. Those four ingredients in those four amounts get you most of the way to bulgogi.

Ingredients

The beef

• 500g thin-sliced beef (sirloin or ribeye — Coop has pre-sliced "Fondue Bourguignonne" cuts that work)

The 4·2·2·1 marinade

• 4 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp minced garlic

Aromatics & finish

• 1 spring onion, sliced
• 1 tsp grated apple or pear (tenderizer — optional with ribeye)
• Black pepper, to taste

Method

1. Whisk the marinade. In a bowl, combine soy, sugar, sesame oil, garlic. Add grated apple/pear and pepper.
2. Massage the beef. Add beef to the marinade. Work it with your hands for a minute. Rest 10 minutes — longer if you have it (up to 30 min in the fridge).
3. Sear hot, in batches. Heat a heavy pan over high heat — no oil needed (the marinade has it). Sear the beef in batches; crowding the pan kills the char. Each batch ~2 minutes.
4. Finish with spring onion. Top with sliced spring onion. Serve immediately with rice.

Tip · the pear thing

Korean recipes call for grated pear because the enzyme tenderizes the beef. No pear in your fridge? A spoon of grated apple does the same job. Skip it entirely if you're using ribeye — it's tender enough.

Tip · keep the ratio, change the protein

Once you know 4·2·2·1, you don't need a recipe again.

• Galbi (short ribs): same marinade, just add 1 tbsp grated onion.
• Dak-bulgogi (chicken): same marinade, bump sesame oil to 3.
• Buldak-style heat: add 1 tbsp gochugaru to the base.

Tip · what to serve with it

White rice, kimchi, and a quick lettuce-wrap setup — perilla leaves if you can find them at Yumi Hana, butter lettuce from Migros if not. A spoonful of ssamjang (a mix of doenjang and gochujang) goes inside each wrap.