Farmer Ben Andrew’s Bulgogi Beef
Ben Andrews was my first guest for season 4 of 5 O Clock Apron Podcast. We cooked this dish together at his farmhouse in Herefordshire. Ben served his Bulgogi Beef with steamed rice, crispy kale and a fried egg. For the recipe reel on my Instagram, I’ve cooked the beef as Ben did with the pear, soy and sesame marinade, but served it wrapped in lettuce leaves, pickled radish and also some boiled rice cakes. So, yes, this take on Bulgogi Beef is heavily influenced by farmer Ben and his Herefordshire take on a Korean classic, but also by the Korean restaurant Dongnae in Bristol where we we all ate as a family to celebrate my eldest daughter Grace finishing her A Levels recently and since this recording with Ben for the podcast back in May. I absolutely loved cooking this dish with Ben on the day in Hereford for the podcast and hope I’ve done his take, and also Dongae’s justice here in my garden on my little charcoal stove.
We have a Chinese pickle pot here at home and make our own pickled veg with a brine and the veg are left to ferment until soured, you could just as well buy some kimchi and use that in your lettuce wraps if you like.
Gochujang is a spicy Korean pepper paste, it has a sweet, hot heat with deep umami flavour. Most supermarkets stock it here in the UK. I am using a squeezy version I bought from my local Korean store here in Bristol.
INGREDIENTS
Feeds 4
800g approx. piece of beef to BBQ. I used bavette, Ben used rump
1 nashi pear, or use a regular pear, grated
1 tbsp sesame oil, plus extra for rice cakes, if using
2 tbsp soy sauce
3 cloves garlic, peeled and finely crushed or chopped
Large piece of ginger, finely grated
Big pinch of salt, I used smoked salt
Lots of freshly cracked black pepper
Gochujang, I used a squeezy sauce version in the reel
Salad leaves, washed and separated, to serve
Cucumber, cut into matchsticks, to serve
Red pepper, cut into matchsticks, to serve
Pickled radish, cut thinly, or use kimchi
Rice cakes, boiled, or use steamed rice, to serve
Toasted sesame seeds, to serve
METHOD
Marinade the beef as a whole piece with the grated pear, ginger and garlic, add the sesame oil and soy sauce. Leave to marinade as long as you like.
Get your BBQ very, very hot. Add a big pinch of salt and plenty of black pepper to your beef to cook. Sear the beef, including any of the pear marinade clinging to the beef and cook over a very high heat to your liking. Let the beef rest, for as long as you like, and a minimum for the same amount of time that you cooked it.
Boil the rice cakes in salted water until softened, drain and splash over with some sesame oil.
To serve, slice the BBQ’d beef into strips, then using your lettuce leaf as a ‘wrap’ pile in with a rice cake, beef, cut cucumber and pepper, some pickled radish or kimchi, some gochuchang and sprinkle over with some sesame seeds, to roll and eat right away.