Allergen Friendly Beef Bulgogi

I was about eight years old the first time I ate bulgogi. My best friend was Korean and her family made KBBQ and Bulgogi fairly often. And when I started learning to cook and changed my diet, bulgogi became a staple of mine.

Sometimes, I’ll have it with rice, other times I’ll make some sort of other side dishes to go along with it that are grain free and paleo.

Accompaniments to eat with Bulgogi:

• White Kimchi

• White Rice, if tollerated

• Pickled daikon or korean radish

• Seasoned Spinach or Kale

• Perilla leaf

• Chicory

• Napa cabbage

• Variety of lettuces

How to eat Bulgogi:

I learned to eat bulgogi with Ssam, a wrap and dipping sauce, as. kid. You take a piece of lettuce leaf, add a perilla leaf, a chicory leaf (or other leaves including nappa cabbage). Then, layer on the fillings. Add a bit or rice or whatever starchy side you are eating it with, some seasoned spinach or kale, pickled radish, write rice and then the bulgogi. Wrap it nicely into a little burrito and stuff as much of it in your mouth as you possibly can. Or alternatively, you can take smaller bites.

Ingredients:

(Makes 3 servings)

Marinade:

• 1 lb shaved or thinly sliced beef (or ground beef)

• 1/2 apple, peeled and roughly chopped

• 1/2 onion, peeled and roughly chopped

• 4 cloves garlic, peeled

• 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar (I use an herbal vinegar I make)

• 1 tbsp sesame oil

• 1/4 cup coconut aminos

• 2 tbsp sesame seeds

Beef:

• 1 tbsp avocado oil

• 1 tbsp sesame oil, optional (sub more avocado oil if intolerant)

• 1 onion, thinly diced

• 2 carrots, julienned or thinly sliced

• 2-3 scallions, finely diced

• Beef marinade for at least 30 minutes but preferably overnight

Seasoned Kale:

• Large bunch of kale or spinach

• 1 tsp sesame oil

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 1-2 tbsp coconut aminos

• 1 tbsp sesame seeds

Optional Add-Ons:

• Lettuce leaves

• Perilla leaf

• Steamed napa cabbage

• White rice

• White baek kimchi

Preparations:

Marinade your beef:

• Start by marinating the beef. Leave it for at least 30 minutes but optimally overnight. Blend all of the marinade ingredients together in a blender, not including the beef. Place in a bowl and cover it with a towel or parchment paper overnight.

Make the beef bulgogi:

• The next day, make your beef. Oil a skillet over medium low heat and add in a tbsp avocado oil and a tbsp sesame oil. Add the thinly sliced onions and cook for a few minutes until translucent.

• Next, add in the carrots and sautee until they begin to soften a tad. Then, add in the marinated beef. Cook this until the beef is 85% cooked. Then, add in the diced scallions and continue to cook on medium low heat.

• Remove from heat once the beef is fully cooked through. Set aside.

Make Seasoned Kale:

• While the beef cooks you can also prepare your seasoned kale. Place water in a shallow pan with a wide base and add in the kale. Let is steam for about five minutes, either covered or uncovered. Make sure it cooks evenly on all sides.

• Remove from the heat and run it under cold water to stop it from cooking. Place the kale in a large bowl and add the rest of the seasonings. Sesame oil, minced garlic, coconut aminos and sesame seeds.

• Set aside the kale.

Add-Ons:

• If you want you can cook up some rice to go along with the bulgogi. This is traditionally the way it’s eaten - with rice. But rice is optional. You can choose any starchy veggie here instead if you’re currently avoiding rice.

• Additionally, kimchi, perilla leaves and napa cabbage are also excellent options to add-on to.

Assemble:

• To make your bulgogi wrap, take a piece of lettuce. Add a bit of rice to it followed by the bulgogi and kale. Then finish it off with whatever other toppings you want.

  • If you’re using more than one type of green, you can layer the perilla leaf on top of the lettuce and then layer the lettuce on top of the steamed cabbage before adding on the other toppings.

• Stuff the entire leaf in your mouth or bite into it.