hello hi everyone! Today we’re diving back into our series on Bay Area restaurant hacks with an homage to one of my favorite korean BBQ spots in town, which is Bowl’d on Telegraph Ave here in Oakland. While this spot is relatively new to the neighborhood, most Oakland locals will tell you that this particular block of Telegraph Ave in the Temescal is well known for a number of Korean BBQ restaurants that occupy the block, Bowl’d being one of its more recent additions.
More specifically, today we’ll be paying some homage to their bibimbap, or BBQ beef bulgogi rice bowl. A bibimbap can contain a WHOLE bunch of different veggies (including spinach, bean sprouts, kimchi, mushrooms, seaweed, shredded daikon, and more), so for our version today I just went ahead and picked a few of my favorites that I think will be most accessible and easy to reproduce for folks at home. The highlight of the dish today however, will of course be our BBQ beef bulgogi, which we’ll be making from some thinly sliced angus beef tenderloin, as well as my personal favorite ingredient courtesy of a tip from the “Korean Bap Sang” blog, a bit of green apple. Hope you try it!
Serves 2
INGREDIENTS
8 oz beef tenderloin
pickled daikon
kimchi
1/2 cup bean sprouts
2 small carrots
6 shiitake mushrooms
2 eggs
vegetable oil
INGREDIENTS (marinade)
4 cloves garlic
1 tbsp (about 1 inch) ginger
4 tbsp soy sauce
1/4 green apple
2 tbsp brown sugar
INGREDIENTS (sauce)
4 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp dry sake
3 tbsp gochujang
2 tbsp kimchi brine (or 1 tbsp rice vinegar)
2 cloves garlic
sesame seeds
kosher salt
PREP
CRUSH and mince the garlic, set aside
FINE MINCE the ginger, set aside
PEEL and fine mince (or grate) the green apple, set aside
THINLY SLICE the beef tenderloin, set aside
COMBINE all marinade ingredients with the steak and marinate for 30 minutes or up to 1 hour
SLICE the daikon into coins, set aside
PEEL and juilienne the carrots, set aside
REHYDRATE the shiitake mushrooms for 20 minutes, then slice thinly, set aside
COMBINE all sauce ingredients, set aside
ON THE STOVE
HEAT a wok as hot as possible, then add 4 tbsp of vegetable oil and long yao
REMOVE all but 1 tbsp of oil from the wok, saute the carrots for 1 minute with 3 tbsp of the sauce mixture, then remove and set aside
REPEAT with the bean sprouts and shiitake mushrooms
ADD 4 more tbsp of vegetable oil to the wok and long yao
ADD the beef to the wok flat side down, one piece at a time, and sear undisturbed for 2 full minutes. Then toss for an additional minute, remove from heat, and set aside
HEAT 4 tbsp vegetable oil to a skillet, then fry the eggs sunny side up on high heat, spooning the oil on top of the eggs. Season with kosher salt, then remove from heat and set aside
SERVE each ingredient individually over rice, with kimchi, sauce mixture, and a fried egg on top