Hello! Hi everyone, Wesley here. Today we're diving back into our series dedicated to the Bay Area restaurant scene with just, one of the wildest fusion dishes that I've come across in a while, which is a Korean bulgogi Philly cheesesteak sandwich, inspired by the one and only version found at Saucy Asian, in Emeryville, CA. Now, if you're like me and you're thinking "that's...a whole lotta words thrown together into a sandwich." Thennn, yeah. That's pretty much what this is. yep. But! despite this being a jumbled up masterpiece of Asian fusion, it honestly actually makes a whole lot of sense, and frankly I don't know what I've never come across anything like this before.
For those unfamiliar, the Korean BBQ bulgogi beef is comprised of a thinly sliced piece of flank steak, iconically marinated in a grated Asian pear and soy sauce marinade, then barbecued (or in our case, wok seared) for a smokey and crisp finish. And, if that sounds at all like the thinly sliced steak found in a philly cheesesteak sandwich, then you would be correct. It is in fact, very similar. As with every time that we have approached bulgogi beef in a recipe however, we will once again be faced with the challenge of reproducing not only the char of an open flame BBQ, but also the thin sliced quality that is iconic to bulgogi, without the help of a meat slicer. Finally to round this all out, we'll also be touching on of course all of the iconic things that MUST go into this sandwich for it to be a cheese steak, including our hoagie roll, sliced onion, and of course, good old American cheese. Hope you try it.
Serves 2-3
INGREDIENTS
1 lb flank steak
1/2 medium white onion
3 green onions
1/2 tsp baking soda slurry (1/2 tsp baking soda dissolved in water)
hoagie rolls
kewpie mayo
American cheese
peanut oil
INGREDIENTS (marinade)
4 cloves garlic
1 inch (about 1 tbsp) ginger
1 Asian pear
4 tbsp low sodium soy sauce (or 2 tbsp full sodium soy sauce)
1/2 tsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp sesame oil
PREP
CRUSH and mince the garlic, set aside
MINCE the ginger, set aside
PEEL and grate the asian pear, set aside
SLICE the flank steak as thinly as possible, then combine with the baking soda slurry and let marinate for 15 minutes
DRAIN the excess liquid from the steak, then combine with all marinade ingredients and marinate for 30 minutes
SLICE the onion into strips, set aside
SEPARATE the whites and greens of the green onions, then slice thinly and set aside
COAT the hoagie rolls in mayo, set aside
ON THE STOVE
HEAT a wok over medium heat, then add 4 tbsp peanut oil and long yao
ADD the steak 10-12 pieces at a time, sear for 2.5 minutes then toss with the wok tilted downward for wok hei
COMBINE all of the steak in the wok with the white onion, saute for 3-4 minutes until translucent, then remove from heat
HEAT a griddle over medium low heat, then add the bulgogi into strips and top with American cheese
COVER for 45 seconds until the cheese melts, then set aside on the colder half of the griddle
TOAST the hoagie rolls on the griddle (mayo side down), then add the bulgogi
FINISH with white and green onions