Cooking Challenge: Bulgogi Beef Stroganoff-Fusion Sept/Oct 2009

It took me a little bit of time to settle on this dish. I was pretty certain I wanted to make the Bulgogi Beef, but wasn’t quite sure what to fuse to it. If you’re unfamiliar with Bulgogi you’re probably not alone. It’s a Korean dish, but on the more mild spectrum of Korean dishes. Some Korean dishes will just blow your head off with spiciness from the get go. Bulgogi is kind of like a spicy teriyaki dish, but not nearly as sweet. My original inclination was to make bulgogi fajitas. Which I still think would be good. However, while toying around with the idea I thought a wasabi sour cream would go well with the fajitas. Then I thought sour cream + beef = Swedish meatballs. So, obviously I thought of that famous Swedish/sour cream dish Beef Stroganoff.

OK, I now know that Stroganoff is not a Swedish dish, but Russian (should have guessed that). AND that traditional Stroganoff is served with a rice pilaf instead of egg noodles. Nevertheless, most of us in the US probably think of Stroganoff over noodles. That’s what I made. It was a three step process. First off the: Bulgogi Marinade.

Bulgogi Marinade
1cup soy sauce
1 cup dry white wine
2TBSP sugar
2TBSP onion paste
2TBSP Black Bean paste
2TBSP Garlic Chili Paste
2TBSP Ginger Paste
2TBSP Garlic Paste
2TBSP Sesame oil
1lb of beef

Pretty simple add all ingredients and let the beef marinate for about five hours.

In the past I’ve let this marinate for too long and you lose all of the beef flavor. This way it was just right. You can see from the photo how far the marinade had penetrated.

Next was the noodles.

Noodles
2 eggs
2 cups flour

I used the Sly technique, 1 egg per cup of flour and then wet your hands to form it into a ball. You’re looking for a leathery dough.

Knead for a few minutes, let rest for awhile, roll into desired thickness, and then cut with a fancy pasta wheel.

Boil for about four minutes just before serving.

Lastly was the Stroganoff.

Stroganoff Sauce
1 cup sour cream
½ minced onion
1 TBSP Garlic
1 cup beef broth
1 cup Bulgogi marinade
2TBSP flour

Sautee the minced onions in some butter until carmelized.

Then add your garlic and beef.

The photo of ingredients shows ketchup. I didn’t add this as I thought it would make the dish too sweet. Sautee until beef is Med- Med Well. Add beef broth and marinade. Simmer for about ten minutes. Add sour cream and thicken with a flour slurry.

Serve over noodles.

This dish exceeded every expectation I had for it. Each bite had a little heat from the bulgogi, but the sour cream would mollify this as you finished each bite. There was the just the right mix of sweet and savory in sauce. The addition of soy sauce gave some extra umami which was balanced by the noodles. We absolutely demolished this dinner.