- Barbecue season is here,
and you don't even need to go outside.
Today, I'm gonna share the ultimate guide
to Korean barbecue at home.
If you've never had Korean barbecue before,
it's a really communal experience
where you cook the food at the table
with your friends and family.
Not only is it fun,
there's dips, side dishes, drinks,
and, of course, meat that's delicious.
Thanks to Porter Road for sponsoring this video.
Let's start by going over the tools you'll need
for a Korean barbecue at home.
One of the essential things that you need
is a burner like this one.
You guys have always seen me use this burner right here
in all of my videos.
It's by Iwatani and it uses a butane tank to heat it up.
And for the grill,
I found this multi-compartment one on Amazon.
If you guys want, I'll have it linked
in the description box below.
You could, of course, use a flat top grill pan,
but I like this one because it's very similar
to the ones that they use at the Korean barbecue restaurants
because it has these cool sections
where you can add corn cheese, egg, garlic, vegetables,
so that it doesn't touch the meat.
Of course, we use tongs,
and then the easiest way to cut the meat: scissors.
I'm a big fan of using these scissors
to cut everything from meat, to veggies, to noodles.
Also, I would say another essential tool
that you need is a fan
because you're gonna need really good ventilation.
So now, you've sat down, you've ordered your drinks.
I'm gonna get into the drinks later in the video,
but this is when they bring out the banchans.
Banchans, to me, are kind of like Korean barbecue appetizers
and they're usually consist of pickled vegetables.
But here, I have pickled radish,
some soybean sprouts,
kimchi, of course,
and then these jalapeno and onion marinated in soy sauce.
The acidity of the banchan is really important
because it cuts through the fattiness of the meats.
You could, of course,
pick up the banchans at your local Korean market,
but it's also fun to make your own
and I have a recipe from my cookbook,
which is this spicy pickled cucumbers
or also called Oi kimchi.
So I'm gonna start by chopping up my Persian cucumbers
into like half-inch rounds.
Then, I'm gonna salt it thoroughly
and then let it sit for about 15 to 20 minutes
to drain out the liquid.
In the meantime, we're gonna make our sauce.
So, in another bowl,
I'm gonna add two teaspoons of rice vinegar,
one teaspoon of sesame oil,
half a teaspoon of toasted sesame seeds,
one garlic clove that I've already minced,
one teaspoon of sugar,
one teaspoon of fish sauce,
and two teaspoons of gochugaru
for that nice, vibrant red color.
Give it a mix and then rinse and drain our cucumbers
and pour it into our sauce.
(upbeat music)
Along with the banchans come the dips.
Here, I just have a mix of salt and pepper
and then you pour in some toasted sesame oil.
It's great for dipping the less fatty cuts of meat.
You get a little bit of saltiness
and then the nuttiness of the sesame oil.
Then, I like to use ssamjang,
which is what I'd say across between gochujang
and fermented chili paste,
a soybean paste that's more like a version of miso.
Now, for the most important part of the meal: the meats.
Because Korean barbecue is so meat-driven,
it's really important to use the best cuts available.
I'm gonna be using the merlot cut, petite Denver cut,
and, of course, the LA galbi
or Korean short ribs for today's video
all ordered from Porter Road,
an online butcher shop
that delivers high-quality meat directly to our door.
They offer a wide variety of dry aged beef,
pork, and chicken, including rare butcher cuts.
You can get 15% off your first order.
Just click on the link in the description box
and the promotion will be automatically applied.
So the merlot and the petite Denver cuts here
are probably cuts that you've never seen
at the grocery stores, like ever.
This is a merlot steak and it's cut from the upper leg,
and each cow only yields two,
making it a really hard-to-find butcher's cut.
This cut is dense, and lean,
and it's best cooked hot and fast served rare.
The petite Denver cut
is a section of the cow's shoulder called the Chuck flap.
It's a dry aged steak that's beautifully marbled,
works perfectly for Korean barbecue
because it's best seared on a hot grill
to lock in the flavor.
Now, a cut that you're definitely familiar with,
if you've ever been to Korean barbecue,
is the Korean short ribs or LA galbi.
Korean short ribs are cut from thin cross-section
of the first four or five ribs of the cow
where there is a nice ratio of meat to bone.
Korean short ribs are amazing when marinated
and charred on a grill.
Now, to make the marinade,
in a blender we're gonna add 1/4 cup of soy sauce;
1/4 cup of brown sugar;
1/4 cup of sake or rice wine;
two tablespoons of sesame oil;
1/4 teaspoon of gochujang
which is fermented chili paste, Korean style;
one medium onion peeled 1/4;
six to eight garlic cloves;
a cup of Asian pear,
I got this at the Korean market
but you can always use an apple or kiwi if you'd like;
a one-inch chunk of ginger peel;
and then you just blend it all up.
(blender whirring)
So after you make the marinade,
always give it a quick taste.
The Asian pear can be pretty sweet sometimes
and it can overpower,
so I think I'm gonna add a little bit more salt to mine.
Our marinade's in the bowl.
Now, I'm just gonna sprinkle in a little bit
of toasted sesame seeds and some green onions,
and then we'll go ahead and place the galbi
or Korean short ribs directly into the bowl
to marinate for about an hour to overnight.
Now, let's talk about the vegetables
because we need to balance out all of that meat.
For Korean barbecue,
I love adding some peppers, squash, mushrooms, onions
right on the grill, along with the meats.
I also love making lettuce wraps with the grilled meat,
so I always have an abundance of lettuce leaves
to make a little meat purse, too.
I'll throw in some pickled veggies, meat,
a little bit of rice, and you have the perfect bite.
All right, let's grill up our meats.
I'll fill the grill with some cheese and corn.
(upbeat electronic music)
Add the garlic here.
A little bit of kimchi in here.
Grilled kimchi is a revelation,
so you guys should definitely try that.
And then I just add some green onions, sesame seeds,
and some eggs that I've already scrambled
to make almost like an egg souffle.
We'll grill the petite Denver and the merlot cuts first.
I'll sear it on each side
and then we'll just cut it up with the scissors.
All right, now let's do the galbi.
I usually save this towards the end
because it has sugar and it just tends to burn.
So grill all the other stuff first.
I would say rule of thumb,
about two minutes on each side for the galbi
if it's not marinated
and then for the thicker cuts,
you should do five to seven minutes on each side.
Also, for the petite Denver,
if you wanted it to be kind of like a sliced bulgogi meat,
that would be really good, too.
But, I just chose to keep it whole like this.
Go ahead and throw on the mushrooms, the onions
to let them caramelize as you're grilling up the meats,
so you can enjoy them altogether at once.
(meat sizzling)
If you guys wanna check out Porter Road,
you can shop like you would
at the local butcher by ordering items a la carte.
They also offer subscriptions,
which I have been using for the past eight months.
We always go for the Butcher's Choice for a nice variety,
with steaks and chops that arrive fresh and never frozen.
And then this is how I like to build my meat purse.
I always add a little piece of meat,
some of the pickled banchans.
I usually go for the bean sprouts, the kimchi,
the cucumbers, a little bit of rice,
and then just a little swipe of our ssamjang.
And this is what I love about Korean barbecue:
the variety of flavors,
and each bite can be its own custom experience.
To get that perfect bite,
we'll wash everything down with our Korean soju.
I hope you guys enjoyed this Korean barbecue feast at home.
Happy barbecuing.
Give this video a thumbs up and geonbae.