America's Test Kitchen (2000–…): Season 22, Episode 5 - Bulgogi and Bokkeumbap - full transcript
Beef bulgogi (Korean marinated beef); a primer on sesame products; kimchi fried rice (bokkeumbap).
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-Today on
"America's Test Kitchen,"
Dan makes Bridget beef bulgogi,
Jack talks all
about sesame products,
and Keith makes
Julia kimchi bokkeumbap.
It's all coming up right here
on "America's Test Kitchen."
♪♪
-Today, we're making
the Korean classic, bulgogi.
I love this dish.
It translates to "fire meat."
You know it's going to be good.
It's so easily customizable,
and it's packed full
of flavor.
And Dan's here,
he's going to show us
how to make a great
version at home.
-So this is one of
my favorite dishes,
and the first time I had it
was well over a decade ago.
My friend, Song, made
his grandmother's recipe for me,
and I was just totally smitten.
It's this gorgeous,
thinly sliced beef,
really well seasoned, and it's
wrapped in a lettuce leaf.
Pop the whole thing in
your mouth, and just, like,
it's perfect.
-Grandma cooking is
the best cooking.
-It's the best
kind of cooking,
and one of the reasons
that it's so flavorful
is you make this sauce
called ssamjang,
and it is built on two really
delicious fermented pastes.
We're going to start with
the whites and light green part
of four scallions,
and these are just minced thin.
And then, we have
a 1/4 cup of doenjang.
So this is fermented
soybean paste,
and it's packed with umami,
savoriness, and some good salt.
This forms the backbone
of this sauce.
The next one is gochujang.
So they're both "jangs,"
which is a fermented paste
or sauce in Korean food.
They're so savory, and they add
complexity to tons of dishes.
So this is
a tablespoon of gochujang.
This adds sweetness
and spice.
Again, a little bit more
savoriness, as well.
-Right.
-We're going to loosen this up
with just a tablespoon of water.
We've also got
two teaspoons of sugar,
two teaspoons
of toasted sesame oil.
Some really
nice nuttiness there.
And then, finally,
one minced garlic clove.
So much flavor.
So we're just going to stir
this together.
Beautiful.
This is lovely with pork,
and you see it served with all
different kinds of meat.
Today we're going to make
a beef bulgogi,
and it's going to be
so good with it.
-Okay.
-So I'm just going
to set that aside.
And then, let's pop over here,
and we're going to get
to the beef,
but first, we're going
to make a pickle.
In Korean cuisine,
there are so many pickles,
whether they're quick ones
or fermented ones like kimchi.
We're going to make
one of the simplest ones,
which starts with a cup
of rice vinegar.
And this is the unseasoned kind.
-Okay.
-We're going to season it
ourselves.
2 tablespoons of sugar,
and then, 1 1/2 teaspoons
of salt.
So a super simple
pickling brine.
That is all dissolved.
So we're going to use
radish for this.
And, normally, Korean radish,
it's a really big white one.
This is a daikon,
which is similar
and works really well
in this recipe.
It's a little bit more readily
available here in the States.
-Right.
-So this is one pound.
First, I'm just
going to peel it.
So I'm just going to lop off
the tip and the end there,
and we're going to make
matchsticks out of these.
1 1/2 inches
here on the length.
And we go about 1/4 inch.
-I love this kind of Hadrian's
Wall you're building here.
-[ Laughs ] It's like
I'm a dealer at a casino.
-Exactly.
-So now that I've cut them
in one direction,
I basically just stack them up.
Run your knife through
and finish them up.
And I'm going to transfer them
over to our quick pickle brine.
Just stir these.
Make sure that they're all
submerged in our brine there.
So these can be ready
in about 30 minutes,
which is awesome,
truly quick pickle,
but they can hang on the fridge
for up to 24 hours
and they'll just get nicer.
-Fabulous.
-So I'm going to set
this aside also.
Now we can finally
get to our beef.
-That is gorgeous.
-So, beautiful rib eye.
Now, if you have a good
Korean market near you,
they sell gorgeous,
thinly sliced steak.
It's like machine sliced.
-Right.
-And absolutely go for that.
It is made for it.
It's wonderful.
If you don't have access to it,
this is a really easy way
to do it yourself,
and you can obviously choose
the cut that you want.
Rib eye is really nice
and tender,
takes up flavor
really nicely,
and it's a favorite for this,
for sure.
So I'm just going to do
a little bit of trimming.
Basically, take off
this big piece of fat here.
But you don't have to do much.
A little bit of that
would be nice in there.
-One of the great things
about rib eye,
it has all that marbling in it.
-Exactly. There's so much flavor
and fat in there.
So I'm just going to cut this
into about 1 1/2-inch-wide
pieces.
So it's really going to only be
about three pieces here.
We're going to go back
on the plate.
Beef like this that's fresh,
It's really hard
to slice thin, it's squishy.
So we're actually going
to freeze it for a bit.
Not until it's solid, but until
it is firmed up a little bit.
35 to 40 minutes.
♪♪
Okay, so our steak
is nice and cold.
You can check out
how firm it is.
-Okay.
-Right? Proof?
-Right.
-So that's great.
It's going to make it so much
easier to slice.
And my goal with slicing here
is to actually do it this way
so that we're cutting against
the grain as we go down.
And just go as thin as we can.
They don't have to be perfect,
and if some are small,
it doesn't matter.
You won't notice
in the final dish,
-Thinness is more important.
-Exactly.
-Okay.
-Just go as thin as you can.
So I'm just going to keep
going into all of these pieces
have turned
into nice thin strips.
-Mm.
-All right. And that is it.
-Beautifully done.
-Nice pile of beautiful rib eye.
And nice and thinly sliced.
This is not a super
traditional step for bulgogi,
but you do see it a lot
in Chinese stir-frys
and a trick that we use
in the test kitchen a ton,
and that is to give it
a baking soda treatment.
So I've got a tablespoon
of water in this bowl
and I'm adding a quarter
teaspoon of baking soda.
This is a really
powerful tenderizer,
and it works immediately,
unlike marinades
that can take a long time
to actually do their work.
-Right.
-It makes it so the proteins
don't bond together as tightly.
Keeps it really, really tender.
So I'm just going to stir
this together.
Helps hold on to a lot more
moisture, too.
Great. So I'm just going
to transfer this over
to the bowl and stir to coat.
Now, while this sits
for five minutes,
I'm going to go wash my hands
for the next step.
Okay, so now it is time
for our marinade,
where we're going to get a ton
of the flavor into this beef.
We're going to start
with a 1/4 cup of onion.
We've got a 1/4 cup
of sugar,
3 tablespoons of soy sauce.
More and more flavor.
I have 4 cloves
with garlic.
Tablespoon of toasted
sesame oil.
-Mm!
-So that shows up
in the ssamjang
and then also in the marinade.
And then, finally,
1/4 of a teaspoon of pepper.
So I'm going to process this
for about 30 seconds
until it's nice and smooth.
All right, that looks beautiful.
Okay, so we're going to go
right into our beef here.
-Oh!
-So I'm just going to stir this
to combine
and make sure all of it is
covered in that nice marinade.
-Mm!
It's smelling like bulgogi.
I mean, it really
is that potent aroma.
-Sweet and savory.
-Absolutely.
-That awesome onion in there.
-Mm!
-Beautiful.
Okay, great.
Clean up a little bit,
and then it'll be time to cook.
-Okay.
-All right. It is time to cook.
So we've got our beautiful
marinated beef.
I've got 2 teaspoons
of vegetable oil
heating over medium-high heat.
You want just until shimmering.
It doesn't need to be smoking.
-Okay.
-And we're going to get
all of our beef in at once.
So we're going to cook this
without moving it,
just on this first side here
for about a minute
just to get a little
bit of browning.
Now, this version
in the skillet,
as opposed to being out
on the grill,
it's not about getting
a ton of browning on it.
-Right.
-We have so much flavor
from the marinade, but just
allow it to a little bit,
and then we'll stir after that.
-Sounds good.
-All right.
So it's been about a minute.
Now I'm going to stir.
And our goal here is, over
the next three or four minutes,
is just to stir and get
everything cooked through
so we see no more pink beef.
But you don't need to go
any further than that.
If you do go a little further,
that baking soda
is going to help protect it.
-Right.
But you're not looking to turn
over every single piece of beef?
-Nope.
-Okay.
-Like, we'll get some browning,
like that, which is great,
but the rest
of it doesn't need to go.
Okay, so I see no more rosy beef
in there.
That means we are done.
The final part
is those scallion greens.
-Right.
-So cut in about
1 1/2-inch pieces.
Just for 30 seconds.
That way, they retain
a little bit of crunch.
Obviously, they're beautiful.
But a little bit more texture
in there, as well.
-Lovely.
-Beautiful.
Okay, so this is done.
I'm going to get it out of here
and onto my platter.
Oh, looks so good.
-That looks brilliant.
Oh, my gosh.
-So good.
-[ Inhales deeply ]
-It is time to eat.
And this is one of the most fun
and interactive things
to eat, as well.
So, the way that Song showed me
how to do it,
and we can do it together...
-Okay.
-...is start with a beautiful
piece of red leaf lettuce
and then a dab
of our ssamjang.
And you know, you can control
how much space and intensity
you want based on
how much you add.
And then, just
a little bit of beef.
You don't need a lot.
A little scallion.
And then, he really loved it
with a little bit
of sliced raw garlic.
Just wrap it all up
into a tidy little package.
-Little bundle.
-A little bundle.
And then, you just
pop it all in.
-The whole thing?
-The whole thing.
-You go ahead.
Mm. Mm!
-Mm.
-This is why I love bulgogi
so much.
Every bite is so intense.
-The ssamjang adds so much
complexity and punch.
And then, that garlic,
I love that.
Just -- It's a sharpness that
kind of washes it all.
It's really nice.
-And of course,
you got the pickle?
-Mm-hmm.
-Some rice.
-Really nice pickle to kind of
refresh in between bites.
-Mm.
That is so refreshing.
-Mm-hmm.
-Pickle-y, refreshing, crisp.
I'd keep that in my fridge
all the time.
-Oh, yeah. Mm.
-I think you and I have
a few more bundles to make.
-We definitely do.
-Thanks, Dan.
-You're welcome.
-Stupendous.
And if you want to make
beautiful bulgogi at home,
make a quick ssamjang,
cut semi-frozen pieces
of rib eye
into thin slices,
toss the steak with water
and baking soda
and then a potent marinade,
cook the steak for just minutes
in the pan.
And the best part?
Assemble them into little
bundles any way you wish.
So, from
"America's Test Kitchen,"
a beautiful,
brilliant beef bulgogi.
Fight you for that one.
-I got my -- got my own.
-I'll fight you for that one.
[ Both laugh ]
-A lot of fighting
going on here.
-Yeah, yeah.
♪♪
-Sesame seeds are some of the
oldest foods known to mankind.
Archeologists tells,
6,000 years ago,
our ancestors were
cultivating sesame seeds
and making things from them.
Probably the most valuable thing
about sesame seeds
is their high oil content.
Now, if you remember one thing
from this segment,
I want you to think
high oil content
means high propensity
for rancidity.
So that means keep it in the
fridge if it's oil or tahini
or in the freezer if its seeds.
Now let's dig in.
First up, we have
the raw sesame seeds.
Now you'll see, in some markets,
they are sold
either hulled or unhulled.
The difference is the hulls
are a little bit bitter,
so we prefer to buy them
with the hulls already removed.
Won't ruin a recipe
if you end up buying --
especially in
a natural food store,
they sell them
with the hulls on.
But if you have a choice,
get them already hulled.
In addition to the familiar
sort of tannish color,
in a lot of Asian recipes,
you will see black sesame seeds.
Just a different variety.
It's a little bit more bitter.
That black color
is not only stunning,
but does have
a little bit more flavor.
They're really wonderful
in a lot of Japanese recipes.
Toasted sesame seeds.
So this is probably the way
that they're most versatile
because it brings out
their nuttiness.
You can actually buy them
already toasted.
I keep a container of toasted
sesame seeds in my freezer.
I pull them out. I don't have
to toast them myself.
If you are using
raw sesame seeds
and you're going to have
to toast them yourself,
do it over medium-low heat
in a skillet
'cause they will burn
in a flash.
Never, never in the oven.
So, in addition to the seeds,
probably the most useful thing
is the oil.
It can be extracted
from raw seeds,
and it's basically like
a cooking oil.
High smoke point, you can use it
like vegetable oil,
except it's really expensive.
And so, therefore,
most of the sesame oil, in fact,
really the only sesame oil
that we keep here in
the test kitchen
is the toasted sesame oil.
So this is our winner.
It's a company called Ottogi.
And it's kind
of lightly toasted.
We found in the tasting
that the brands
that were really dark kind of
had some smoky charcoal notes
that could be overpowering.
And perhaps my favorite thing
here on the table is tahini.
This is used throughout
the Middle East,
and this is a paste made
from pureed ground sesame seeds.
Now, these are also toasted,
and again,
as with the oil, we said
lightly toasted,
kind of gave you
a more round flavor.
This is Ziyad, which is
our winner from Lebanon,
and it is our top choice
for tahini.
So there you have it.
After 6,000 years,
we're still using
sesame here in the kitchen.
♪♪
-Like all forms of fried rice,
kimchi bokkeumbap
is straight up home cooking.
It's cozy, unfussy, and rooted
in the spirit
of using up
what you've got on hand,
which, in this case,
is leftover rice and kimchi.
Now, this recipe
is easily varied
by what other bits you
can find in the refrigerator.
So, today, Keith's going to
show us the basics.
-Yeah, so I love the unscripted
nature of this dish,
but what I really, really love
is the combination
of the main components.
You have this chewy rice
punctuated
with little bits of salty
hot and sour cabbage.
-Mm-hmm.
-It's actually the perfect
marriage of ingredients.
So we're going to start
with the kimchi here.
-Mm-hmm.
-I want to strain off
the cabbage kimchi
from the juice.
That juice gets soaked
into the rice later on...
-Oh!
-...and flavors it
through and through.
So we need to add them
at two points.
So we're using cabbage kimchi
based with napa cabbage
that has been salted and left
to ferment in the ground.
And it's flavored
with gochugaru,
which is a Korean chili flake.
-Mm-hmm.
-There's also
some scallions in here.
Sometimes you find carrots.
The world of kimchi
is quite vast.
So I'm just going to press
this down a little bit
just to get
some of that juice out of there.
We don't have to be
too picky about this.
And I'm going to cut the kimchi
into 1/4-inch slices.
This kimchi smells wonderful.
-It does.
-Spicy. A little funky.
Just take a couple of pieces.
Stack it up.
-Mm-hmm.
-Okay. Gonna transfer this
over to a bowl.
-Mm-hmm.
-We have about
1 1/4 cups of kimchi,
and I want 1/4 cup
of our juice.
Now I'm going to move on
to our ham.
I have two slices
of deli ham here.
I'm gonna cut this
into 1/4-inch pieces.
Now, if you want to make this
vegetarian,
you can skip the ham.
We like the smoky bits
that the ham adds.
You can add other meats.
You could add Spam,
you could add shrimp.
It's really versatile,
really what you want,
what you have in
your refrigerator.
-Right.
That's some thick-cut ham.
-Yeah, it's about 1/4 inch.
-Nice.
-And we're going to cut it
into 1/4-inch pieces.
Excellent. Now, scallions.
-Mm-hmm.
-These are
going to do dual purpose here.
I'm going to take off the roots.
I'm going to slice these thinly.
And the whites
are going to go in the base
with the ham and some onions,
and the greens
are going to be for garnish.
Okay, so we're getting up
to the green.
-Mm-hmm.
-So I'm just gonna take this,
put it with our ham.
-I could watch you cut
scallions all day.
-Oh, well, get another bunch,
and I can do another bunch.
-Yeah. [ Laughs ]
-Okay, so one last thing
that we're going to do
before we get to cooking,
we're going to toast some gim.
This is a Korean seaweed,
much like Japanese nori.
-Mm-hmm.
-And this is going to be
a final garnish on the dish.
It's going to add
a little bit of umami,
a little bit of crispness
to the final dish,
but we have to toast it
before we cut it.
So I'm just going to take
a sheet and tongs,
turn this burner on low.
We don't need a lot of heat.
It's going to darken
a little bit.
-Uh-huh.
-And it'll start to crinkle up
a little bit, and it actually
will shrink some.
So this is just an 8-inch sheet.
It'll start
to become aromatic, too,
as we go along here.
Can see it shrink a little bit.
-Mm-hmm.
-Okay, you can start
to smell it.
-Yeah.
-It's shrunk a little bit.
That's perfect, so I'm just
going to shut the burner off.
Now, you could cut this
with a knife.
I find kitchen shears
to be much, much easier.
So I'm just going to cut this
into strips,
and you can hear how brittle
it is now.
-Mm-hmm.
-Before we toasted it,
it was a little bit moister
and a little bit more flexible,
but now that it's toasted,
it's nice and dry.
It's like arts and crafts.
-[ Laughs ]
-Now cut these strips crosswise
into little smaller strips.
Again, this doesn't have
to be perfect.
Last couple of cuts,
I'll leave those there
so I don't cut my fingertip off.
Now we can cook.
-All right.
-Okay.
Are you ready to cook?
-I love how you have
everything laid out here.
-Yeah, it's a stir-fry.
You want to make sure
that you have everything ready
to go when you start cooking.
-That makes sense.
-So we'll start over here.
I have a 12-inch skillet,
and this
is over medium-high heat
with 1 tablespoon
of vegetable oil.
We're going to get that up
to shimmering,
and then, we're going to add
our aromatics to that.
So I have our scallion whites
and our ham that we cut earlier.
I'm also going to add one large
onion that's been chopped
-That is a large onion.
-Yeah, it's about 1 1/2 cup
of onion.
So I'm just going
to stir this around,
make sure everything is well
coated with oil.
So we're just going to let
this go for about six minutes.
What we're looking for
is that onion to soften,
and the ham's going to start
to brown around the edges.
It's been six minutes.
You can see
that our onion is softened.
We get a little bit of color
on that ham.
That means that we are ready
to move to the next stage.
So we're going to add our
kimchi, 1 1/4 cups of kimchi,
our kimchi juice.
Also going to add
a little bit of water.
Traditionally,
when this is made,
it's made with fairly old kimchi
that's softened over time.
Since our kimchi is
a little young,
I want to soften it
a little bit more
before we add the rice.
Going to add 4 teaspoons
of gochujang,
4 teaspoons of soy sauce,
and 1/2 teaspoon
of black pepper.
The kimchi is going to add
a lot of flavor,
but the gochujang
and the soy sauce,
they'll add a little background
hint of savoriness
that's going to be
really nice here.
So we are just going
to let this cook in here
over medium-high heat
until that kimchi
becomes translucent
and softens a little bit.
Take about four to six minutes.
We'll come back after that.
-Okay.
-The kimchi is nicely softened.
It smells wonderful, does it?
-It smells amazing. Oh!
-It's about ready to get better
because we're going
to add our rice.
I have 3 cups of day-old
short grain rice.
-Mm-hmm.
-If I can ask you to turn
that down to medium-low.
-Okeydoke.
-So now what we want to do
is we want to fold
this rice in here,
and we want this rice to absorb
all that great kimchi liquid.
It's important to use
day old rice here.
The reason why, it's going to
allow us to cook that rice
without it becoming mushy,
but more importantly,
that rice is going to soak up
all of that great kimchi juice.
You can see now
all that kimchi juice
is being absorbed by that rice.
It's going to be perfumed
and flavored throughout.
-Okay.
-Ooh!
-We've gotten all that juice
incorporated into the rice.
-Mm-hmm.
-It's taken a little while
to get that nice and evenly
incorporated.
Now I'm going to add some
toasted sesame oil.
4 teaspoons.
-Mm!
That's a lot of good flavor.
-Nice nuttiness.
-Mm-hmm.
-And one more tablespoon
of vegetable oil.
-Now we're frying.
-Now we're frying.
I'm going to turn this up
to medium-high
and we're gonna let this go,
and what we're looking for
is the rice is going to start
to stick
to the bottom of the skillet,
which means it's time to eat.
-So sticking is a good thing?
-In this case, yes.
-All right.
So, when making fried rice,
you can't use rice
that's freshly cooked.
You have to use rice
that's cooled overnight.
Here's why.
When rice is first cooked, the
individual grains absorb water,
causing the starch granules
to swell and soften,
which makes the rice
moist and tender.
If you try to fry
the rice at this point,
it will simply release
some of the water,
which then cools down the pan,
so you can't fry properly.
It will also caused the rice to
stick together in a mushy mass.
When you allow the cooked rice
to cool, however,
the starch firms up
and the rice becomes dry,
not because water
is evaporating from it,
but because the water is locked
inside the firmed-up starch.
Now, when we fry it,
the grain stays separate
and dry to the touch,
making it possible
for each grain to get coated
with oil and flavor.
After several minutes, the heat
softens the starch again
so that the grains become chewy
and soft enough to eat.
And that's why it's essential
to use cooked rice
that's cooled overnight.
-It's been four minutes,
and you can hear the rice
crackling in the bottom.
-Yeah!
-And it's starting to stick
around the edges.
I think this is ready
to get it out of the skillet.
I'm just going to transfer
this over
to a nice serving platter here.
Doesn't that smell wonderful?
-It does. Smells incredible.
I'm really looking forward
to eating this.
-Want to get every last bit out
of the skillet.
-Oh, are you going to get
all those crispy bits
that are right along the edge.
-Yeah, there are some
little crispy bits here
that's really going to be great.
Okay, so we could garnish this
and eat right away.
-Mm-hmm.
-Which would be fine.
But I have one step.
I'm going to fry
some eggs for us,
which is my favorite way
to eat this dish.
So I have an 8-inch
nonstick skillet here
with a teaspoon
of vegetable oil.
We're just going to let that
heat up until it's shimmering.
While that's happening,
I'm going to add some salt
to two eggs.
I'm going to ask you
for the pepper,
We want to crack them
in a bowl
before we put them
in the skillet.
You don't want to futz around
cracking eggs into the skillet
and breaking the yolks
and stuff like that.
So if you crack your eggs
into the bowl
even before they hit
the skillet,
you don't have to worry about
that timing.
Okay, our oil is shimmering, and
now it's time to cook our eggs.
I'm going to add
a teaspoon of butter.
Just helps with color.
-Yep.
-I'm going to put our eggs
in the skillet.
-Mm-hmm.
-Like so.
Now I'm going to cover this.
One minute.
-Mm-hmm.
-What the lid's going to do,
it's going to trap the heat
in there
and cook the top of the egg
so we don't have to flip it over
and break those yolks.
-Yeah, it's a great method
for frying eggs.
-While that's happening,
I'll portion out our rice.
I can't wait to eat this.
It smells really fantastic.
-Oh! So nice and steamy.
-Okay.
I think it's been one minute.
It's time to slide
this off the heat,
and it's going to go about
15 seconds
because you want a soft-cooked
yolk here, right?
-Yes.
-Okay, so wait 15 seconds.
-[ Chuckles ] Not long.
-Okay, it's been 15 seconds,
and those yolks are
perfectly cooked.
Slide one on to yours.
-[ Chuckles ] Nicely done, sir!
-And we'll put our toasty
gim there.
And our scallion greens.
-Yes, please.
And I have a tablespoon
of toasted sesame seeds
that we'll also add
to the top here.
-This is beautiful.
-Isn't it beautiful?
-Yes.
All right.
Oh, first, right for the yolk.
-Yes.
-[ Chuckling ] Oh!
Hello!
Mm! Mm-hmm.
Oh, this is my kind of food.
Little bit of spicy,
all those textures.
You get the sesame seeds,
the gim,
the chewiness of the rice,
the crunchiness of the kimchi.
And the flavor. That sesame
was kind of surprising.
You put the sesame oil on.
-Yeah, and it's not that much,
but it just is a background note
that kind of compliments
the rich rice.
-Yeah, it's lovely.
This is just so satisfying.
-And the texture of that rice,
that chewy short grain rice...
-Uh-huh.
-...with that little bit
of crispness from the kimchi.
It's a perfect pairing.
-Goodness, I could eat this
all day, Keith.
-It really is a fantastic dish,
isn't it?
-Yeah, thank you.
-You're welcome.
-If you want to make
this classic Korean dish,
use both kimchi
and the kimchi liquid.
Cook the aromatics before adding
the cold rice to the pan,
and top with a fried egg.
From "America's Test Kitchen,"
a great method
for making kimchi bokkeumbap.
You can get this recipe and all
the recipes and product reviews
Goodness, Keith, I could eat
my own weight in this stuff.
-Yeah, my mouth is burning,
but I can't stop eating.
-[ Laughs ]
♪♪
♪♪
♪♪
-Today on
"America's Test Kitchen,"
Dan makes Bridget beef bulgogi,
Jack talks all
about sesame products,
and Keith makes
Julia kimchi bokkeumbap.
It's all coming up right here
on "America's Test Kitchen."
♪♪
-Today, we're making
the Korean classic, bulgogi.
I love this dish.
It translates to "fire meat."
You know it's going to be good.
It's so easily customizable,
and it's packed full
of flavor.
And Dan's here,
he's going to show us
how to make a great
version at home.
-So this is one of
my favorite dishes,
and the first time I had it
was well over a decade ago.
My friend, Song, made
his grandmother's recipe for me,
and I was just totally smitten.
It's this gorgeous,
thinly sliced beef,
really well seasoned, and it's
wrapped in a lettuce leaf.
Pop the whole thing in
your mouth, and just, like,
it's perfect.
-Grandma cooking is
the best cooking.
-It's the best
kind of cooking,
and one of the reasons
that it's so flavorful
is you make this sauce
called ssamjang,
and it is built on two really
delicious fermented pastes.
We're going to start with
the whites and light green part
of four scallions,
and these are just minced thin.
And then, we have
a 1/4 cup of doenjang.
So this is fermented
soybean paste,
and it's packed with umami,
savoriness, and some good salt.
This forms the backbone
of this sauce.
The next one is gochujang.
So they're both "jangs,"
which is a fermented paste
or sauce in Korean food.
They're so savory, and they add
complexity to tons of dishes.
So this is
a tablespoon of gochujang.
This adds sweetness
and spice.
Again, a little bit more
savoriness, as well.
-Right.
-We're going to loosen this up
with just a tablespoon of water.
We've also got
two teaspoons of sugar,
two teaspoons
of toasted sesame oil.
Some really
nice nuttiness there.
And then, finally,
one minced garlic clove.
So much flavor.
So we're just going to stir
this together.
Beautiful.
This is lovely with pork,
and you see it served with all
different kinds of meat.
Today we're going to make
a beef bulgogi,
and it's going to be
so good with it.
-Okay.
-So I'm just going
to set that aside.
And then, let's pop over here,
and we're going to get
to the beef,
but first, we're going
to make a pickle.
In Korean cuisine,
there are so many pickles,
whether they're quick ones
or fermented ones like kimchi.
We're going to make
one of the simplest ones,
which starts with a cup
of rice vinegar.
And this is the unseasoned kind.
-Okay.
-We're going to season it
ourselves.
2 tablespoons of sugar,
and then, 1 1/2 teaspoons
of salt.
So a super simple
pickling brine.
That is all dissolved.
So we're going to use
radish for this.
And, normally, Korean radish,
it's a really big white one.
This is a daikon,
which is similar
and works really well
in this recipe.
It's a little bit more readily
available here in the States.
-Right.
-So this is one pound.
First, I'm just
going to peel it.
So I'm just going to lop off
the tip and the end there,
and we're going to make
matchsticks out of these.
1 1/2 inches
here on the length.
And we go about 1/4 inch.
-I love this kind of Hadrian's
Wall you're building here.
-[ Laughs ] It's like
I'm a dealer at a casino.
-Exactly.
-So now that I've cut them
in one direction,
I basically just stack them up.
Run your knife through
and finish them up.
And I'm going to transfer them
over to our quick pickle brine.
Just stir these.
Make sure that they're all
submerged in our brine there.
So these can be ready
in about 30 minutes,
which is awesome,
truly quick pickle,
but they can hang on the fridge
for up to 24 hours
and they'll just get nicer.
-Fabulous.
-So I'm going to set
this aside also.
Now we can finally
get to our beef.
-That is gorgeous.
-So, beautiful rib eye.
Now, if you have a good
Korean market near you,
they sell gorgeous,
thinly sliced steak.
It's like machine sliced.
-Right.
-And absolutely go for that.
It is made for it.
It's wonderful.
If you don't have access to it,
this is a really easy way
to do it yourself,
and you can obviously choose
the cut that you want.
Rib eye is really nice
and tender,
takes up flavor
really nicely,
and it's a favorite for this,
for sure.
So I'm just going to do
a little bit of trimming.
Basically, take off
this big piece of fat here.
But you don't have to do much.
A little bit of that
would be nice in there.
-One of the great things
about rib eye,
it has all that marbling in it.
-Exactly. There's so much flavor
and fat in there.
So I'm just going to cut this
into about 1 1/2-inch-wide
pieces.
So it's really going to only be
about three pieces here.
We're going to go back
on the plate.
Beef like this that's fresh,
It's really hard
to slice thin, it's squishy.
So we're actually going
to freeze it for a bit.
Not until it's solid, but until
it is firmed up a little bit.
35 to 40 minutes.
♪♪
Okay, so our steak
is nice and cold.
You can check out
how firm it is.
-Okay.
-Right? Proof?
-Right.
-So that's great.
It's going to make it so much
easier to slice.
And my goal with slicing here
is to actually do it this way
so that we're cutting against
the grain as we go down.
And just go as thin as we can.
They don't have to be perfect,
and if some are small,
it doesn't matter.
You won't notice
in the final dish,
-Thinness is more important.
-Exactly.
-Okay.
-Just go as thin as you can.
So I'm just going to keep
going into all of these pieces
have turned
into nice thin strips.
-Mm.
-All right. And that is it.
-Beautifully done.
-Nice pile of beautiful rib eye.
And nice and thinly sliced.
This is not a super
traditional step for bulgogi,
but you do see it a lot
in Chinese stir-frys
and a trick that we use
in the test kitchen a ton,
and that is to give it
a baking soda treatment.
So I've got a tablespoon
of water in this bowl
and I'm adding a quarter
teaspoon of baking soda.
This is a really
powerful tenderizer,
and it works immediately,
unlike marinades
that can take a long time
to actually do their work.
-Right.
-It makes it so the proteins
don't bond together as tightly.
Keeps it really, really tender.
So I'm just going to stir
this together.
Helps hold on to a lot more
moisture, too.
Great. So I'm just going
to transfer this over
to the bowl and stir to coat.
Now, while this sits
for five minutes,
I'm going to go wash my hands
for the next step.
Okay, so now it is time
for our marinade,
where we're going to get a ton
of the flavor into this beef.
We're going to start
with a 1/4 cup of onion.
We've got a 1/4 cup
of sugar,
3 tablespoons of soy sauce.
More and more flavor.
I have 4 cloves
with garlic.
Tablespoon of toasted
sesame oil.
-Mm!
-So that shows up
in the ssamjang
and then also in the marinade.
And then, finally,
1/4 of a teaspoon of pepper.
So I'm going to process this
for about 30 seconds
until it's nice and smooth.
All right, that looks beautiful.
Okay, so we're going to go
right into our beef here.
-Oh!
-So I'm just going to stir this
to combine
and make sure all of it is
covered in that nice marinade.
-Mm!
It's smelling like bulgogi.
I mean, it really
is that potent aroma.
-Sweet and savory.
-Absolutely.
-That awesome onion in there.
-Mm!
-Beautiful.
Okay, great.
Clean up a little bit,
and then it'll be time to cook.
-Okay.
-All right. It is time to cook.
So we've got our beautiful
marinated beef.
I've got 2 teaspoons
of vegetable oil
heating over medium-high heat.
You want just until shimmering.
It doesn't need to be smoking.
-Okay.
-And we're going to get
all of our beef in at once.
So we're going to cook this
without moving it,
just on this first side here
for about a minute
just to get a little
bit of browning.
Now, this version
in the skillet,
as opposed to being out
on the grill,
it's not about getting
a ton of browning on it.
-Right.
-We have so much flavor
from the marinade, but just
allow it to a little bit,
and then we'll stir after that.
-Sounds good.
-All right.
So it's been about a minute.
Now I'm going to stir.
And our goal here is, over
the next three or four minutes,
is just to stir and get
everything cooked through
so we see no more pink beef.
But you don't need to go
any further than that.
If you do go a little further,
that baking soda
is going to help protect it.
-Right.
But you're not looking to turn
over every single piece of beef?
-Nope.
-Okay.
-Like, we'll get some browning,
like that, which is great,
but the rest
of it doesn't need to go.
Okay, so I see no more rosy beef
in there.
That means we are done.
The final part
is those scallion greens.
-Right.
-So cut in about
1 1/2-inch pieces.
Just for 30 seconds.
That way, they retain
a little bit of crunch.
Obviously, they're beautiful.
But a little bit more texture
in there, as well.
-Lovely.
-Beautiful.
Okay, so this is done.
I'm going to get it out of here
and onto my platter.
Oh, looks so good.
-That looks brilliant.
Oh, my gosh.
-So good.
-[ Inhales deeply ]
-It is time to eat.
And this is one of the most fun
and interactive things
to eat, as well.
So, the way that Song showed me
how to do it,
and we can do it together...
-Okay.
-...is start with a beautiful
piece of red leaf lettuce
and then a dab
of our ssamjang.
And you know, you can control
how much space and intensity
you want based on
how much you add.
And then, just
a little bit of beef.
You don't need a lot.
A little scallion.
And then, he really loved it
with a little bit
of sliced raw garlic.
Just wrap it all up
into a tidy little package.
-Little bundle.
-A little bundle.
And then, you just
pop it all in.
-The whole thing?
-The whole thing.
-You go ahead.
Mm. Mm!
-Mm.
-This is why I love bulgogi
so much.
Every bite is so intense.
-The ssamjang adds so much
complexity and punch.
And then, that garlic,
I love that.
Just -- It's a sharpness that
kind of washes it all.
It's really nice.
-And of course,
you got the pickle?
-Mm-hmm.
-Some rice.
-Really nice pickle to kind of
refresh in between bites.
-Mm.
That is so refreshing.
-Mm-hmm.
-Pickle-y, refreshing, crisp.
I'd keep that in my fridge
all the time.
-Oh, yeah. Mm.
-I think you and I have
a few more bundles to make.
-We definitely do.
-Thanks, Dan.
-You're welcome.
-Stupendous.
And if you want to make
beautiful bulgogi at home,
make a quick ssamjang,
cut semi-frozen pieces
of rib eye
into thin slices,
toss the steak with water
and baking soda
and then a potent marinade,
cook the steak for just minutes
in the pan.
And the best part?
Assemble them into little
bundles any way you wish.
So, from
"America's Test Kitchen,"
a beautiful,
brilliant beef bulgogi.
Fight you for that one.
-I got my -- got my own.
-I'll fight you for that one.
[ Both laugh ]
-A lot of fighting
going on here.
-Yeah, yeah.
♪♪
-Sesame seeds are some of the
oldest foods known to mankind.
Archeologists tells,
6,000 years ago,
our ancestors were
cultivating sesame seeds
and making things from them.
Probably the most valuable thing
about sesame seeds
is their high oil content.
Now, if you remember one thing
from this segment,
I want you to think
high oil content
means high propensity
for rancidity.
So that means keep it in the
fridge if it's oil or tahini
or in the freezer if its seeds.
Now let's dig in.
First up, we have
the raw sesame seeds.
Now you'll see, in some markets,
they are sold
either hulled or unhulled.
The difference is the hulls
are a little bit bitter,
so we prefer to buy them
with the hulls already removed.
Won't ruin a recipe
if you end up buying --
especially in
a natural food store,
they sell them
with the hulls on.
But if you have a choice,
get them already hulled.
In addition to the familiar
sort of tannish color,
in a lot of Asian recipes,
you will see black sesame seeds.
Just a different variety.
It's a little bit more bitter.
That black color
is not only stunning,
but does have
a little bit more flavor.
They're really wonderful
in a lot of Japanese recipes.
Toasted sesame seeds.
So this is probably the way
that they're most versatile
because it brings out
their nuttiness.
You can actually buy them
already toasted.
I keep a container of toasted
sesame seeds in my freezer.
I pull them out. I don't have
to toast them myself.
If you are using
raw sesame seeds
and you're going to have
to toast them yourself,
do it over medium-low heat
in a skillet
'cause they will burn
in a flash.
Never, never in the oven.
So, in addition to the seeds,
probably the most useful thing
is the oil.
It can be extracted
from raw seeds,
and it's basically like
a cooking oil.
High smoke point, you can use it
like vegetable oil,
except it's really expensive.
And so, therefore,
most of the sesame oil, in fact,
really the only sesame oil
that we keep here in
the test kitchen
is the toasted sesame oil.
So this is our winner.
It's a company called Ottogi.
And it's kind
of lightly toasted.
We found in the tasting
that the brands
that were really dark kind of
had some smoky charcoal notes
that could be overpowering.
And perhaps my favorite thing
here on the table is tahini.
This is used throughout
the Middle East,
and this is a paste made
from pureed ground sesame seeds.
Now, these are also toasted,
and again,
as with the oil, we said
lightly toasted,
kind of gave you
a more round flavor.
This is Ziyad, which is
our winner from Lebanon,
and it is our top choice
for tahini.
So there you have it.
After 6,000 years,
we're still using
sesame here in the kitchen.
♪♪
-Like all forms of fried rice,
kimchi bokkeumbap
is straight up home cooking.
It's cozy, unfussy, and rooted
in the spirit
of using up
what you've got on hand,
which, in this case,
is leftover rice and kimchi.
Now, this recipe
is easily varied
by what other bits you
can find in the refrigerator.
So, today, Keith's going to
show us the basics.
-Yeah, so I love the unscripted
nature of this dish,
but what I really, really love
is the combination
of the main components.
You have this chewy rice
punctuated
with little bits of salty
hot and sour cabbage.
-Mm-hmm.
-It's actually the perfect
marriage of ingredients.
So we're going to start
with the kimchi here.
-Mm-hmm.
-I want to strain off
the cabbage kimchi
from the juice.
That juice gets soaked
into the rice later on...
-Oh!
-...and flavors it
through and through.
So we need to add them
at two points.
So we're using cabbage kimchi
based with napa cabbage
that has been salted and left
to ferment in the ground.
And it's flavored
with gochugaru,
which is a Korean chili flake.
-Mm-hmm.
-There's also
some scallions in here.
Sometimes you find carrots.
The world of kimchi
is quite vast.
So I'm just going to press
this down a little bit
just to get
some of that juice out of there.
We don't have to be
too picky about this.
And I'm going to cut the kimchi
into 1/4-inch slices.
This kimchi smells wonderful.
-It does.
-Spicy. A little funky.
Just take a couple of pieces.
Stack it up.
-Mm-hmm.
-Okay. Gonna transfer this
over to a bowl.
-Mm-hmm.
-We have about
1 1/4 cups of kimchi,
and I want 1/4 cup
of our juice.
Now I'm going to move on
to our ham.
I have two slices
of deli ham here.
I'm gonna cut this
into 1/4-inch pieces.
Now, if you want to make this
vegetarian,
you can skip the ham.
We like the smoky bits
that the ham adds.
You can add other meats.
You could add Spam,
you could add shrimp.
It's really versatile,
really what you want,
what you have in
your refrigerator.
-Right.
That's some thick-cut ham.
-Yeah, it's about 1/4 inch.
-Nice.
-And we're going to cut it
into 1/4-inch pieces.
Excellent. Now, scallions.
-Mm-hmm.
-These are
going to do dual purpose here.
I'm going to take off the roots.
I'm going to slice these thinly.
And the whites
are going to go in the base
with the ham and some onions,
and the greens
are going to be for garnish.
Okay, so we're getting up
to the green.
-Mm-hmm.
-So I'm just gonna take this,
put it with our ham.
-I could watch you cut
scallions all day.
-Oh, well, get another bunch,
and I can do another bunch.
-Yeah. [ Laughs ]
-Okay, so one last thing
that we're going to do
before we get to cooking,
we're going to toast some gim.
This is a Korean seaweed,
much like Japanese nori.
-Mm-hmm.
-And this is going to be
a final garnish on the dish.
It's going to add
a little bit of umami,
a little bit of crispness
to the final dish,
but we have to toast it
before we cut it.
So I'm just going to take
a sheet and tongs,
turn this burner on low.
We don't need a lot of heat.
It's going to darken
a little bit.
-Uh-huh.
-And it'll start to crinkle up
a little bit, and it actually
will shrink some.
So this is just an 8-inch sheet.
It'll start
to become aromatic, too,
as we go along here.
Can see it shrink a little bit.
-Mm-hmm.
-Okay, you can start
to smell it.
-Yeah.
-It's shrunk a little bit.
That's perfect, so I'm just
going to shut the burner off.
Now, you could cut this
with a knife.
I find kitchen shears
to be much, much easier.
So I'm just going to cut this
into strips,
and you can hear how brittle
it is now.
-Mm-hmm.
-Before we toasted it,
it was a little bit moister
and a little bit more flexible,
but now that it's toasted,
it's nice and dry.
It's like arts and crafts.
-[ Laughs ]
-Now cut these strips crosswise
into little smaller strips.
Again, this doesn't have
to be perfect.
Last couple of cuts,
I'll leave those there
so I don't cut my fingertip off.
Now we can cook.
-All right.
-Okay.
Are you ready to cook?
-I love how you have
everything laid out here.
-Yeah, it's a stir-fry.
You want to make sure
that you have everything ready
to go when you start cooking.
-That makes sense.
-So we'll start over here.
I have a 12-inch skillet,
and this
is over medium-high heat
with 1 tablespoon
of vegetable oil.
We're going to get that up
to shimmering,
and then, we're going to add
our aromatics to that.
So I have our scallion whites
and our ham that we cut earlier.
I'm also going to add one large
onion that's been chopped
-That is a large onion.
-Yeah, it's about 1 1/2 cup
of onion.
So I'm just going
to stir this around,
make sure everything is well
coated with oil.
So we're just going to let
this go for about six minutes.
What we're looking for
is that onion to soften,
and the ham's going to start
to brown around the edges.
It's been six minutes.
You can see
that our onion is softened.
We get a little bit of color
on that ham.
That means that we are ready
to move to the next stage.
So we're going to add our
kimchi, 1 1/4 cups of kimchi,
our kimchi juice.
Also going to add
a little bit of water.
Traditionally,
when this is made,
it's made with fairly old kimchi
that's softened over time.
Since our kimchi is
a little young,
I want to soften it
a little bit more
before we add the rice.
Going to add 4 teaspoons
of gochujang,
4 teaspoons of soy sauce,
and 1/2 teaspoon
of black pepper.
The kimchi is going to add
a lot of flavor,
but the gochujang
and the soy sauce,
they'll add a little background
hint of savoriness
that's going to be
really nice here.
So we are just going
to let this cook in here
over medium-high heat
until that kimchi
becomes translucent
and softens a little bit.
Take about four to six minutes.
We'll come back after that.
-Okay.
-The kimchi is nicely softened.
It smells wonderful, does it?
-It smells amazing. Oh!
-It's about ready to get better
because we're going
to add our rice.
I have 3 cups of day-old
short grain rice.
-Mm-hmm.
-If I can ask you to turn
that down to medium-low.
-Okeydoke.
-So now what we want to do
is we want to fold
this rice in here,
and we want this rice to absorb
all that great kimchi liquid.
It's important to use
day old rice here.
The reason why, it's going to
allow us to cook that rice
without it becoming mushy,
but more importantly,
that rice is going to soak up
all of that great kimchi juice.
You can see now
all that kimchi juice
is being absorbed by that rice.
It's going to be perfumed
and flavored throughout.
-Okay.
-Ooh!
-We've gotten all that juice
incorporated into the rice.
-Mm-hmm.
-It's taken a little while
to get that nice and evenly
incorporated.
Now I'm going to add some
toasted sesame oil.
4 teaspoons.
-Mm!
That's a lot of good flavor.
-Nice nuttiness.
-Mm-hmm.
-And one more tablespoon
of vegetable oil.
-Now we're frying.
-Now we're frying.
I'm going to turn this up
to medium-high
and we're gonna let this go,
and what we're looking for
is the rice is going to start
to stick
to the bottom of the skillet,
which means it's time to eat.
-So sticking is a good thing?
-In this case, yes.
-All right.
So, when making fried rice,
you can't use rice
that's freshly cooked.
You have to use rice
that's cooled overnight.
Here's why.
When rice is first cooked, the
individual grains absorb water,
causing the starch granules
to swell and soften,
which makes the rice
moist and tender.
If you try to fry
the rice at this point,
it will simply release
some of the water,
which then cools down the pan,
so you can't fry properly.
It will also caused the rice to
stick together in a mushy mass.
When you allow the cooked rice
to cool, however,
the starch firms up
and the rice becomes dry,
not because water
is evaporating from it,
but because the water is locked
inside the firmed-up starch.
Now, when we fry it,
the grain stays separate
and dry to the touch,
making it possible
for each grain to get coated
with oil and flavor.
After several minutes, the heat
softens the starch again
so that the grains become chewy
and soft enough to eat.
And that's why it's essential
to use cooked rice
that's cooled overnight.
-It's been four minutes,
and you can hear the rice
crackling in the bottom.
-Yeah!
-And it's starting to stick
around the edges.
I think this is ready
to get it out of the skillet.
I'm just going to transfer
this over
to a nice serving platter here.
Doesn't that smell wonderful?
-It does. Smells incredible.
I'm really looking forward
to eating this.
-Want to get every last bit out
of the skillet.
-Oh, are you going to get
all those crispy bits
that are right along the edge.
-Yeah, there are some
little crispy bits here
that's really going to be great.
Okay, so we could garnish this
and eat right away.
-Mm-hmm.
-Which would be fine.
But I have one step.
I'm going to fry
some eggs for us,
which is my favorite way
to eat this dish.
So I have an 8-inch
nonstick skillet here
with a teaspoon
of vegetable oil.
We're just going to let that
heat up until it's shimmering.
While that's happening,
I'm going to add some salt
to two eggs.
I'm going to ask you
for the pepper,
We want to crack them
in a bowl
before we put them
in the skillet.
You don't want to futz around
cracking eggs into the skillet
and breaking the yolks
and stuff like that.
So if you crack your eggs
into the bowl
even before they hit
the skillet,
you don't have to worry about
that timing.
Okay, our oil is shimmering, and
now it's time to cook our eggs.
I'm going to add
a teaspoon of butter.
Just helps with color.
-Yep.
-I'm going to put our eggs
in the skillet.
-Mm-hmm.
-Like so.
Now I'm going to cover this.
One minute.
-Mm-hmm.
-What the lid's going to do,
it's going to trap the heat
in there
and cook the top of the egg
so we don't have to flip it over
and break those yolks.
-Yeah, it's a great method
for frying eggs.
-While that's happening,
I'll portion out our rice.
I can't wait to eat this.
It smells really fantastic.
-Oh! So nice and steamy.
-Okay.
I think it's been one minute.
It's time to slide
this off the heat,
and it's going to go about
15 seconds
because you want a soft-cooked
yolk here, right?
-Yes.
-Okay, so wait 15 seconds.
-[ Chuckles ] Not long.
-Okay, it's been 15 seconds,
and those yolks are
perfectly cooked.
Slide one on to yours.
-[ Chuckles ] Nicely done, sir!
-And we'll put our toasty
gim there.
And our scallion greens.
-Yes, please.
And I have a tablespoon
of toasted sesame seeds
that we'll also add
to the top here.
-This is beautiful.
-Isn't it beautiful?
-Yes.
All right.
Oh, first, right for the yolk.
-Yes.
-[ Chuckling ] Oh!
Hello!
Mm! Mm-hmm.
Oh, this is my kind of food.
Little bit of spicy,
all those textures.
You get the sesame seeds,
the gim,
the chewiness of the rice,
the crunchiness of the kimchi.
And the flavor. That sesame
was kind of surprising.
You put the sesame oil on.
-Yeah, and it's not that much,
but it just is a background note
that kind of compliments
the rich rice.
-Yeah, it's lovely.
This is just so satisfying.
-And the texture of that rice,
that chewy short grain rice...
-Uh-huh.
-...with that little bit
of crispness from the kimchi.
It's a perfect pairing.
-Goodness, I could eat this
all day, Keith.
-It really is a fantastic dish,
isn't it?
-Yeah, thank you.
-You're welcome.
-If you want to make
this classic Korean dish,
use both kimchi
and the kimchi liquid.
Cook the aromatics before adding
the cold rice to the pan,
and top with a fried egg.
From "America's Test Kitchen,"
a great method
for making kimchi bokkeumbap.
You can get this recipe and all
the recipes and product reviews
Goodness, Keith, I could eat
my own weight in this stuff.
-Yeah, my mouth is burning,
but I can't stop eating.
-[ Laughs ]