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Beef bulgogi with black rice and pink pickle
Serves 6 Starters and mains
Ingredients
- 750g piece of beef skirt, sirloin or rib-eye
- 3 large garlic cloves, crushed
- 2 tbsp clear honey
- 1 1/2tbsp sesame oil
- 100ml soy sauce
- 1/2tsp freshly ground red Kampot pepper (or black pepper)
For the pink pickle
- 2 medium red onions (around 250g in total) thinly sliced
- 1tbsp light vegetable oil
- 1tsp black mustard seeds
- 1 small star anise
- 250ml white balsamic vinegar
- 1tsp freshly ground sea salt
- 1 fresh bay leaf
For the rice
- 100g Asian black rice
- 1tsp hazelnut or sesame oil
- chilli sauce, to serve
- 12 crisp lettuce leaves, washed and dried, to serve
Method
First make the pickle. Put the onions into a bowl and cover with boiling water. Leave to soften for 8-10 minutes.
While they are soaking, heat the oil in a small saucepan and, when hot, add the mustard seeds and cook with a lid on until they ‘pop’. Remove from the heat and stir in the star anise, salt and vinegar. Return to the heat and bring to the boil. Drain the onions and pile into a clean jar. Pour over the hot vinegar, making sure the onions are submerged. Tuck in the bay leaf, seal and leave overnight to pickle (or, if time is short, for at least 2 hours). Cool and chill. Chilled, this will keep for a week.
To make the bulgogi, trim, then wrap and put the meat in the freezer for 20 minutes or so to make it easier to cut into thin slices, around 5mm thick.
Mix the marinade ingredients together and stir in the meat to coat. Cover, chill, and marinate for 30 minutes.
Put the rice and a pinch of salt into a small saucepan, add 250ml water and bring to a boil over
a high heat. Lower the heat to a bare simmer and cook, covered, for 30-35 minutes until tender. Remove from the heat and allow to stand, covered, for 5 minutes. Drain any excess water and stir
in the hazelnut or sesame oil.
When ready to serve, drain the meat, then barbecue, grill or pan-fry the meat in batches
on a high heat. As the slices are thin they will cook very quickly. Don’t overcrowd them – you want them to be deep brown and shiny yet tender in the middle.
Pile the meat, rice and pink onions with a dash of chilli onto the lettuce leaves, fold up and serve immediately.
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