Bulgogi is one of the best known Korean dishes next to galbi and kimchi. What do you get when you mix bulgogi marinade to chicken thighs? Delicious is what you get. Today, I'll be going over the marinade for the Chicken Bulgogi. Unlike baking, this isn't exact science and you may have to deviate from the given values *gasp!!*.Every Korean family has their own variation for the marinade and this is my mom's that has been handed down to me. I may tweak it a little bit sometime in the future it's hard to change something that's been handed down from generation to generation without feeling guilty.
Part 1: tender loving and care that the chicken thighs will get before it's broiled/grilled to delicious perfection.
FUN FACT: what's the difference between chicken breasts and thighs besides the latter tasting 10 times better? A meager 1 (one) more gram of saturated fat per 4oz. serving compared to the chicken breast. Bottom line? Don't be scared of the chicken thigh
Chicken Bulgogi
Originally by Mom, Serves 8
Ingredients:
- 2lbs chicken thighs (yes, you can use chicken breasts)
- 4 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 0.5 (half) large onion, blitzed
- 0.5 cup sake
- 1 to 1.5 cup soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons ground toasted sesame seeds
- 1 teaspoon plum extract or half of an Asian pear, blitzed
- 0.5 cup to 1 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon grated ginger
- 2 teaspoons ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons of sesame oil
1) Tenderly and lovingly, clean the chicken thighs, remove excess fat and place in a large bowl to marinade. It's okay if you don't get every single bit of fat off the chicken ladies. It'll render off while it broil/grills. Set aside.
2) Blitz the onions, garlic, pear if using and ginger in a food processor until puréed.
3) In a separate bowl, combine all of the ingredients for the marinade EXCEPT for the sesame oil. Taste the marinade and adjust to your liking. It should be on the sweeter side vs. salty.
However, the sweetness should not overcome the savory/saltiness of the soy sauce either. It's a delicate balance that will differ from palette to palette. You can use salt instead of soy sauce to season more to prevent the marinade from being too thin.4) Pour the marinade over the chicken thighs and coat each piece of chicken with the sauce.
5) Now, add the sesame oil and mix briefly. I don't know why my mom does this unorthodox step (why not combine w/ the other ingredients?) but there must be a reason for her madness. Do it anyways.6) Cover and marinade at least overnight but preferably 24 - 48 hours.
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Stay tuned for part 2 when we take our chicken bulgogi from awesome to amazing.
5 comments:
yuuuuuuuumm... can you use rice wine vinegar or mirin in place of sake? i usually don't keep sake around the house... and thank you for the fact about chicken thighs. i remember you had that in a previous posting, but it is a good reminder that chicken thighs won't kill me!!
Cool! I was just thinking of doing a post abt bulgogi, too. But mine will be the traditional beef or pork kind :-)
And cool fact abt the chicken thigh! I wonder why it is so taboo?
I made mine with chicken too - it was delish!
My parents used to make this all the time! but it has been a while. Sidenote: do you like dak galbi?
Christina - you can use mirin or a white wine like vermouth in place but I wouldn't suggest using rice wine vinegar
B&S - I think it's because chicken breast has been hyped up so much by media and nutritionists that the more flavorsome parts of the chicken get lost
Esther - sure do! Pretty much anything in that galbi marinade is a winner for me!
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