Korean BBQ at home!

This post has been sponsored by Kroger, however all opinions listed here are my own.

Grilling season has officially begun! Many times this involves get-togethers and lots of people coming over or heading outdoors to start a fire, but right now, with many of us still self-quarantined, things have slightly changed. This doesn’t mean we can’t continue to enjoy grilled goods, so I partnered with Kroger to show you a unique way to add tastiness to your day over charcoal, wood, or gas. If you’ve never tried Korean BBQ, now it should be your chance!

Korean BBQ is one of the common outings people have in the bustling districts of Seoul. The original Korean BBQ is actually a more “run-down” version of what you see in Korean restaurants in the US, but mostly because the quality of the meat is a little lower. Over here, it’s common to find cuts such as top sirloin and rib-eye, with plenty of marbling. No matter the meat, one thing is certain: going to any Korean BBQ place is always a culinary show. The unique aspect of it is that you, the guest, are the one in charge of cooking your own meat. Korean BBQ places have a small grill inlaid into the dining tables for this purpose, and the grill is surrounded by plates of marinated meat and banchan (side dishes). 

The key to an enjoyable Korean BBQ at home experience lies in the marinade and having your favorite banchan already set up. I was so relieved to find all the ingredients as well as my grilling essentials (charcoal, utensils) that I needed for my BBQ at my local Ralphs supermarket, because that way I didn’t have to make multiple trips to different stores. I also used one of their convenient contactless buying options and did a “pick-up” of what I had purchased online. Kroger stores even offer low-contact options such as scanning things and checking out from your phone when you are inside the store! You can learn more about these measures here. 

Back to the food! A good marinade involves counting with stellar ingredients, so whenever I can I try to use the freshest of the fresh to season my chicken or meats. Ralph’s groceries are of very good quality and affordable so I stocked up on ginger, green onions, garlic and onions, some of the key elements of any Korean BBQ marinade. Other staples such as sesame oil, soy sauce, honey and vinegar are also easy to find among the Kroger brands and I could even find one of the most used Korean ingredients, gochujang, over at my supermarket. 

Once you’ve gathered all you need, things move pretty quickly and are relatively easy. Each of the marinades I made basically involved mixing everything together, adding it to a large reusable bag, adding the meats and leaving them to soak in the yummy juices for at least 4 hours in the fridge. I chose to prep two types of beef and a chicken dish. The first beef dish was bulgogi, probably the most famous Korean meat. It consists of thin-cut sirloin or rib-eye steak, marinated in a sweet and savory sauce that also has a natural tenderizing agent: Asian pear. This breaks down the protein from the meat and makes it tender. If you’re not able to find Asian pear, you may substitute for pineapple juice (though cut the marinade time in half). 

The second beef dish was Korean short ribs. Korean-style short ribs are very different than the thick slices of bone-in beef that we’re used to, and they are cut lengthwise across the rib bones. This results in a thin strip of meat, lined on one side with ½ inch thick rib bones. The thin slices cook faster on the grill and, to my opinion, are easier to eat. The marinade I used for this also involves a sweet and savory combo and made the short ribs taste scrumptious! 

Finally, I also made “dak-galbi” which is a Korean BBQ chicken dish.

Most times, you’ll find dak-galbi with boneless chicken pieces, but the bone-in version is also good (and cheaper!). I chose to use chicken drumsticks to test if the marinade could be used with an easier-to-find chicken staple and, after trying it, I have decided that I’ll be using this marinade for my weekday dinners from now on!

The good thing is that besides soaking the meat in it, you can set aside a bit of the marinade to have as a dipping sauce for when you serve the chicken! 

For banchan, or Korean “side dishes”, I opted for the usual suspects (rice, egg, kimchi and long Romaine lettuce leaves to use as “shells”) and a couple of tasty salads. The first was a green onion salad with a spicy sauce and the second a simple mix of soybeans with a sesame-oil-based sauce. There is an array of hundreds of types of banchan for you to pick your favorite from!

Whichever side dishes you choose or meat type you’d like to grill, you certainly should give Korean BBQ at home a try. Remember you can count on your local Kroger store to supply with all of your grilling needs, and that you don’t even have to go to the store! You can use any of their contact-less options to purchase what you need. They also offer low-contact options if you choose to go to the supermarket in person.

Find out more about the measures being taken here. 

Korean BBQ at Home!

Prep time: 1 h    Cook time: 30 min.  Total: 1h 30 mins.

INGREDIENTS

Bulgogi Beef Marinade 

• About 2 lbs of thinly sliced meat (beef sirloin, rib-eye are good cuts)
• 6 Tbsps soy sauce low sodium
• 3 Tbsp brown sugar
• 2 Tbsps mirin (rice wine)
• 1 Asian pear, puréed
• ½ onion, chopped
• 1 Tbsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp minced ginger
• Ground black pepper (to taste) 

Korean Beef Short Rib Marinade 

• 5 lbs of Korean-style beef short ribs
• 1 cup of brown sugar
• 1 cup of soy sauce low sodium
• ¼ cup mirin 
• 1 small onion, peeled and chopped 
• 1 small Asian pear 
• 4 Tbsps minced garlic
• 2 Tbsps sesame oil
• Ground black pepper to taste

Dak-Galbi (Chicken) Marinade (for about 4 pounds of chicken)

• 1/4 cup soy sauce low sodium
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 2 tbsps rice wine vinegar
• 4 cloves garlic minced
• 1 tbsp ginger fresh, minced
• 3 Tbsps gochujang o sriracha
• 1 tbsp gochugaru (Korean red chili flakes) 

SIDE DISHES (BANCHAN) 

Soybean salad

• 9 oz of soybeans, rinsed and blanched (cooked for 2 minutes in boiling water + drained) 
• 1 green onion, sliced
• 2 Tbsps white sesame seeds
• 1 clove of garlic, minced 
• 1 tbsp soy sauce low sodium

Spicy green onions salad

• About 8 green onions, thinly sliced lengthwise 
• 2 Tbsps soy sauce low sodium
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1 Tbsp sesame seeds
• 2 Tbsps gochugaru (Korean red chili flakes) 
• 2 tsps white vinegar
• 1 tsp minced garlic