Tag: beef

Majang Meat Market: The Ultimate Guide to Seoul’s Hidden Meat Paradise
If you’re a food lover visiting Seoul, you’ve probably heard of Noryangjin Fish Market for fresh seafood. But what if you’re a meat lover?
Enter Majang Meat Market —Korea’s largest and most famous butcher market, supplying over 60% of the country’s beef. If you love Hanwoo beef (한우, pronounced Han-oo) and want to experience authentic Korean BBQ in a unique, local setting, this is the place to go!
Why Visit Majang Meat Market?
Majang Meat Market isn’t just a place to buy meat—it’s a foodie destination where you can experience Korea’s butchery traditions, meat culture, and dining customs firsthand.
✅ Top Reasons to Visit:
- 🥩 Premium Hanwoo Beef: The highest-quality Korean domestic beef at 20-30% cheaper than restaurant prices.
- 🔥 Unique Korean BBQ Experience: Buy meat directly from the butcher and grill it at a restaurant on-site.
- 📸 Authentic Market Atmosphere: Explore a bustling local market where butchers skillfully prepare fresh cuts of beef.
- 💰 Best Bang for Your Buck: Enjoy top-tier Hanwoo at a fraction of the price of luxury restaurants like Born & Bred.
What Makes Hanwoo (한우) Beef Special?
Hanwoo is Korea’s prized native breed of cattle, often compared to Wagyu and USDA Prime beef. But what makes Hanwoo so special?
🐂 Why Hanwoo is Unique:
1. Incredible Marbling: Hanwoo beef is richly marbled, creating a tender, melt-in-your-mouth texture.
2. Sweet, Nutty Flavor: Unlike Wagyu, which is ultra-fatty, Hanwoo has a balance of meat and fat, giving it a more robust, beefy flavor.
3. Farm-to-Table Transparency: Every cut of Hanwoo beef must be labeled with its origin, farm, and grade, ensuring top-tier quality.
4. Rare & Expensive: Hanwoo cattle are raised in small numbers compared to American or Australian beef, making them a premium delicacy.
5. Preferred for Korean BBQ: The balance of marbling and tenderness makes Hanwoo perfect for grilling over charcoal.
🥩 Must-Try Hanwoo Cuts
- 🐄 Ggotdeungshim (꽃등심) – Ribeye → Super tender with excellent marbling.
- 🐄 Anchangsal (안창살) – Thin Skirt → Deep, beefy umami flavor, slightly chewy.
- 🐄 Salchisal (살치살) – Flap Tail → Juicy and flavorful, great for grilling.
- 🐄 Chaekkeut (채끝살) – Strip Loin → Steak-like cut with rich layers of fat.
When eating Hanwoo at Majang Meat Market, you get the best quality at a fraction of the price of high-end restaurants.
What to Expect at Majang Meat Market
Majang Meat Market is divided into three main areas:
1️⃣ Wholesale Meat Section (도매시장)
- Open early in the morning, this is where restaurant owners and butchers buy in bulk.
- Expect to see giant slabs of beef, pork, and lamb being cut and prepared.
2️⃣ Retail Butcher Shops (소매 정육점)
- Where individuals can buy fresh meat for personal use.
- Many butchers offer free tastings and custom cuts for grilling.
3️⃣ BBQ Restaurants
- Bring your freshly bought meat to a BBQ restaurant, where they’ll grill it over charcoal. Many of them are on the second floor.
- Most restaurants charge a small grilling fee (~₩5,000 per person), including unlimited side dishes.
Note that you may hear a lot about Majang BBQ Beef Alley. It has recently been razed with the resident restaurants scattering around the area. So sad. Even though they had been illegally squatting on that land for over forty years and were a fire hazard (around 30-percent of the restaurants burned down in 2023), it was a cultural landmark.
How to Experience Korean BBQ at Majang Meat Market
Unlike typical BBQ restaurants, here’s how to do it the local way:
✅ Step 1: Choose Your Butcher
- Walk through the market and look for butchers specializing in Hanwoo.
- Tip: If unsure, ask for a “meat platter” (Gogi Modeum 고기 모둠) to try different cuts.
✅ Step 2: Buy Your Meat
- Expect to pay ₩30,000–₩60,000 per person for premium Hanwoo cuts.
- Some butchers offer complimentary “service” cuts—often lean beef for eating raw (Yukhwe 육회) with sesame oil & salt.
✅ Step 3: Take It to a BBQ Restaurant
- Find a restaurant in the market and hand them your meat. Many times the butchers are connected to restaurants and will direct you there.
- They will grill it for you over charcoal and provide banchan (반찬, side dishes).
✅ Step 4: Enjoy Your Meal!
- Try dipping the beef in ssamjang (쌈장, spicy soybean paste), salt, or wasabi.
- Wrap it in perilla leaves (Kkaenip 깻잎) or lettuce for the ultimate Korean BBQ experience.
Majang Meat Market: Visitor Tips
- 📅 Best Time to Visit: Mornings (for fresh cuts) or early evenings (for BBQ).
- 🚇 How to Get There:
  - Take Subway Line 2 to Yongdu Station (용두역), Exit 4.
  - Walk 5 minutes to the market entrance.
- 🚗 Parking: ₩3,000 per hour, but free parking vouchers are available with purchases.
Join Our Majang Meat Lovers Experience!
Want a guided tour to Majang Meat Market with exclusive tastings and insider access?
Join our Majang Meat Lovers Experience, where we take you to:
✅ The best butcher shops for premium Hanwoo
✅ Hidden BBQ spots with charcoal grilling
✅ Secret tastings of rare beef cuts
🍖 Book Your Spot Now!

Final Thoughts: Why Majang Meat Market is a Must-Visit
Majang Meat Market isn’t just a place to buy meat—it’s an authentic cultural experience for food lovers. If you want to:
✅ Eat the best Hanwoo beef at the best prices
✅ Experience Korean BBQ in the most authentic way
✅ Explore Seoul beyond the tourist hotspots
Then skip the overpriced BBQ joints and head to Majang Meat Market for a legendary meat feast! 🔥🍖
Bonus Video
I joined Bart in his video on Majang-dong. You can see more of the market and the old Beef BBQ Alley here.

Bonus Podcast Episode
Oh! And we also did a Dark Side of Seoul Podcast episode about Majang Meat Market. Check it out here >>
January 29, 2025
Review: Kokoro Bento, Bukchon Village, Seoul
On our first full day in Seoul on a 10-day trip to Korea in mid-May, hubby and I spent a good part of the afternoon wandering the streets and alleys of Bukchon Hanok village. My goal was to find the 한옥 hanok (traditional Korean house) featured in the Korean TV drama Personal Taste (개인의 취향). And I also found personally intriguing tastes in an unexpected place.
Tammy was relieved to finally find a hanok named “Yeorangche” in the Bukchon neighborhood of Seoul. It was the outside set for the “Sanggojae” house in the TV drama “Personal Taste.” (Jeff Quackenbush photo)
After all that meandering, mostly uphill, I worked up quite an appetite. As we were walking back toward the Anguk subway station, my eyes fixed on the sidewalk sandwich-board visual menu for Kokoro Bento. Rather than served on a typical plate or in a box, these bento came in what appeared to my California wine country–trained eyes to be miniature wine half-barrels.
Hubby taunted me, “We didn’t come all the way to Korea to eat Japanese food!” But I convinced him to make an exception.
Beside, my mobile phone was running on 10 percent battery power and also needed 밥 bap (literally, rice, i.e., food). I hoped the restaurant had an electrical plug in the pubic area to feed my phone.
We got there just before 5 p.m. on a weekday, so we were the only people in the restaurant at the time. We were able to choose seats at the bar in front of the large window overlooking the village’s scenic main street to get nice natural-light food photos. Then we moved to a booth seat next to an electrical outlet.
Kudos for letting us plug in our dying phones.
The meal began with a soothing small bowl of fish custard. (Jeff Quackenbush photo)
The surprise appetizer was a fish-flavored egg custard garnished with a cooked gingko nut (in hubby’s bowl) and a cooked edamame bean (in mine). Both had a colorful slice of Japanese fish cake garnish. The custard flavor was delicate and the texture, smooth. Both orders also came with a side of miso soup.
The waygu beef bento was so full of stuff, you can’t see the rice but it’s in there. (Jeff Quackenbush photo)
I order the grilled waygu bento. It came with pickle radish, little acorn jellies, potato croquette, 김밥 kimbap (sushi), 삼각주먹밥 samgak joomukbap (sticky rice shaped into triangles with seasoning and vegetables; called onigiri in Japanese), carrot, seaweed salad, and an egg omelet. All of this covered a modest bed of steamed rice. (₩14,000, about $12.45)
The waygu beef in the bento was grilled just right. Very simple, yet very good.
The chicken curry bento had just enough rice to soak up all the curry-ness. (Jeff Quackenbush photo)
Hubby got the chicken curry with pickled radish, sliced carrots, acorn jelly and garnished with microgreens. The curry had mild spiciness and had a flavor akin to Ottogi curry, only better. (₩6,900, about $6.13)
Kokoro Bento in Seoul’s Gahoe-dong
종로구 재동 27-1 2nd floor (가회동점)
Hours: 11 a.m. – 9 p.m.
Phone: +82 2-763-3313
Website: www.kokorobento.com
Directions: The best way to get there is to take the subway to Anguk station (안국역 on the orange line). From station exit 2, walk north on Donguk-gil toward Bukchon Hanok Village. The restaurant will be at the corner of Dokguk-gil and Bukchon-gil on the left side of the street.
August 21, 2013
[Francais] Rosbif & Kimchi de concombre à la coriandre
Est un ensemble qui va bien avec l’été, léger, simple et élégant. On savoure le contraste entre le croquant du concombre et la tendresse juteuse de la chair, la verdure fraiche et la rose nue. De petits piques espiègles de piment rouge dans le baume douillet de l’huile d’olive gorgée de soleil, un air inspirant le sud.
Idéal pour un déjeuner simple et gouteux, il suffit de découper des tranches fines, arrogez généreusement d’huile olive qui emballe si bien la fraicheur relevée du kimchi que le filet délicate de rosbif. Accompagnez un verre de vin blanc sec, Rully pour moi, ou un rosé, ce sera un repas lévitant, là, faites intervenir un peu de pomme de terre vapeur – encore assez chaud – qui donnera un peu de poids, ce gout de terre, c’est rassurant. Comment ne pas avoir la bonne appétit ?
Oi-sobaggi, kimchi de concombre, est farci habituellement avec les ciboule de Chine (Allium tuberosum). On peut les acheter aux épiceries asiatiques, mais, restons locavores, les verts de poireau assument plutôt bien ce rôle de parfumeur herbacé – la ciboule serait trop forte. La coriandre et le poivron ajoutent des reliefs aromatiques.
Le kimchi est un mets lacto-fermenté se conservant plusieurs jours. Vous pouvez en déguster accompagné du riz, des pâtes ou des viandes rouge ou blanche. Ce kimchi de concombre, spécialité de l’été se mange assez rapidement, vous pouvez commencer à déguster dès le 3ème jours. Différemment des autres kimchis, je vous conseille de ne pas dépasser 1semaine de conservation, ça risque de se ramollir. Cette recette est légèrement interprétée, pour la recette de oi sobaggi classique, voyez ici.
August 20, 2013
Bulgogi – The Costco Way
You loooooooooove bulgogi, but you don’t want to go out to a Korean restaurant. You’re still jonesing for some of that awesome Korean grilled meat, yet you don’t know how to make it at home. Maybe you think prepping bulgogi at home is more difficult than it really is.
Well then, you have a couple of choices. You can go get the prepackaged marinade (such as the ones that CJ Foods carry under their premium Korean food label Bibigo) and some thinly sliced sirloin, or other premium cuts of beef, and just throw them in a zipper bag then let it do its thing for a couple of hours. The other choice is to go to your local Costco Wholesale Warehouse and buy yourself some pre-marinaded bulgogi.
In the San Francisco Bay Area region, there are a handful of Costco Warehouses that offer bulgogi in the meat section. I’ve been meaning to try this out since Costco’s meat is probably the highest quality meat a regular consumer can purchase. The bulgogi is prepared at each location with USDA Choice grade beef, is currently being offered at $4.99/lb. and comes in about a 3-pound batch of marinaded beef in foil containers. That’s some bargain pricing, even for Costco standards. I will reveal, later in the article, why it is offered so dirt cheap.
I also happened to pick up some mushrooms and dangmyeon (Korean starch noodles) earlier in the day, so I decided to cook the bulgogi in a jeongol (Korean hot pot) style. Usually jeongol consists of meat, vegetables, and noodles in some type of broth. So in this case, it’d be marinated beef, dangmyeon, mushrooms, and some good old water as broth. I would actually throw in a handful of baby bok choy or spinach in there but didn’t have any on hand. Don’t forget to soak the dangmyeon in hot water for about 20-30 minutes prior to cooking the beef.
First start by heating up a large frying pan or skillet at high temperature. Then carefully arrange the marinaded beef in the pan. When the meat is starting to cook, push it aside neatly and put the noodles and the mushrooms in the pan. Because I was making dinner for two, I only had to use half of the container, or 1.5 lbs, and the water (broth) ratio was about 1/4 cup. After the water/broth, keep mixing and stirring to avoid any burns. When your beef has achieved the desired level of doneness, plate the dish and garnish with some chopped green onions and toasted sesame seeds if you have them.
The best part of cooking the bulgogi in the jeongol style is that the dangmyeon noodles will soak up the essence of the beef, and you can enjoy the bulgogi taste twice in one dish!
And now to the ‘review’ part of this article…
Looking past the ingredients and Costco’s use of some unnatural stuff, such as high fructose corn syrup, the taste of the bulgogi dish is actually really good. One caveat, however – remember the cheap pricing? Yes, it seems that Costco decided to use some of the leftover trimming from the other cuts of beef in this bulgogi, so you will chew on some connective tissue. Although, not to the level that will ruin your dining experience.
Despite the use of sugar AND high fructose corn syrup, the beef is not overly sweet. The texture of the beef is great – it is Costco USDA Choice grade beef after all. If you don’t mind doing the actual cooking, you won’t be missing out on the authentic Korean restaurant taste by having dinner at home.
Now, when it comes to bulgogi, you have to have the mandatory ssam (Korean style lettuce wrap)!
Recently, CJ Foods sent me a sample pack of their new premium line of Korean food called Bibigo. In the package, there was some gochujang (Korean chili paste) and ssamjang (Korean style lettuce wrap paste). Unfortunately, the ssamjang was too sweet and salty for my taste, but the gochujang was pretty good. The texture, consistency, and the heat level were right on the money. The spice level is medium, it’s tamer than Tabasco sauce and comes on smooth. I found it to be the perfect condiment in this application. If you do not know what ssam or ssambap is, it’s just a simple lettuce wrap featuring red leaf lettuce (or green lettuce), some rice, meat, and any or all of the following: sliced raw garlic, grilled onions, sliced chili peppers, gochujang, ssamjang, and or doenjang.
Guys, happy eating!

February 15, 2012
New Bibigo Retail Sauces in Korean Tacos
ZenKimchi Korean Food Journal was approached some time ago by publicists for CJ Foods, the owners of the Bibigo restaurant franchise. CJ Foods is also a subsidiary of CJ Corp., one of South Korea’s largest food manufacturers. They offered free samples of their new line of grocery products.
Note: I have not received any compensation for this review by CJ Foods (or anyone else) other than the samples to try out for this review.
Bibigo began its corporate life last year as a small chain of Korean restaurants fervently trying to reinvent 비빔밥 bibimbap as fast-casual cuisine. The restaurant chain has now spread to Singapore, Beijing and Los Angeles.
Less than a year later, the Bibigo name is branching out into the retail market with sauces, marinades and pre-made Korean foods for grocery stores across the US. A CJ Foods rep told me consumers will start seeing Bibigo on US store shelves in January 2012.
I admit I’m biased toward made-from-scratch Korean foods. My writing and cooking talents—meager as they are—are supposed to inspire people to start their own small gardens and cook their own food from scratch.
Yet even the most eager home cook can’t be on his or her game 24/7. And not all have the time to make every marinade, 반찬 banchan (side dish) and dipping sauce from scratch every day. That’s why I’m trying out these sauces and marinades for myself.
When I cracked open the bottle of Bibigo’s Original 불고기 bulgogi sauce ($4.99 suggested retail price), the Northern California wine connoisseur wannabe in me noticed a combination of soy, sesame, ginger and black pepper on the nose. I found all those ingredients on the label, with black pepper towards the bottom. That was encouraging.
The label on the side of the glass jar has marking suggesting how much marinade to use based on how the amount of meat. One bottle will marinade 5 pounds of meat.
Later, I opened up the Bibigo 쌈장 ssamjang ($4.99 suggested retail price) container. The paste was bright red like 고추장 gochujang yet had a texture more closely resembling 된장 doenjang, which is a Korean fermented soybean paste somewhat similar to miso.
The miso-like texture would certainly be a plus for American audiences who may find the presence of whole soybean chunks in a ssamjang a little unsettling. The Bibigo ssamjang was spicy and salty — but not too salty.
When I combined them in the recipe below, the sweet bulgogi marinade matched well with the spicy, salty ssamjang. Fresh from my garden, the perilla leaves’ mint-like flavor played interference nicely.
This recipe is pretty minimal on purpose. I really wanted to taste the sauces. Beside shallots, consider adding diced bell peppers, black beans or any other vegetable.
I used ground beef because it’s the most common taco filling in the U.S. Yet this marinade should also work well with other cuts of beef as well as lamb, goat or buffalo.
October 11, 2011
Recipe: Noryangjin-inspired ‘Bomb Rice’
Seoul-Suburban posted this comment about a new dish they discovered while exploring the neighborhood around the famous Noryangjin Fish Market:
I passed carts offering bibimbap, bulgogi hot dogs, deopbap, omurice, hamburgers, bokkeumbap, and something that one cart called poktanbap (폭탄밥), or ‘bomb rice.’
This last one was something new to me, so I definitely had to give it a try, especially as the sucker for anything that screams ‘spicy!’ that I am.
What I got was a decent-sized bowl of rice with ground beef, sesame oil, a slice of ‘cheese,’ a fried egg, two different kinds of dried seaweed, some fish roe, two generous dollops of gochujang, and a sprinkling of sesame seeds. Total cost: 2,000 won, less than a plate of tteokbokki will cost you at most stalls. A large serving is just an extra 500.
And how was it? Pretty much as you might imagine all those ingredients thrown together tasting – which is to say it falls squarely under the rubric of comfort food.
With a name and description like that, it’s a dish I just had to try to recreate in my kitchen.
Two kinds of seaweed and flying-fish roe certainly bring the ocean to your bowl. (Tammy Quackenbush photo)
The fish roe is indispensable for the recipe. The snap of each egg as you chew creates a popping sound like that of firecrackers or crispy rice. I think Pokjukbap (폭죽밥), or “Firecracker Rice,” may be a more accurate name for this fun, uncommon Korean comfort food.
*The processed stuff that comes wrapped individually in plastic. It’s not very healthful, but it’s “authentic.” If you have access — and the money — to buy the good stuff, use it. I’d advise using a mild, subtle-flavored cheese though. This is not the recipe for trying out that sharp cheddar.
Please read more about the Noryangjin neighborhood on Seoul-Suburban and snoop around a little bit to discover other underexposed and under-appreciated areas of Seoul to visit vicariously.
September 12, 2011
VIP Restaurant, Anchorage, Alaska
On trips to see family in Alaska’s largest city, Anchorage, I make it a point to visit VIP Restaurant at least once. It’s located in the Valhalla Center, a retail and office building amid the Korean business cluster along West Northern Lights Boulevard.
There are a few other Korean restaurants in the city, but I have a personal connection to this one. A relative built the center the 1970s and leased the space to the restaurant in the early 1990s.
VIP Restaurant is on the ground floor of the Valhalla Center on the far right side. (Tammy Quackenbush photo)
VIP Restaurant — 영빈관 in the Korean name means “house for special guests” — serves a large variety of Korean food, particularly soups and stews (탕 tang and 찌개 jjigae). VIP also has a selection of broiled fish, beef and pork dishes.
For those reluctant to try Korean food, also offer a modest selection of Chinese restaurant favorites, such as curry chicken, fried rice and Mongolian beef.
My husband and I brought my mother-in-law and stepfather-in-law for a weekday lunch. The restaurant was not crowded, and we received attentive service.
Land of the Morning Calm in the Land of the Midnight Sun: A 13-banchan display was traditionally reserved for royalty, but this is not a snooty, royal cuisine restaurant. (Tammy Quackenbush photo)
The waitress brought out 13 반찬 banchan (appetizer plates), the most I’ve seen at any Korean restaurant I’ve visited so far in the States.
One of the banchan highlights was the seaweed salad. My husband normally eschews chewing seaweed in its various forms. This was first seaweed salad he said he enjoyed, partly because the type of plant used was the more delicate wakame seaweed (which is called 미역, miyeok in Korean) and partly because the savory-sweet marinade pleasantly masked the taste.
The main course came with a small bowl of 동민 dong min radish kimchi broth flavored with green onion and beef. That was another first for me on this side of the Pacific.
Between the four of us, we ordered 갈비 galbi (grilled beef ribs), two variations of 돌솥 비빔밥 dolsot bibimbap (hot stone bowl filled with mixed vegetables and rice) and Mongolian beef.
Ordering galbi ($12.99 lunch) and Mongolian beef ($11.99 lunch) allowed a side-by-side comparison of Korean and Chinese foods. The galbi was grilled wang-style (“king” cut with thin meat along two- to five-inch-long ribs) rather than L.A.-style (a thin flanken cut) more common to Korean-American restaurants.
The galbi had the typical Korean sweet touch, likely from fruit juice or corn syrup in the marinade. The Mongolian beef was stir-fried with ample green onion and certainly was more savory than the galbi. My Korean cuisine–averse builder-relative scarfed up the galbi and barely touched the Chi-Am dish.
The dolsot bibimbap dishes — served at this established in thick metal bowls rather than earthenware — hit the key cue: a blazing-hot bowl to crisp the rice in sesame oil and keep the food warm throughout the meal. The latter is nice for a typical Anchorage August day: in the 50s Fahrenheit and raining.
Kimchi bibimbap with the required fried egg. The other veggies are hiding behind the kimchi (Jeff Quackenbush photo)

My husband ordered dolsot kimchi bibimbap ($14.99). He noted for our Korean cuisine–cautious tablemates that cooked kimchi takes on a mellower flavor from its banchan brother.
Royally Jeonju-style bibimbap: I decided I preferred having kimchi on the side this time around. (Tammy Quackenbush photo)

For my hot bibimbap, I chose to eat like a queen: 전주 Jeonju bibimbap ($15.99). This specialty of Jeonju incorporates cues from Korean royal cuisine. My dish was overflowing with veggies: shredded laver, carrot, radish, soybean sprouts and gosari. My taste buds appreciated a generous squirt of bibibimbap 고주장 gochujang (a sweetened version of Korea’s go-to spicy red pepper sauce) from the tabletop squeeze bottle.

VIP Restaurant
Valhalla Center, 555 W. Northern Lights Blvd, Ste. 105, Anchorage, AK 99503
(907) 279-7549
Hours: Monday-Saturday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Sunday, 1 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Yelp: www.yelp.com/biz/vip-restaurant-anchorage
August 13, 2011
Gwangju Tteokgalbi
Gwangju tteokgalbi doesn’t have any rice cake. Its small profile makes it child-friendly and easy to pick up with chopsticks. (Tammy Quackenbush photos)

Many consider Seoul, the capital of Korea for more than 600 years, to be the culinary hub of Korea. However, South Korea’s sixth-largest city, Gwangju, also has ample cuisine cred.
Located in the middle of Jeolla-nam province near the southwestern tip of the Korean peninsula, Gwangju has a 2,000-year history traced to the Three Kingdom period. More recently, the city become internationally known due to events of May 18, 1980, known as the Gwangju Democratization Movement.
While Americans in the Pacific Northwest were fleeing the eruption of Mt. St. Helens, hundreds, even thousands of South Koreans half a world away were standing up to a military dictatorship. The government response was swift and brutal. Korean special forces soldiers shot unarmed civilians with automatic weapons. The people of Gwangju fought back, but the bad guys won — for a while.
Gwangju is also known for a dish called 떡갈비 tteokgalbi (Korean “hamburger” beef patties). There’s an entire street of restaurants dedicated to this fun, easy dish. Don’t let the name fool you, there’s no 떡 tteok (rice cake) in this recipe. And the dish isn’t the similarly sounding 닭갈비 dakgalbi, a spicy chicken dish that’s a specialty of Chuncheon.
Tteokgalbi is low-carb and kid-friendly.
Low-carb Korean dish that kids love
You can stick the patties into pita pockets with a little ssamjang-spiked mayo and kimchi for a fusion sandwich treat, or eat them Korean-style with rice, lettuce and side dishes.
May 19, 2011
Recipes: Three ways to make Korean beef broth
The base to any soup or stew, Korean or otherwise, is a good broth or stock. This article will discuss three methods for adding beef flavor, from the easiest to the most complex.
Debra Boutin, M.S., R.D., chairwoman of Bastyr University’s Department of Nutrition and Exercise Science, described the healthful aspects of bone broth in a natural medicine column:
Properly made bone broth contains measurable amounts of calcium, phosphorous, magnesium, potassium and other minerals, as well as collagen, gelatin and amino acids. These nutrients are beneficial for bone and joint health, for muscle strength and action, and for maintaining connective tissues and the gastrointestinal tract.
The gelatin in bone broth has been shown in some studies to stimulate digestion and protect the lining of the gastrointestinal tract. It also is thought to improve digestion of milk, beans, meat and gluten-containing grains.
The Weston A. Price Foundation also has an article detailing the health benefits of bone broth.
Bone broth will give needed calcium to those on a dairy-restricted diet for health reasons or less availability of dairy products, such as in Korea compared with the U.S.
Easiest: Dashida
Dashida (다시다) is a Korean instant beef stock. It comes in large bags and is found in many grocery stores in Korea or Asian markets in the U.S. You don’t need to use more than a teaspoon or so in most soups. A caveat: It is high in salt and monosodium glutamate (MSG).
More difficult: Korean beef broth
Korean beef broth takes a little more time to make — about two and a half hours — but the little extra time will produce a much better beef broth. It won’t have MSG, unless you want it.
Ingredients
2 pounds beef brisket
8 quarts (roughly 8 liters) of cold water (enough to fill a large soup pot)
Instructions
1 Rinse the brisket in cold water.
2 Place the brisket into into a pot, covered with cold water, and bring to a boil.
3 Once it’s boiling, turn down the heat to a simmer.
4 Allow it to simmer, uncovered for a couple of hours.
- Add some aromatics of your choosing (such as ginger, onion, celery, carrots, thyme, black peppercorns, etc.) and boil until the brisket is completely cooked.
- Skim the foam off the top periodically to remove fat and impurities.
5 Once the two hours are expired, retrieve the beef and slice it for the soup or stew or reserve it for future use.
- The same can be done with the broth: Use immediately in your soup or stew recipe or store in the freezer for future use.
Most challenging: Beef bone stock
Beef bone stock is the most time-consuming option but will reward you with a robust and healthful base for any soup, stew, gravy or sauce your want to make.
Summarizing the steps for sizzling and simmering
- Roast beef bones in the oven until they turn brown.
- Place the bones in a pot, cover them with cold water and boil until scum appears on the surface.
- Clear the scum off the broth and add aromatic ingredients, such as ginger, onion and black peppercorns.
- Continue to boil for at least three to four more hours. Some stock connoisseurs recommend simmering the bones for 12 to 72 hours all together.
Ingredients
2-4 pounds meaty beef stock bones (include some knuckle bones and a hoof)
1 pound meaty rib or neck bones (perhaps, oxtail with meat still on it)
olive oil
1 onion, peeled and quartered
2 celery ribs (a bunch/stalk contains several ribs), cut into 1-2 inch pieces
2-3 garlic cloves, unpeeled
10 black, red or white peppercorns
Instructions
This is where the fun starts: in your broiler, not on the stovetop. (Photo by Tammy Quackenbush)
1 Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Rub the onions with oil, and place them into a large roasting pan with the bones. Roast the bones and onions for about 45 minutes, turning the bones over about 20 minutes into the roasting time. If the bones start to char, turn the heat down. The bones should be deep brown, not black.
Pre-roasting the bones is a crucial step in this recipe. If you simply put raw bones into the pot and start boiling, the smell will be horrendous and traumatic.
The meat and the bones are golden brown and the onions are a little caramelized but not overly so. (Photo by Tammy Quackenbush)
2 Place the bones and onion into a stockpot.
3 Place the roasting pan on the oven on low heat, covering two burners. Pour a half-cup of water into the pan and let the water come to a boil. Use a metal spatula to scrape off all the cooked bits at the bottom of the pan and add them to the stockpot.
4 Fill up with cold water until there’s enough water to cover the bones by one to two inches.

This is when it's good to skim off the top. It's also the most time-consuming task in creating consomme starter. (Photo by Jeff Quackenbush)
5 Bring to a boil briefly, then turn down the heat for a simmer.
- Do not take your eyes off the stock pot for the first hour. Carefully remove the scum on top with a spoon.
- After removing the scum, add the rest of the vegetables and aromatics to the pot and continue to simmer.
- Skim off the white scum rising to the top.
- When the water level sinks below the bones, add more water and return to a good simmer. Continue periodic skimming.
Do not dump hot oil or fat down the kitchen drain. It will solidify and block your pipes. Save the grease in a small jar for future use, or discard it in the trash after it has cooled.
6 After simmering the bones for three to 12 hours, remove them from the pot with tongs or a slotted spoon. I simmered my stock for eight hours.
7 Line another large pot with a fine mesh sieve lined with cheesecloth. Ladle the broth through the screening material into the other pot. Allow the broth to cool before storing it in the refrigerator.
This is what it looks like after it's been refrigerated for a few hours and skimmed. Notice how thick the broth appears. (Photo by Tammy Quackenbush)
8 Skim the fat off the cooled stock. Discard the fat in the trash, or save it for another recipe.
- At this point, you can put the pot back onto the stove and continue to simmer until you have reduced it by half to make a more concentrated stock.
- This step might come in handy if your freezer space is very limited.
After more than eight hours of keeping an eye on this concoction one Sunday, I ended up with eight cups of broth, which I put into small sandwich bags and stored in the freezer for future use.
January 4, 2011
The Beauty of Korea: Bae Yong Joon’s Kalbi Steak
I bought the Korean version of Bae Yong Joon’s best-selling book, The Journey to Discover the Beauty of Korea. I got the book because I knew there would be several Korean food recipes tucked in the pages. I got excited when I found his recipe for Kalbi steak so I decided I would work translating the recipe into English (ahead of Bae’s forthcoming English version) and also test out the recipe to make sure the ingredients and methods would work in an American kitchen.
Even though the kalbi recipe excited me (and my family) the most, there are other noteworthy recipes in the book as well, including Bae’s mother’s personal recipe for cucumber kimchi (page 67).
My first step in translating this recipe for American audiences was to try to make sure I got the correct cut of beef rib. The picture Bae included is a spartan shot of the finished kalbi steak on a plate. It did not look like the chopped up beef ribs one usually finds in the grocery store for braised ribs. It also didn’t look like the wang kalbi style that one finds all over Korea and at higher end kalbi restaurants in the USA. Bae’s recipe does not use the thinly sliced LA style kalbi ribs like those featured in my own Kalbi video on YouTube.
I took my book to the nearest butcher. I showed him the picture in Bae’s book and asked him what kind of beef rib was in the picture. He was adamant that Bae’s kalbi steak was made with Beef Plate Short Ribs.
These ribs are a much thicker cut than I’ve ever seen in Korean cuisine. I bought four plate ribs and brought them home. Each rib was 8-9 inches long and over an inch thick. There’s no way that these behemoth ribs are the same thing as Bae’s photo but I tried to make them work within the specifications of Bae’s recipe. These ribs could have been a stand in for T-Rex ribs in a Flinstones movie.
Fortunately, the marinade was much less dramatic and traumatic.
Bae’s kalbi steak recipe is divided into three parts: First he lists the ingredients for the kalbi steak marinade. Then he provides a recipe for the Hyang Shin Jeup sauce (향신즙) which is then mixed into the marinade. At the end, he gives instructions on how to cook the ribs.
If you live near a Koreatown or a well stocked Korean grocery store, you don’t have to make your own Hyang Shin Jeup from scratch. Sempio(샘표), a South Korean food company, sells a version they call “Gourmet Seasoning Sauce.” I’m standing by Bae’s version (even though it takes some work) because not everyone has access to a well-stocked Korean grocery store.
Here is my paraphrase of Bae Yong Joon’s Kalbi Steak Recipe. My comments are in parenthesis. I double checked my paraphrased translation of this recipe with my local Korean grocer to make sure I understood the recipe.
To prep 3-4 flanken cut beef ribs, you need to score them approximately a quarter way down to the rib so the beef will not contort while boiling or grilling.
How to make the Kalbi Steak Marinade
1 cup 향신즙 juice
1/3 cup soy sauce
*50 ml (approx 3 tbsp) 맛술 mirin
*50 ml (approx 3 tbsp) Cheongju rice wine (similar to Japanese sake)
2/3 cup sugar (설탕)
1/3 cup sesame seed oil
a pinch of black pepper
(*Bae’s recipe calls for 50 cc of mirin and cheongju rice wine but cc is equal to ml)
How to make the Hyang Sin Jeup juice (향신즙)
100 grams (approx. 1/3 cup) Korean radish
100 grams (approx 1/3 cup) Korean pear
100 grams (approx 1/3 cup) garlic
10 grams of ginger
Grate the radish, pear, garlic and ginger. (I did it by hand but a food processor or a juicer will do the job, too). Strain in fine cheese cloth (or a fine mesh strainer). Add to the marinade.
How to pre-cook and marinade the ribs
1. Put the ribs in cold water and rinse off the blood.
2. Cook the ribs for 2-3 minutes in boiling water. Pull out the ribs and allow them to cool down before putting the ribs in the marinade. Marinade all day until you are ready to grill or broil the ribs.
Here is where I ran into real problems. Bae recommends pre-boiling the ribs for about 2-3 minutes in boiling water and then pull them out, allow them to cool down and put them in the marinade all day until you’re ready to grill them.
I ran into a lot of problems very quickly
- I didn’t have a cooking pot tall enough to fit these very long ribs completely into the pot to boil them and getting them evenly boiled was a lot of work.
- I didn’t have a bowl large enough to properly marinade them so I had to buy the largest Tupperware dish I could find (larger than a lasagna pan) to marinade the ribs.
- Boiling these thick ribs for only 2-3 minutes wasn’t going to shorten the broiling time enough to make this practical. I boiled them for over 1/2 an hour before marinading them and they still took over an hour, baking at 375 to get to medium rare. I don’t eat meat medium rare on purpose.
So I went back to the drawing board, throwing out the counsel of my well-meaning, non-Korean butcher. I went online and found a page called The Zen of beef ribs and reached an epiphany. Bae has been using flanken ribs all along but he wasn’t using the skinny cut common to LA Kalbi. He was using a thicker cut of flanken ribs. So, I went back to the butcher and ordered up 4 flanken cut beef ribs, approximately 1-2 inches thick.
The right beef rib, an English cut flanken rib. Trim off most of the visible fat but you do need to leave some on while it's cooking.
Bae mentions scoring the ribs so they will broil evenly. This is fine on the top but there’s another step you must take to make sure the ribs do not shrink and contort while grilling. On the backside of the ribs, you’ll find the silver skin, but it is not an edible or tasty silver lining. You must take your sharp chef’s knife and remove the silver skin from the ribs. If you do it right, the silver skin will come off in one strip.
The final product with the right cut of rib.
This time the recipe worked out very well. I baked the ribs at 375 for about 45 minutes to an hour to get them medium well and I was very happy with the results. Since the recipe includes natural sugar from the Asian pear as well as some granulated sugar, you will have some charring, which is unavoidable if you cook the ribs to medium well or well-done.
The ribs got rave reviews and my family are already begging me to make them again.
August 16, 2010