Korean Antelope Sandwiches
May 26th, 2008 | By Hank Shaw | Category: Asian, Recipe, Venison, Wild Game | Comments | 9 Comments |
Photo by Hank Shaw
We had friends over yesterday for a Memorial Day barbecue, and although we tried to keep it simple, I am really incapable of just cooking hot dogs and burgers. I did haul out some of my Greek loukaniko sausages, which went over well with caramelized onions, and I did in fact do burgers: Homemade venison burgers served with horseradish sauce and sorrel leaves.
Unsatisfied, I wanted to try something new. So I chose bulgogi. Bulgogi is Korean barbecue flank steak my mum made for us when I was growing up. Don’t ask me how she found a recipe in the 1970s, but she did. I could eat pounds of this stuff at a sitting: Sweet, salty with powerful sesame aroma from both sesame seeds and sesame oil. God it was good!
I also wanted to make something Korean because I had one last cabbage in my garden and I wanted it eaten. Pronto. Late May is not a good time for cabbages in Sacramento, and only the unusually cool spring we’ve had has kept it from bolting already; all its friends had long gone to seed. I wanted to make a quick Korean kimchi out of this cabbage to go on top of the bulgogi sandwiches.
KOREAN BULGOGI SANDWICHES
Mum always used beef flank for her recipe. I used antelope flank, and let the meat soak in the marinade for 48 hours. Grilled over almond and maple wood, the meat was smoky and spicy, and the sour, crunchy kimchi went perfectly with the antelope, much the same way cole slaw goes with Southern pulled pork barbecue.
Serves 6-8.
Prep Time: 12 hours
Cook Time: 15 minutes
- 2 pounds flank steak (beef or venison)
- 4 green onions, chopped
- 2 tablespoons, plus 4 tablespoons grated ginger
- 4-6 cloves of garlic, mashed and chopped
- 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
- 3 tablespoons, plus 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2-3 hot chiles, minced
- 1 tablespoon molasses or Asian plum sauce
- 1/4 cup (mirin) rice wine or lemon juice
- 1/3 cup, plus 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1 head cabbage, shredded
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 tablespoon cayenne
- 8-12 sandwich buns
- Fresh cilantro for garnish
Mix the green onions, 2 tablespoons of grated ginger, garlic, sesame seeds, sesame oil, 3 tablespoons sugar, hot chiles, Asian plum sauce, rice wine and 1/3 cup soy sauce and immerse the flank steak into them. Massage the meat with the marinade, seal everything in the Ziploc bag and refrigerate overnight.
Mix the kimchee ingredients — cabbage, 1/4 cup soy sauce, rice vinegar,1 tablespoon salt, 4 tablespoons grated ginger, cayenne and 2 tablespoons sugar — and marinate in the fridge overnight.
Grill the flank steak over high heat for 3-5 minutes per side, depending on how thick they are. You want a good char, so let them cook for a bit before flipping. When it is done, let the meat rest for 5 minutes.
Toast your buns while the meat is resting. To complete, place some sliced bulgogi on the bun, top with the kimchi and sprinkle a little cilantro over it all.
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I can just taste the sweet smoky goodness of this. Perfect Memorial Day fare.
Hey Hank, share your marinade recipe? Sounds delicious.
Now *that* is good action! Used to frequent a bulgogi place when I worked in Seattle’s International District. Never thought of making it myself but will have to give it a go. Did you bag the antelope?
Hey Audrey, the marinade recipe is hotlinked on the word “bulgogi” above – you should be able to find it there.
And Finspot — you bet I shot that antelope. Was a nice big buck from Buffalo, Wyoming. Been eating off that one, as well as a doe, since October. Very tasty meat: Like a cross between lamb and beef.
Antelope bulgogi? That sounds fantastic.
Oh, oh, oh… I am salivating. Sounds exquisite!
Ah ha, I will tell you where this mysterious recipe came from, for- let’s say – one million dollars! Dad was in Med school with another student who had married a Korean woman (both Korean War vets) and we went to their house for a BBQ and were served this delicious grilled meat. That is where Mum got the recipe which was so unusual in the 1960′s. I wonder where she got toasted sesame oil? Maybe she didn’t. I know she used a mortar and pestle to grind sesame seeds though, and honey, and what passed for soy sauce back then.
PS You weren’t borned yet.
Aha! I never knew…
I just had pulled pork with coleslaw at this great restaurant in Portland, Screendoor. YUM. But your bulgogi sounds fantastic, especially with kimchee, a staple in our house.
It was odd to eat it so regularly when we were growing up, but I like to think it helped make you what you are today—a fearless eater.