Sunday, August 3, 2008

This is...... my trade secret

OK, I'm fairly new to the craft thing so I am going to learn from everyone else's posts.
I'm told that I am a fairly good cook, so I thought that I would give away my cooking trade secret instead.
My trade secret is to have the audacity to ask someone else for their secret recipe.
I ask the cook questions when I taste something I like and sometimes they will tell me their secrets! When living in Korea I tasted THE best Korean 불고기 (Bulgogi) so I asked the chef (my friend's mum) how she made it. She told me her secret ingredient was Coke and I was flabbergasted! However, I'm game to try anything so I gave it a whirl. The Coke tendorises the meat and gives it that lovely sweet caramel taste that it should have and is usually obtained by using grated Asian pear and syrup. So, here is my 'trade secret' recipe (especially for Clare from Quarter Acre Roots!):


Photo from Grab Your Fork.

300g thinly sliced sirloin (it helps to put it in the freezer for a while to stiffen it up before slicing)
4 spring onions (shallots) sliced thinly on the diagonal
sliced mushrooms to your taste

Seasoning:
3 tbsp soy sauce (preferably Korean or use a light soy sauce - not a dark one!)
4 tbsp of minced onion (use a fine grater)
3 tbsp coke
1 onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 tbsp minced garlic
a pinch of ground sesame seeds
1 tbsp of finely grated Asian pear if you can get it
salt and pepper to taste

Mix all the seasoning ingredients and then add your meat, spring onions and mushrooms. Toss. Grease a cast iron fry pan heavily with oil (don't use olive oil or other strong flavoured oils). Place the marinated meat on top. Cook for 250 degrees Celsius (480 Fahrenheit) for 20 mins.
If you prefer, you can cook this Korean style on a gas table BBQ.

Thanks to Bollewangenhaptoet for this weeks 'this is.....'.

3 comments:

Hana said...

Lovely blog.

Well, I never would have thought of cooking with coke! So I'm definitely going to try that one.
I think asking for the recipe is like complimenting the food, in a round-about way. I do it all of the time too.

Amelia said...

coke! love it. amazing what you can find out when you ask.

clareb said...

yay - thanks!!!!!! i will try this. in cooking rut so this is a great thing to get.
also-very impressed with your sewing efforts.
Cxxxx