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Bulgogi - A Popular Korean Recipe
Bulgogi is the name for meat that is cooked over a fire, and like Kimchi, Bulgogi is now a popular Korean dish worldwide.
Bulgogi meat is carefully selected so that it contains the least fat possible, and is then cooked with fresh charcoal. This implies that the ancient Koreans were wise enough to distinguish different parts of the meat and consumed it accordingly.
The historian Margarette Mid believes that only Koreans and the Bodi tribes in Eastern Africa had such a sophisticated sense of taste, due to their belief that no meat should be wasted after a cow was sacrificed in ceremonies. Bulgogi has been in Korea for thousands of years, and has developed into a well-known Korean dish world-wide.
Bulgogi is best cooked with charcoal. This is because charcoal keeps a stable temperature, and its extreme heat cooks the meat thoroughly. The meat is cut to allow it to become soft and absorb the sauce. As beef is a tough meat, pears and Chinese radishes are often added to the sauce, as their enzymes break down proteins and fats, making the meat much softer.
The meat is them mixed with soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, salt and garlic, and then cooked over the fire. Instead of using charcoal, many people use a regular gas burner and make a soup from the meat while they eat Bulgogi. This is called 'Ttuckbaegi Bulgogi'.
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