One of my fondest childhood memories is my parents taking us to eat Korean barbeque. We'd make the trek from Brooklyn to Flushing, in Queens. I would arrive home with my jacket smelling like the grilled beef, and it was Carnivore Nirvana. When I moved to the Boston area, my sister would eagerly make the treks with me to Koreana in Cambridge. The waitresses would bring us nearly a dozen side dishes, and we would cook the meat on the tabletop grills. The beef would be flavorful and juicy, but just slightly crisp and charred at the edges.
When I saw Mark Bittman's Backyard Bulgogi article, I got excited. Sure, he's not Korean, but the man can cook, can't he? I liked how simple the recipe was, but it sure didn't look like the time my summer term college suitemate from South Korea made bulgogi (I remember a lot more soy sauce, and sliced white onions). The verdict: It didn't taste quite like bulgogi, but it was still pretty damn good. You really can't go wrong with marinating beef in a paste of soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, and scallions. The only real change I made was to broil the beef, since the last time I used my gas grill it caught on fire -- no, not the way it's supposed to. But the broiler did the trick, and it was close to Carnivore Nirvana.
