Korean Mixed Grill

Last night we had a dear friend in town for dinner and were thrilled to fire up the grill for some Korean BBQ. The marinade (originally inspired by a Bon Appétit feature) is lightning quick; an even speedier alternative to my bulgogi recipe (which I still love and use). Below is my modified recipe, which we used for both chicken and beef. We served the grilled goodies with brown rice, seasoned nori, scallion pancakes, pan seared tofu, kimchee, and cucumber salad.
[Click thumbnail above for enlarged image]

Korean Mixed Grill

1 cup reduced sodium soy sauce

1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar

6 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

1-2 tablespoons sesame oil

1-2 inches of ginger, roughly chopped (optional)

1/2 cup chopped scallions (optional)

2 lbs of meat (I recommend sirloin tips and chicken breast)

1. Mix the marinade ingredients (soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, sesame oil, optional ginger and scallions) in a large metal, ceramic, or glass bowl.

2. Cut the meat to reduce thickness, while leaving it wide enough so it doesn’t fall through the grill slats. I cut the sirloin tips in chunks a bit less then an inch in thickness. I cut the chicken breast on the horizontal plane, starting on the thickest side; a nice, quick way to achieve a thinner but still wide cut without the tedium (and noise!) of pounding the chicken breast with a meat hammer.

3. Place the meat in the marinade and mix to coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator. Allow to marinate about 2 hours. Let stand at room temperature about 15-30 minutes before grilling.