Bulgogi

Bulgogi is thin-sliced beef marinated in soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil and garlic, then grilled or pan-seared over high heat. The name means "fire meat," and it is Korea's best-known grilled dish, eaten at home and in restaurants built entirely around it.

What it really is

Rib-eye or sirloin is sliced paper-thin against the grain so it cooks in seconds and takes on the marinade fully. Soy sauce, a little sugar, sesame oil, garlic, ginger, black pepper and sliced onion and spring onion make the marinade, and the meat sits in it for at least thirty minutes, often longer. Grilled over charcoal or seared hard in a hot pan, either way the sugar in the marinade caramelises fast, which is why the meat needs constant attention near the end.

The name is older than the marinade in its current form. Grilled, skewered meat by this name goes back centuries in Korea; the soy-and-sugar marinade familiar today is the version that spread worldwide and is what most people mean by bulgogi now.

How it is served

• Straight off the grill, hot, sometimes cooked at the table.
• Wrapped in lettuce with rice, garlic and ssamjang, or spooned over a bowl of rice.
• With the pan juices, sweet and worth pouring back over the meat.

How to write it on the menu

• Say the cut — rib-eye and sirloin behave differently on the grill.
• Note that the marinade carries soy, wheat and sesame.
• If it is cooked at the table, say so; it changes the pace of the meal.