DIY Christmas Gifts #2: Marinade Mix

My uncle loves Asian food and cooking almost as much as I do. In fact, he runs the kitchen for the family restaurant and makes the most wonderful steak I've ever eaten in my whole life! So this Christmas I thought he would really enjoy all the ingredients to make a delicious Korean beef bulgogi marinade.

Beef bulgogi is like a salty-sweet BBQ made with flank steak. It's so deliciously wonderful and not at all spicy. Unless, of course, you put Sriracha on it. Mmm...

Taken from: The Oatmeal web comic

And that is totally how I feel about it.

Anyways, since there were several dry ingredients and only a few wet ingredients, I decided to put together all the dry ingredients in a small Pyrex bowl that my uncle could use to make custard or brule or whatever his culinary heart desires and leave the wet ingredients in their original packaging. Then I wrote down a modified recipe and wrapped everything separately. *Insert evil laugh here.* Oh, the look on his face will be priceless as he opens each part of the gift and tries to figure out what it all means! (I put the instructions on the bottom, by the way.)

Here's the complete recipe:

Beef Bulgogi
Taken from an Allrecipes.com recipe

• 1 pound flank steak, thinly sliced
• 5 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 1/2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1/4 cup chopped green onion
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 
  

1. Place the beef in a shallow dish. Combine soy sauce, sugar, green onion, garlic, sesame seeds, sesame oil, and ground black pepper in a small bowl. Pour over beef. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight.
2. Preheat an outdoor grill for high heat, and lightly oil the grate.
3. Quickly grill beef on hot grill until slightly charred and cooked through, 1 to 2 minutes per side.

OK, now I need to go find delicious Asian fare in my part of the city. So far I have found a worthy Thai restaurant, but only Pei Wei and several icky Asian buffets serve other kinds of Asian dishes. Soon, I shall make the trek up to H Mart, and then I can stock my pantry with boba tea bubbles, lemongrass puree, mochi, lychee, ginger candies, rice sticks, and curry pastes! Oh, and Naan bread!! 

And then my tummy will be happy again.