SLICES of LIFE
Mother & daughter share secrets of family’s bulgogi
Pear, apples and kiwis are what you’d expect to find in a fruit salad. But Caroline Shin and her mom, Joung Ja Shin, use them as the secret ingredients in their treasured family recipe for Korean bulgogi — which is grilled or pan-cooked marinated beef.
For this week’s installment of The News’ EthNYC Eats series, the pair prepared a version that’s been passed down from Joung’s 89-year-old mother, Sanok Kim.
“It’s a basic Korean dish but the way my mom makes it — which is also the way my grandma had made it — is a little more special because she pulls out all the bells and whistles,” Caroline tells The News in her mom’s Oakland Gardens, Queens, kitchen.
Joung, who was born in Chunam, South Korea, arrived in the U.S. in 1979 on a nursing scholarship from the South Korean government. Her mom, who now lives in Corona, Queens, moved to New York in 1985 from Busan, South Korea, to be with her daughter’s family.
Thankfully, Kim brought her bulgogi recipe with her.
Joung uses a number of techniques to help tenderize and sweeten the thinly sliced beef — which is sauteed with vegetables and then eaten in a lettuce wrap — including incorporating a kiwi and garlic mixture. “Beef bulgogi is very tasty,” Joung says. “You can eat it with rice, kimchi and lettuce. It gives you energy and it’s good for your health and strength.”
But the trick is getting the marinating time right, about 30 minutes for this recipe.
“You can’t let it marinate overnight or the kiwi will have broken down the beef fibers too much,” Caroline says. Joung, a registered nurse, also uses pears from her backyard mixed with honey, as well as half a grated apple as a substitute for sugar.
There’s no added salt in this recipe either because the four spoonfuls of soy sauce add enough.
“Every culture has not only its own special recipe, but that recipe that grandma has her own special way of making,” Caroline says.
Her love for cooking stems from eating with her family growing up.
“My mom always made sure that everyone had dinner together,” Caroline says. “That is another family tradition that is important.”
Caroline, who has a background in journalism and shares her mom’s love of tradition, produces a YouTube web series called “Cooking With Granny,” where she documents different cultures in New York through the eyes of grandmothers.
Beyond the cooking, her series covers the families’ cultural history, sometimes their survival through war, and often, love stories.
“It’s more than a cooking show,” Caroline says. “It’s really important for me that you look at a dish and it’s not just the recipe behind it, but the storytelling component.”