Bulgogi

This is one of my son's favorites. He said I should include it as one of our family's favorites. This recipe came from Madhur Jaffrey's Far Eastern Cookery.

500 g (1-1/4 lb) lean tender beef steak
1/2 medium-sized hard pear
4-5 garlic cloves
5 cm (2-inch) cube fresh ginger
4 tablespoons soy sauce (shoyu)
5 medium-sized mushrooms
120 g (4-1/2 oz) onions
3 spring onions
1 medium-sized carrot
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 tablespoon roasted sesame seeds
2-1/2 tablespoons sugar

Cut the meat against the grain into 7.5 x 5 cm (3 x 2 inch) rectangles that are about 3 mm (1/8 inch) thick.

Peel and core the pear half and chop it coarsely. Peel the garlic and ginger and chop coarsely. Blend the pear, garlic, ginger and soy sauce in an electric blender until smooth.

Cut the mushrooms into 3 mm (1/8 inch) slices. Peel and thickly slice the onions. Cut the spring onions into 6 cm (2-1/2 inch) lengths. Peel the carrot and then cut it into 6 cm (2-1/2 inch) chunks. Then cut each chunk lengthways into 3 mm (1/8) inch slices. Put the meat in a bowl. Add the paste from the blender, the mushrooms, onions, spring onions, carrot, sesame oil, sesame seeds and sugar. Mix well. Cover and marinate for 1-24 hours.

Set a large cast-iron frying pan on a high heat. Let it get almost white=hot. Put in as many of the meat slices as will fit in one layer. Cook, turning the meat pieces over as soon as they brown a little. (You could also cook the meat, spread out, under a very hot grill.) You may leave the meat rare if yo like. Remove the meat as soon as it is ready. Cook all the meat this way. Then put in the vegetables and the marinade. Cook on a high heat for a minute or so. Then spoon the mixture over or beside the meat. Serve immediately.