Chadolbagi-gui (Grilled Thin-Sliced Brisket)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Tabletop Korean grill, grill plate, or 12-inch cast-iron skillet
• •Long tongs or chopsticks for turning meat
• •Small dipping dishes
• •Scallion shredder or sharp knife

Instructions

1. 1

   Keep beef cold

   Keep the chadolbagi in the refrigerator until the grill is ready. If the slices are frozen together, let them sit 5 to 8 minutes, just until you can separate them without tearing. The fat must stay firm so the beef browns fast instead of melting into the pan before the meat cooks.

   Ask the butcher for 1 to 2 mm slices. Thicker brisket needs a different cooking time and becomes chewy before the fat turns nutty.
2. 2

   Make sesame-salt

   Stir the crushed toasted sesame seeds, fine sea salt, and black pepper together in a small dish. Set the sesame oil in a second dish, or pour it over the salt mixture at the table. This dip is measured because the beef is bare; too much salt hides the cut, too little makes the fat taste flat.

3. 3

   Dress scallions

   Soak the shredded scallions in cold water for 5 minutes, then drain and dry them well. Toss with soy sauce, rice vinegar, gochugaru, sugar, sesame oil, and sesame seeds. Do this just before grilling so the scallions stay lively. Their sharpness cuts the brisket fat, which is why they belong on this table.

4. 4

   Heat the grill

   Heat a tabletop grill, heavy cast-iron pan, or wide skillet over medium-high heat until a slice of beef sizzles the instant it touches. If using a skillet, wipe on 1 teaspoon neutral oil and no more. Chadolbagi brings its own fat, and a greasy pan makes it heavy.

5. 5

   Grill in seconds

   Lay on only enough slices to sit in one layer. Cook 20 to 30 seconds, until the edges curl and the underside browns in spots, then turn and cook 10 to 20 seconds more. Pull each slice as soon as the red disappears and the fat looks glossy and lightly browned. Do not wait for a crust like steak; this cut is too thin for that.

   Work in small rounds and eat as you cook. A platter of finished chadolbagi cools fast and becomes stiff. The grill is the serving dish.
6. 6

   Wrap and eat

   Dip a slice lightly in sesame-salt, then eat it with scallion salad, rice, and a perilla or lettuce leaf. Add a dot of ssamjang, garlic, or green chili if you like, but keep your hand light. Let it taste like itself. The first slice tells you whether the grill is hot enough, so adjust before the second round.

Chef Tips

• •Buy chadolbagi from a Korean market if you can. It should be pale with firm white fat and thin red meat running through it, not thick slabs sold for braising.
• •Do not marinate this beef. That belongs to bulgogi. Chadolbagi-gui is grilled bare so the brisket fat turns nutty and clean.
• •A tabletop grill is natural here, but a cast-iron skillet works well at home. The safe corner to cut is the vessel. The corner you cannot cut is the thickness of the slice.
• •Keep banchan simple: pa-muchim (scallion salad), kimchi, lettuce or perilla, rice, and maybe one clean soup. Too many sweet sauces make the table noisy.
• •If cooking indoors, ventilate well and wipe excess rendered fat between rounds. Burned beef fat turns bitter fast.

Advance Preparation

• •The sesame-salt can be mixed up to 1 week ahead and kept covered at room temperature.
• •Wash and dry lettuce or perilla leaves up to 1 day ahead, then wrap in a towel and refrigerate.
• •Shred the scallions up to 4 hours ahead and hold them in cold water. Drain, dry, and dress them only at the last minute.
• •Do not grill chadolbagi ahead. It is a seconds-at-the-table dish.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 335g)