Bulgogi

Thinly sliced beef (typically sirloin or rib eye) marinated in soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, ginger, sugar, pear or apple purée, and spring onion, then grilled hard over charcoal or seared in a pan. The signature is the sweet-savoury soy marinade caramelising on the meat surface: Maillard char layered with the marinade's sweetness, sesame oil's nutty depth, and the fruit purée's gentle acid. Tender beef rather than the chewy cuts used in galbi or sang-yopsal; gentle aromatic warmth from garlic and ginger rather than chilli heat.