Bloor West Village (BWV) is really starting to shape up in terms of restaurants. Of course we have more than our share of the usual pubs and sports bars but fine dining and house made food restaurants have had a difficult go at it mainly due to greedy landlords offering absurdly high rents. But in recent times, the restaurant selection has expanded and now we have some excellent choices for good food. One of the more recent places is a Korean BBQ place and although the food is wonderful, the ambiance is not (I think I counted about 21 TVs surrounding the perimeter just below the ceiling, and it’s not a huge place!) so we will reserve our patronage for lunch or take out.
I was immediately intrigued by the spices and flavours of Korean cuisine but my only experience was with Charles (Five Euro Food, in hiatus presently) when we met up in Paris in 2012 and Sissi’s tantalizing recipes for pickles and kimchi. So one afternoon, I decided to explore said cuisine at home. Of course, I was ill-prepared and did not have some of the specific spices (Korean chili paste, Korean red pepper powder) so I had to improvise using ingredients found in my European kitchen. We loved it and, because we have a relatively young Korean palet, did not immediately taste a huge difference compared to the restaurant food we’ve experienced. In general, (in my opinion), Korean food can be rather spicy (hot) and may not be for everyone (they seem to have only one way to make it: really, really hot) so the recipe below is a slightly tempered version. Of course, you may make it as hot as you like.
Korean Pork “Bulgogi”
For the original recipe, please click here.
Makes 2 servings
Ingredients:
- 200 g Pork Tenderloin, thinly sliced
- 1/2 large sweet onion, halved and thinly sliced
- 4 medium garlic cloves, crushed
- 45 mL (3 tbsp) fresh ginger, finely minced
- 125 mL (1/2 cup) sweet pimento paste (like this) or Korean chili paste
- 2 tbsp toasted sesame seed oil
- 63 mL (1/4 cup) dark soy sauce
- 30 mL (2 tbsp) Hungarian sweet paprika (or Korean chili powder)
- 3 mL (1/2 tsp) smoked Spanish paprika
- 5 mL (1 tsp) hot Hungarian paprika paste (like this), or to taste
- 30 mL (2 tbsp) honey
- 30 mL (2 tbsp) mirin
- 2 medium scallions, white and green parts, finely sliced
- 10 mL (2 tsp) toasted white and black sesame seeds
Directions:
- Combine everything but the pork, scallions and sesame seeds in a blender and blend until smooth.
- Toss the pork with the onions; cover with 1/2 of the marinade (reserve the rest for another time) and coat well, refrigerate for 1-4 hours.
- Warm a cast iron pan on the grill (or stovetop), add a little oil and cook the marinated meat and onions until the pork is cooked through. Leave the top open to allow the sauce to thicken.
- Serve with finely sliced scallions and toasted sesame seeds over sticky rice or cauliflower rice.

This is a richly flavoured Korean inspired dish.
Notes:
- This version is not an overly spicy dish, but it is richly flavoured with a very slight kick.
- I modified the ingredient list to suit what I had in my pantry. I cannot say whether the original recipe would be significantly spicier but my guess would be, that it is.
- Make a double or triple batch of the marinade and reserve for future meals, it really is tasty.

Or you may use chicken, like this and make it a Bulgogi Bowl! I made a quick carrot pickle and topped shredded ice burg lettuce for a lighter dinner, it was wonderful!
Korean food is not something I know much about. It’s the kind of thing I’d be inclined to go out for. Kudos for taking it on in the kitchen!
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Your bulgogi has my mouth watering—especially the chcken bulgogi bowl! I’d love this for lunch!!
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Dear Eva, your bulgogi looks fantastic! I cannot believe you didn’t have genuine Korean ingredients! Congratulations! Thank you so much for kind words and links to my blog…. you are so kind!
(PS In case you keep on experimenting with Korean cuisine, you can buy all the main Korean ingredients on Amazon. I’m sure you’ll love the Korean chilli powder : it’s very sweet in taste and usually medium to low-medium hot…..).
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Thank you for your kind words Sissi, I was able to source the correct ingredients in a local spice shop, and you’re right, I love the Korean chilli powder!
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Lots of interesting flavours in this dish. I enjoy heat from whatever nationality the cuisine comes from and I even have the Korean chile paste (gochujang) in the fridge. No Korean chile powder though.
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Thanks Maria, I found a fabulous spice shop in Kensington Market, let me know if you want me to mail you a package!
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Sounds like a very exciting fusion of flavours. I love what paprika does to dishes. It is just packed with umami and savouriness. I can see how this will all come together nicely.
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Don’t know that much about Korean food, but I’ve really enjoyed what I’ve had. I’ve had this dish, but never made it. Oddly enough I was looking at a couple of recipes for it earlier this week! Must be a sign or something. 🙂
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Thank you for your comment John, it’s so interesting how the universe works, coincidence? I think not!
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Twenty one tvs in one restaurant? Yikes! Sorry to be distracted from your photos and recipe but that fact is staggering. The food looks wonderfully delicious.
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Yup! I think they missed the demographic in our hood. Went back another time and most were off!
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Maybe you could do a 360 degree panorama shot 🙂
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I haven’t been back but I will!
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So yummy. Love the use of our Magyar paprika. xx
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We love Korean food and we love things spicy so it doesn’t really appear that spicy to us but I guess it is for those that can’t tolerate much chilli. How clever to make it using the ingredients that you have! 😀
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I used to be able to tolerate the really spicy foods, but not so much recently.
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I’d love to be a better Korean cook. I love the cuisine. But it can be intimidating so I am initiating myself with visits to the Koreatown section of Los Angeles. Known as K-Town. It’s fun to dine there but it can be intimidating. There are few concessions to the uninitiated. It can seem as foreign as Seoul itself. GREG
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To be honest, I probably wouynot have tried this new place hadn’t it been for my first and only experience with Charles in Paris. Now we have a few favourite dishes that i cook at home. I make the sauces in large batches and freeze them.
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To be honest, I probably would not have tried this new place hadn’t it been for my first and only experience with Charles in Paris. Now we have a few favourite dishes that I cook at home. I make the sauces in large batches and freeze them.
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Sounds like a very interesting dish…I love the last photo..absolutely mouthwatering!
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