From the time I was in fourth grade, I’ve obsessed over the idea of one day having a tandoor at home. A soft-serve machine has always sounded pretty useful, too. And now that I’m a homeowner, my yard seems empty without a pizza oven.
But until my other half recently gifted me a Korean barbecue grill, I thought of charred flesh and a table full of banchan as strictly a restaurant ritual. How wrong I was.
In the last month, we’ve indulged in KBBQ about twice a week, every week. For a girl who once had the license plate “BULGOGI,” this is a world-rocking coup. And I don’t feel guilty about it. At restaurants, “Korean barbecue” is a synonym for “overeating.” But this is neither an all-you-can-eat affair nor the kind of combo meal that we usually order when dining out. We only have as much steak, brisket, or spicy pork as necessary. And cut with scissors into bite-sized pieces, a little goes a long way.
I eschew bottled sauces in favor of homemade, and I’m trying to hone the perfect bulgogi and dwaeji bulgogi recipes, but our set-up is still being refined. I’ve found that 24 hours is the sweet spot for marinating my meats, yet exactly what goes into them changes a bit each time. There’s always plenty of garlic, sugar, and sesame oil, the flavors that most define the profile for me.
We make corn cheese each time, but have thus far relied on H Mart or Lotte Plaza for packaged banchan. The same goes for sticky rice; the next big investment will be a rice cooker.
So how do I make corn cheese? A little more conservatively than a lot of the recipes I’ve seen. I don’t add sugar and I’m lighter on the mayo than most. I created my recipe from my own guesses, but I found writing it down here that amounts are similar to lots of others, including the one published by The New York Times. Looks like I’m on the right track! But as with everything I’ve been improvising for my new grilled dinners, there’s still room to improve. It’s probably the shortest recipe I’ve ever written. You’ll be eating the gooey side dish in less than 10 minutes.
Korean Corn Cheese
1 can corn, mostly drained (a little juice is OK)
1 tablespoon butter, melted
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
3/4 cup mozzarella cheese
salt and pepper, to taste
In a small skillet or tureen, combine corn, butter, mayonnaise, and cheese. Season to taste. Broil corn on high until hot throughout and cheese on top is browned.
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