Bulgogi (Korean barbecue beef)

choi

I do not include the two recipes (bulgogi eggplant + skirt steak bulgogi in print or newspaper website. I am homeless. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, churches (including Hong Kong people and Koreans)  from Boston suburbs would come to a homeless shelter every Sunday to serve their specialities. That is how I ate bulgogi and learned this word (because it was delicious, so I asked for the name of the i). Bulgogi is different from Chinese or Western food.

Eric Kim, Kist Call It Bulgogi; From its origins in Ancient Korea to kitchens across the diaspora today, this staple of Korean barbecue means something different to everyone. New York Times, July 28, 2021.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/23/dining/bulgogi-recipes.html
http://iht.newspaperdirect.com/epaper/viewer.aspx

Note:
(a) "Songza Park's recipe for 'BUL KOGI (Barbecued Beef)' calls for two kilos of sirloin beef that it's a must to slice 'very skinny on the bias' before scoring each piece with an X."
(i) Sirloin is not a muscle in anatomic sense but a region of beef that is different in American cut and British cut. Sirloin in American cut is equivalent to "rump" in British cut. See chart in sirloin steak
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sirloin_steak
("The sirloin steak is cut from the sirloin")
(ii) In both American and English English, skinny can only be an adjective
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/skinny
("resembling skin : MEMBRANOUS")
or a noun (not an adverb).
(iii)
(A) bias
(n): "2: a line diagonal to the grain of a fabric * * * on the bias [phrase] <cut the cloth or the meat on the bias>
(adj or adv): for the latter "DIAGONALLY  <cut cloth bias>"
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bias
(B) It turns out that bias, from Modern French noun masculine biais
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/biais
, in English first meant slant in the literal sense and became prejudice later.
https://www.etymonline.com/word/bias
(iv) For days I did not understand "before scoring each piece with an X."  At last I find the sentence online: From The Korean Cookbook, by Judy Hyun (1st ed 1970 and 2nd ed 1979; in English), under the heading "bul kogi," that said, "Slice the steak very thin on the bias. Score each piece with an X." It was a very short recipe, which did not explain what an X was for. In fact, I suspected the community cookbook, if in English, was the same as that by Judy Huyn.
(v) "Bulgogi came from the Korean word bul-gogi (불고기), consisting of bul [불] ('fire') and gogi [고기] ('meat'). The compound word is derived from the Pyongan dialect, as the dish itself is a delicacy of Pyongan Province, North Korea."  en.wikipedia.org for bulgogi.
(i)
(A) Pyeong-an Province  平安道
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyongan_Province  
("was [note the past tense] one [capital] of Eight Provinces of Korea during the Joseon Dynasty. * * * Its name derived from the names of two of its principal cities, Pyeongyang 平壤 and Anju 安州. * * * [The territory in 1896 was ] reorganized into North Pyongan Province 平安北道 [capital 新義州市] and" South Pyongan Province 平安南道 [whose capital used to be what is now spelled as Pyongyang 平壤(市), but after N Korea was formed and had as national capital, moved provincial capital to Pyongsong 平城(市); 安州市 is also within this province])
(B) Despite difference in the old name (Pyeong) and the new (Pyong) in Romanization, the two share idental hangul (as well as hanja).
(ii) 불 is compose of ㅂ (consonant b), ㅜ (vowel u) and ㄹ (consonant L)m oer en.wikipedia.org for Hangulm where han is 韓.


(b) "bulgogi is most often made from thin slices of marinated and grilled beef (though sometimes pork and less commonly chicken). If you grew up in a Korean household, then the dish wasn’t just occasional barbecue; it was dinner on the regular, a quick pan-fry on the stovetop."
(i) I did not know what "on the regular" meant. The words are not found in www.merriam-webster.com or Oxford dictionary.
(ii) on the regular: "adverb  regularly; frequently"
onlineslangdictionary.com/meaning-definition-of/on-the-regular
(iii) So the words mean "on a regular basis."

(c) "During the Goguryeo kingdom (37 BC to AD 668), the Maek people in the northern Korean Peninsula ate maekjeok, a dish of grilled pork marinated in doenjang [hanja 된醬], a fermented soybean paste.  Years later, maekjeok evolved into neobiani, a dish of broad, thin slices of beef tenderized and grilled over flames. A feature of royal court cuisine during the Joseon dynasty (1392 to 1910) [also romanized as Chosŏn; 朝鮮; officially Great Joseon 大朝鮮國], neobiani is considered a predecessor to today's beloved bulgogi."
(i) Goguryeo  (hanja 高句麗)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goguryeo
"Along with Baekje [hanja: 百濟] and Silla [新羅], Goguryeo was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea [三國時代: en.wikipedia.org]")

Silla absorbed the other two in late seventh century, lasted for 1 1/2 centuries and then replaced by Goryeo 高麗 (918–1392; founder Taejo 太祖 Wang Geon 王建)
(ii) Yemaek  濊貊
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yemaek   
("Yemaek is believed to be a combination of Ye (濊·穢·薉) and Maek (貊·貉) people of two neighboring cultures")
(iii) bulgogi
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulgogi   
(section 2 History: "it was originally called maekjeok (맥적, 貊炙), with the beef being grilled on a skewer. It was called neobiani (너비아니), meaning 'thinly spread' meat, during the Joseon Dynasty and was traditionally prepared especially for the wealthy and the nobility")


(d) "Cho Dang Gol, a restaurant that's been on 35th Street in Manhattan for over two decades, bulgogi finds its way into lacy zucchini jeon, a spicy octopus stir-fry and ttukbaegi bulgogi, a dreamy cauldron of tender beef swimming in its own powerful juices where, once again, those familiar thin slices make an appearance."
(i) Cho Dang Gol's sign in store front says only 초당골 (which pronounced Cho Dang Gol) with English. Its website uses CDG instead. The restaurant opened in 1997.
(ii) jeon (food)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeon_(food)
(전 煎)
(iii) ttukbaegi  뚝배기
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ttukbaegi
(photo)
is defined in Wiktionary as "a pot or a large bowl made of clay which is used to cook various Korean food."

(e) "Ms [Justine] Lee[, a food writer,] found her Proustian bulgogi in a bowl of dolsot bibimbap, which she had as a tween in a shopping mall in Seoul. The crispy rice was topped with the deeply seasoned meat and mounded with molten mozzarella.  'The cheese was almost an extension of the bulgogi,,' she said."
(i) Proustian (adj): "1(b): relating to or evoking the recall of a forgotten memory"
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Proustian
(pronunciation)

Marcel Proust recalled the experience while eating a madeleine.
(ii)
(A) dolsot
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolsot  
("돌솥; lit. 'stone pot' ")
(B) In hangul, 돌 is stone, and 솥, pot.
(iii) bibimbap
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bibimbap
("비빔밥, literally 'mixed rice' ")
(A) 비빔 bibim (n): "a mix, mixing"
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/비빔
(B) The bap is explained in (e)(i)(A) below.


(f) "The most popular menu item at Danji, the restaurant of the New York chef Hooni Kim, is a bulgogi slider that uses brisket. * * * Maangchi, a popular YouTube chef"
(i) This Korean restaurant has a tore sign that reads only "Danji" without hangul.
(ii) behind the name: danji. project danji ("a sneak peek into the creation of a NYC restaurant, from start to finish"), July 8, 2010.
https://projectdanji.wordpress.c ... ind-the-name-danji/

the first two paragraphs:

"Danji.  A Korean word that could mean a variety of things but often defined as clay jars of various sizes, shapes, and colors.  A danji can serve a purpose as anything from a honey jar to a jewelry box, and is usually used to contain the kimchi, soy sauce, and other scrumptious staples of a Korean household.

"According to chef/owner Hooni Kim, he discovered the name Danji entirely by chance.  While reading a Korean children's book to his young son, he came across a picture of a honey jar with 'danji' written on it.  He thought that 'danji' was the Korean word for honey and both simple and easy to remember, his requirements for a restaurant name.  Later on, he realized that it meant something completely else but liked 'danji' enough to choose it for the name of his first restaurant. * * * Maangchi, a popular YouTube chef"

(ii) The word danji has 단지 (noun) as hangul and no hanja.
(iii) slider (sandwich)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slider_(sandwich)
(section 1 History)
(iv) Brisket is explained in (g)(ii) below.
(v)
(A) Maangchi
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maangchi  
(born Kim Kwang-sook)
is also known as Emily Kim.
(B) The Korean noun maangchi 망치 means mallet, hammer or sledge in Korean language.


(g) "Hyosun Ro, the Washington-based writer of the popular cooking blog Korean Bapsang * * * Other cuts require even less culinary deftness: Skirt steak, flank steak's more marbled cousin, comes pretty thin already. * * * Simon Kim, the owner of Cote Korean steakhouse in New York, says he can’t serve bulgogi at his restaurant because the paper-thin slices would fall through the grates of the metal mesh grill pans lining his tables. Anyway, for him, bulgogi is home food.  Growing up, Mr Kim preferred the more expensive kalbi, grilled short ribs, which he got to eat only on special occasions like his birthday."
(i)
(A) For bapsang, see namul
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Namul
, which is apparently cooked vegetable, has a photo caption: "A single-person bapsang [밥상] (meal table ['dining table': Wiktionary; images.google.com shows 밥상 is all sorts of dining table, even a modern, round one which is waist-high]) with bap [밥] (cooked rice), guk (soup), kimchi, pyeonyuk (meat slices), and three namul banchans (spinach namul, brackenfern namul, and balloon flower root namul)"
(B) 상 床
(ii) "Skirt steak, flank steak's more marbled cousin, comes pretty thin already."

Scientific names of muscles and their corresponding cuts of meat with CT scan correlation. undated
http://xradiologist.com/muscles_and_meat/index.html
(brisket: Pectoralis minor + Pectorals major; flank steak; skirt steak: diaphragm)
(iii) Search images.google.com with (cote korean steakhouse) -- no quotation marks -- and you will see the mesh on the table grill. I do not think beef will fall through the cracks. Its URL is Cotenyc.com.
(iv) "kalbi, grilled short ribs"
(A) For kalbi, see galbi.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galbi
(B) Michelle Kerns, The Differences in Beef Spare Ribs & Short Ribs. Lifestrong.com, undated
https://www.livestrong.com/artic ... re-ribs-short-ribs/
("The world of ribs can be confusing. Common cuts are often labeled differently depending on the grocery store and the area of the country: Spare ribs are an example. Beef spare ribs are more accurately known as beef back ribs. These are taken from the cow's rib section and are the long ribs most often associated with barbecued beef ribs. Short ribs, however, are beef ribs taken from the plate cut")

For rib and plate sections, see the Wiki link in (a)(i) above.

choi

About bulgogi. For two nights, I wondered what "Score each piece [of sliced meat] with an X" meant.

In fact, July Hyun's The Lorean Cookbook was not the only bulgogi recipe that says so. See, eg,
Bulgogi Recipe. (author and date of publication unknown)
https://46.229.170.209/recipe/bulgogi-486849rb
(Direction:
1  Slice the steak very thin by the base [sic; on the bias?]. You can also ask the butcher to cut it teriaki-style. .
2  Score each piece with an x [sic]")  

Today I know, by google (score meat) without quotation mark.  
• The following is pm the top of result:
Saad Fayed, Techniques to Score Meat. The spruce Eats, updated May 19, 2019
https://www.thespruceeats.com/definition-of-score-2355583
("In culinary terms, score means to cut slits on the surface of a piece of food. The most common uses of scoring include small uniform cuts in pieces of raw meat and the deeper slashes that decorate the top of bread lo[a]ves while letting steam escape")
• This is also on the top of result when I google (score bread).
Margaret Eby, How to Score Bread Dough. Food & Wine, Oct 20, 2020.
https://www.foodandwine.com/bread-dough/how-to-score-bread-dough

choi

In fact, "score" as a verb -- and also as a noun -- meant to cut first and to keep record in a test or sport later. See score (v)
https://www.etymonline.com/word/score
(" 'to cut with incisions or notches,' c. 1400; 'to record by means of notches' (late 14c.); see score (n.). Meanings 'to keep record of the scores in a game, etc.' and 'to make or add a point for one's side in a game, etc.' both attested from 1742")