Bulgogi Nachos
Crispy tortilla chips piled up with spicy bulgogi and fresh kimchi make these Korean influenced nachos so tasty! I love these nachos cause not only are they savory and spicy but they are also bright and refreshing! The cucumber and kimchi are what make them so fresh tasting!
The idea behind this recipe
A friend suggested that I make Korean nachos. I knew there would be a lot of Korean nachos on the internet since Korean and Mexican mash-ups are pretty common, but when I started looking around at recipes, most of the versions I saw didn’t seem that appetizing to me. After seeing a bunch of bad versions, I really started craving the version I was making in my head. My bulgogi nachos are based on American nachos with Korean influence, which is different from many versions I saw online that went all-in Korean including using fried wontons instead of chips.
Make the spicy bulgogi
You can buy bulgogi for this and save some time if you want. I do it with store bought about half the time. If you want to make your own, thin sliced ribeye goes into the gochujang and sesame forward bulgogi marinade. Bright and fragrant! I added the gochujang because I wanted it to be spicier than typical bulgogi.
Cook the meat on very high heat to get some nice color.
Building the bulgogi nachos
Get all your nacho ingredients ready so you can start building. Start with super crunchy chips and spread them out in an even layer.
Cheese first, then meat, then kimchi, then more cheese. Broil it for about 5 minutes until it gets brown and all the cheese is melted.
Serving the bulgogi nachos
After they come out of the oven, top with the cucumber salsa! You could leave it on the side if you wanted but I like it to drip down on to everything.
The meat has a nice sweet and spicy balance that goes great on nachos. The kimchi is sour and funky as always, and the salsa gives it a nice freshness. My roommate and I devoured these nachos yesterday. They didn’t stand a chance.
I love this recipe. Because of the kimchi and cucumber, it’s actually really fresh tasting and not super heavy.
They were also super spicy! I made the bulgogi extra hot and the salsa had a thai chili in it. It worked so well though with the refreshing flavors.
Twists on bulgogi nachos
You could do this with all store bought items – store bought bulgogi, and store bought salsa. Alternatively you could go deeper and make it with homemade kimchi!
I did a version of bulgogi that I like that was a little extra spicy. If you want to make a traditional bulgogi, check this one out.
If you love putting bulgogi into things, check out my bulgogi mac and cheese, bulgogi calzone, or lamb bulgogi bolognese!
Bulgogi Nachos
Equipment
Ingredients
extra spicy bulgogi
- 1/2 pound thin sliced ribeye steak
- 1 tablespoon gochujang
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon sesame seed
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon gochugaru
- 3 cloves garlic grated
- 2 inches ginger grated
- 1 small onion grated
- 1 pear grated
- 1 tablespoon honey
Cucumber Salsa
- 1 english cucumber diced
- 2 scallions diced
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 3 red thai chilis minced, seeds optional
- 1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro
- 1 lime (juice)
- salt and pepper to taste
Nachos
- 45 tortilla chips
- 1 cup jack cheese
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese
- 1/2 cup chopped kimchi
Instructions
- To make the beef, mix all the marinade ingredients together and add in the beef. Marinate for a few hours or overnight.
- Cook in a frying pan with some oil on high heat to cook through and brown. Stir often cause the sauce will burn due to the high sugar content from the honey and pear. Remove from pan, allow to cool, and chop it up.
- Mix all the salsa ingredients in a bowl. Allow to sit together for an hour before serving.
- Lay all the chips on a pan in one layer. Preheat the broiler. Sprinkle half the cheese onto the chips. Next add the meat, then the kimchi, followed by the remainder of the cheese.
- Broil on high for about 5 minutes, checking often so it doesn’t burn. Cook until there is some browning and the cheese is all melted.
- Top with the cucumber salsa and serve
Gorgeous photos and I love the edamame element. I do the whole fried-wontons-thing, but keep it easy with beef done in the pressure cooker. Here’s my version: http://goo.gl/qmnSbp