Oct 01, 2017 This summer we may have slightly over-committed ourselves. I had a sudden burst of organizational energy coupled with some vacation FOMO in the spring, and I advance-booked a number of mini getaways. I’m not complaining, but suddenly it seems a good percentage of our summer weekends are already planned. I’m glad we’re staying busy, but it kinda makes time go faster, don’t you find? We went camping with our one-and-a-half-year-old for the first time this weekend. I was going to ask you to wish us luck. But we needed something something stronger than luck. (Maybe someone could send me one of those child leashes that we all judged heavily before we became parents of toddlers who run straight for traffic/water/wild animals.)
When heading to a cabin or a campground, I like to plan and prep all the meals in advance to keep the effort really minimal when I get there. I have a strong preference toward dinners with few ingredients that I can cook over campfire coals topped with a grill grate. Today, I’m sharing just that – a simple Bulgogi BBQ pork chop recipe, in partnership with Sempio (you might remember them from my gochujang-sauced Sticky-Spicy Korean Chicken Wings). Sempio makes traditional, authentic Korean sauces and condiments, such as soy sauce, soybean paste, red pepper paste, and BBQ sauces. They’re a household name in Korea. I buy their products at Superstore, T&T and H-Mart in Vancouver, but you can find them online, too.
Bulgogi, if you’re not familiar with it, is a savoury-sweet Korean sauce. If you like teriyaki, you’ll love it. It’s got soy sauce, pear, pineapple and kiwi purees, and lots of black pepper. I can hardly call the pork part a recipe, because it’s mostly just a matter of marinating the chops in jarred Bulgogi. I do reduce the marinade to a glossy sauce on the stove, and thicken it up with some cornstarch. But I thought I’d include the yummy noodle salad, too, lest you feel misled by the promise of a recipe (that is more than “open jar and pour”). The salad is a delicious, fresh, crunchy accompaniment that I make on repeat all summer long with whatever vegetables I have on hand. Cold vermicelli noodles, an easy sesame vinaigrette, and some cashews or peanuts for crunch. A few handfuls of fresh herbs would be a welcome addition. I’ve since used the leftover marinade on some pressed firm tofu and baked it – it was really good that way, too!
