Korean Steak with Kimchi Fried Rice

Wow it has been a long time since I have had the time to sit down and do this.  Well here we go.... Quick update:  Baby Bird is now 4 months old and growing like a weed, Bird is more beautiful than ever, Restaurant is getting busier and taking up more of my time, oh yeah and we decided to move with all of this going on.  Once again I am not sure what we were thinking, but we have been in the house for about 2 weeks and here is the first long cook I have done in a long time.  I got lucky after reading this one in the most recent Food Network Magazine, my parents were in town and stopped by to see Baby Bird so I took the baby free time to prep.  Free time doesn't come often around here these days.

I started by making the kimchi.  I have seen this made on tv, but have never had it.  It sounded spicy and delicious.  I have also never tried Fish Sauce, which smelled like old rotten fish, but I pushed on.  After making this it didn't smell great, but it did smell great after a night in the fridge.

I then made the marinade for the steaks.  Any marinade that involves thick sliced bacon has to be delicious.  The recipe in the magazine is for skirt steak, but we had 2 filets in the freezer so that is what I used for the main protein.  Here we have 2 filets and 1 large white onion (quartered)  covered in bacon, soy sauce, toasted sesame seeds, Coke, dark brown sugar, and garlic.  The recipe calls for 6-8 slices of bacon, but really who would just use 6 when given the option to use 8. No brainer for me.

When you remove the steak and onion you are left with 8 thick slices of marinated bacon to start your fried rice.  You see why I made this now.  Dice the bacon, cook until almost done, then add in the drained kimchi from above, saving the liquid.  When the kimchi is brown add in your cooked rice, toasted sesame oil, and reserved kimchi liquid.  Stir fry.  I have never stir fried before, but basically cook real hot constantly moving everything around, while pressing everything down.  I am really over simplifying a century old cooking style.  

I grilled the onion and banana peppers in a grill pan like suggested, then cooked the steaks to medium rare.  

All together now.

All in all this was worth all the time it took to prepare.  I learned that kimchi is delicious (although it doesn't sound like it), I can fry rice, and Korean flavors are awesome.  Another great recipe from the Food Network Magazine.  I also learned that I remember how to log into blogspot.  It has been to long.