For some reason I did shoot Anju & Banju for my round-up of the best books I read in 2023, but I forgot to do a write-up about it. Either way I was going to share this recipe for mushroom bulgogi and mashed potato from the book anyway, so here we are.
Anju & Banju: Seoul Mum’s Recipes, Korean Tapas
I first saw this book at one of the many magazine shops Londen has, in summer last year. From the design alone I knew I had to have it. As my suitcase was already full and I had to drag it through the Paris subway system to get home, I decided to order it once I got home.
While it’s quite obviously brilliantly designed and the illustrations are to die for, the recipes for inventive Korean dishes with natural wine pairings is just also extremely exciting. Other recipes that I’d like to make from this book are the beef tartare, the spicy cold noodles with kimchi, braised sirloin potatoes and the kimchi mayo potato salad. As you can probably tell from this, the book is quite meat-heavy. This mushroom bulgogi was also originally a crumbled beef bulgogi. I shroomified it to make it more accessible.
I will say the way the recipes are written feels a bit awkward. It’s not a way of recipe writing that I’m familiar with. If you’re cooking from it you’ll likely need a bit more experience in the kitchen. For example for this recipe, it mentions 1 T of sugar on the recipe page but then also mentions an additional 1.5 and 1 T of brown sugar in the recipe itself. I skipped that part because I had assumed that these were the same sugars, writing this recipe down now I realize they are not. There are similar issues with cup measures. So buyer beware.
The wine pairings are very specific, but I’m sure if you take their suggestions to your local cave they will be able to recommend a perfect substitute for you.
Mushroom Bulgogi and Mashed Potato
Love bulgogi, love mash, so of course this is the recipe I want to share with you. I was also extremely intrigued by the addition of sugar and ginger in the mash. Paired together with the mushroom bulgogi this worked extremely well. I’d also never seen a bulgogi recipe before that calls for red wine, but it adds a really nice layer of depth.
I was having a bit of a shit day when I shot this yesterday, mainly from hating the photo I took. Eating this made up for it because it was just so comforting and everything I need in a meal when I am down. So, on to the recipe.
Mushroom Bulgogi and Mashed Potato
Equipment
- Container or shallow tray for marinating
- Medium-sized pot
- Large frying pan
- Grater
- Masher
Ingredients
For the mushroom bulgogi
- 600 g 1.3 lbs mushrooms I used Portabello, cut into strips
- 4 T soy sauce
- 1 T sugar
- 2 T honey
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 T red wine
- 1 t black pepper ground
- 2 T sesame oil
- 1 T neutral oil
For the ginger mashed potatoes
- 3 medium potatoes peeled and cut into chunks
- 1 t salt
- 1 T sugar
- 3 T cream use non-dairy to keep it vegan
- 2 T milk use non-dairy to keep it vegan
- 1/2 T ginger peeled and grated
To serve
- 2 T spring onion minced, chives also work
Instructions
- Start by bringing 3 medium peeled potatoes to the boil with 1 t of salt. Turn down the heat to a vibrant simmer and leave to cook for 20 minutes, or until you can poke through the potato with a fork with ease.
- Now mix together 4 T of soy sauce, 1 T sugar, 2 T honey, 1 cloves minced garlic, 1 T red wine, 1 t black pepper and 2 T sesame oil in a container big enough to briefly marinade your mushrooms in (I used an oven dish) and place in the mushrooms. Tossing every so often to coat everything evenly.
- Stand around for a few minutes to roughly time your mushrooms to be ready at the same time as your potatoes. 5 to 10 minutes or so.
- When your potatoes have about 10 minutes to go, heat a large frying pan over high heat and add 1 T neutral oil before tossing the mushrooms and marinade into the pan. Toss and cook until the mushrooms have caramelized and most of the liquids have evaporated.Be sure to stay with the pan at this step, the sugars and garlic can turn really burnt and bitter if you don't take it off the heat in time.
- With the mushrooms taken off the heat and the potatoes now cooked. Add 1 T sugar, 3 T cream, 2 T milk and 1 T grated ginger to the potatoes and mash to your desired consistency. I like my mash chunky on some days and smooth on others, so you do you.
- Plate the mash and then top with the mushrooms before sprinkling with 2 T of spring onion (or chives) and serve with a nice Bourgogne Chardonnay.
Notes
- If you want to make this as it was originally intended, the recipe in the book calls for 600 g of beef (rib eye, beef loin or poor man's rib eye) and 2 T of Korean pear 'squeeze' (juice) and ground black pepper to tenderize the beef in for 20 minutes before you do anything else.
- I'm sure this will work equally well with (king) oyster mushrooms.
- Anju & Banju recommends you serve this mushroom bulgogi and mashed potatoes with Sextant - a Bourgogne Chardonnay by Julien Altaber.
