Emergency Meat — or what Korean folks would call jangjorim (장조림) — soy sauce-braised beef
Also: Yusho's chicken skin crisps, beer from White Castle and crunch-crunchy fried chicken.
Once upon a time in Brookfield, Wisconsin, a Korean immigrant mother, trying to feed two young children who would, given their druthers, subsist on chicken in drumstick or nugget form and nothing else — two young children who turned their noses up at most food from their homeland (especially kimchi) — this mother, at her wit’s end, served them slightly sweet soy-braised beef over rice and found, finally, a go-to protein, easily made and happily consumed by said persnickety moppets.
It was a dish made and served just in time to preserve a mother’s sanity. In our household it was named Emergency Meat*, and it has endured over the decades as a simple, reliable snack, often eaten cold, but best warmed up and placed atop freshly made rice drizzled with the broth it’s cooked in.
Jangjorim (장조림) is satisfyingly chewy, beefy, with just enough sweetness, acid and spice to keep you wanting more. It’s part of a class of Korean dishes known as banchan — one of the many side dishes you may see as part of a KBBQ meal, though you rarely see jangjorim nowadays. I like to take a perilla leaf, nestle a spoonful of rice in the middle, top with some Emergency Meat, a bit of whatever kimchi is available, wrap it up into a bite-sized bundle and enjoy. It’s one of the many good ways to see the contrasting flavors and textures of Korean food at play – the crunch and tiny hint of anise from the leaf, the salty, double-umami hit of the soy-braised beef, the zingy, spicy, acidic kimchi, the warm, soft grains of rice.
But if you don’t have the perilla on hand, believe me — a bowl will do just fine.
Jangjorim — soy-braised beef (thanks, Mom)
2 pounds flank steak
1.5 cups soy sauce (do not use reduced-sodium here; if sodium intake is an issue for you, um, don’t make this dish, buddy)
2-3 tablespoons of honey, regular sugar or brown sugar (honey is my choice here but you do you)
10-15 cloves of garlic, either smashed to a paste or blitzed in a food processor (I know this looks like a lot, but the cooking will mellow the garlic considerably.)
8-10 shishito peppers, trimmed of stems, or more depending on how spicy you want the beef and broth (these are easily found in Korean grocery stores and are usually to be found in grocery stores with large selections of Asian peppers; substitute 1-3 sliced, seeded and de-ribbed jalapeños if you can’t find shishitos.)
1 cup chicken broth, with extra broth set aside
Prepared white rice (optional, but not really. Make a cup or two.)
Cut flank steak into roughly 1 1/2” strips. Make sure to cut AGAINST THE GRAIN. Cut strips in half and place into bowl. Cover with cold water and soak for 30 minutes.
While beef is soaking, whisk together garlic, soy sauce, honey and broth in a bowl.
Drain beef and place it along with peppers in bottom of saucepan or small pot large enough to hold beef and peppers in one layer. Pour soy sauce mixture over beef, adding broth if mixture doesn’t cover beef and peppers fully.
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a very low simmer for an hour. Beef should be fork-tender. If not, continue to simmer. (make sure you don’t cook it for so long the peppers turn to mush.)
At this point, you should do several things:
Let beef cool just a bit until it’s warm but not scalding hot. Place beef on a cutting board and cut/pull beef into barely smaller-than-bite-size chunks with a knife and fork — though hopefully it’s tender enough to just use your hands.
Grab the whole peppers out of the broth and cut into inch-long pieces.
Return the beef and peppers to the broth.
Fix yourself a bowl of warm rice and drizzle some of the finished soy-beef-garlic-chicken broth over the rice. Top with chunks of the jangjorim, shishito pepper, and, if you’ve got it, some kimchi (garlic stem kimchi works particularly well in this implementation, but regular ol’ cabbage kimchi will be fine.) Or make yourself a perfect little perilla leaf bite (you’ll need perilla leaves, obvs.) And devour.
Using a slotted spoon or handled strainer, put remaining beef and peppers into a container. Pour cooked liquid over it and store in fridge overnight. Skim fat from top of container the next morning. Beef will get a little saltier, pleasantly chewier and broth will get a little more flavorful. When eating the rest, repeat step 4, heating up beef and broth elements on your stovetop or even the microwave. This delicious salty beef snack should keep in your fridge for about a week, though, if you’ve got enough hungry mouths around, it probably won’t last that long. Jangjorim will last in the freezer forever, but will probably taste best within a month or so.
Enjoy, friends!
— Theo
*Joe thinks “Emergency Meat” sounds like a euphemism for a booty call, and I really can’t argue with that, though that information would mortify my mother, so definitely don’t mention that to her if you see her, please.
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Links:
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White Castle:
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Things to watch:
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