Yukhoe Sashimi and a DIY Malatang

Raw beef and a homemade malatang for dinner. An odd pairing, but I wanted both.

What is it? Yuksashimi (육사시미) is thinly sliced raw beef, served plain and cold. It is the sashimi-style cousin of yukhoe (육회), which comes seasoned and often topped with pear and egg yolk. Yuksashimi arrives unseasoned so you dress each piece yourself at the table.

The standard move is gireumjang (기름장) — sesame oil with salt and pepper. Dip a slice, add a sliver of raw garlic, then a ring of green chilli. There is also chojang (초장), the sweet-sour red chilli paste on the left, and wasabi soy sauce off to the side, but the sesame oil is what I keep coming back to. It stays out of the way of the beef.

Malatang (마라탕) is the Sichuan-style spicy soup that became enormously popular in Korea, usually ordered by picking your own ingredients by weight. This was the home version: wood ear mushrooms, bean sprouts, shrimp and sausage, at a medium spice level.

The ingredients were generous. The broth was not — there was not enough liquid for the amount of stuff in the pot, and by the end it had reduced into something closer to a stir-fry. More water next time.

Soju on the side, since raw beef more or less demands it.

The broth was a miss, but the beef carried the night.