My 52 Week Challenge grocery trip is becoming a favorite new tradition. Sometimes I go in with a plan, and sometimes I just browse the aisles looking for ingredients I’m curious about. I’m beginning to love trying new ingredients. Today, I found a whole slew of mushroom varieties I’ve never tried that I’m saving for next week. There’s a certain catharsis in just browsing at the grocery without a plan. This week I found these pretty daikon radishes! They’re crisp, white, earthy radishes that lend themselves perfectly to cutting up into matchsticks and throwing them into a vinegar slaw for topping on Korean inspired Bulgogi Tacos.
If you’ve never had bulgogi, it’s one of my absolute favorite dishes. The meat is thinly sliced and marinated in a sauce made with soy sauce, grated pear, ginger, and gochujang then quickly seared in a screaming hot pan until the meat crisps up. It’s normally made with steak or pork, but I used my favorite meat for this one. I love chicken! It’s a weeknight dinner hero, so I figured you’d like it, too.
My beef (no pun intended) with slaw is usually one of two things. Either it’s mayonnaise based, and I hate mayo, or there’s too much vinegar for it to be palatable. This one has the perfect dressing that’s not too tart, but also perfectly seasoned. I made my own tortillas, but store bought flour tortillas would work great. See the full recipe below.
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp sesame oil
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
- 1 tbsp gochujang
- ⅓ pear, grated
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil for frying
- kosher salt
- sesame seeds
- 3 green onions, sliced
- flour tortillas for serving
- 1 cup matchstick carrots
- 1 daikon, peeled and cut into matchsticks
- ¼ green cabbage, sliced very thinly
- 1 tsp dijon
- ¼ cup grapeseed or vegetable oil
- 1 tsp low sodium soy sauce
- 6 tbsp unseasoned rice vinegar
- a pinch of salt
- Slice the chicken breasts very thinly, about ⅛ inch thick. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, sesame oil, brown sugar, ginger, gochujang, and grated pear. Add the chicken to the bowl and toss to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes or up to 8 hours.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the carrots, daikon, and cabbage. In a small bowl, whisk together the dijon, oil, soy, vinegar, and a pinch of salt. Pour this over the cabbage mixture and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate until you're ready to serve.
- To cook the bulgogi, heat a large skillet over high heat. Add a tablespoon of vegetable oil. Once the pan is very hot and the oil is glossy you're ready to cook the chicken. Add just half the chicken to the pan with tongs, letting the excess liquid drip off into the bowl before adding to the pan. Sprinkle a little salt over the chicken. Cook for one minute without stirring so the chicken browns. Turn the chicken and cook another minute or two until the meat is cooked through and browned. Remove to a plate and repeat with the remaining chicken.
- Top the plate of bulgogi with a sprinkle of sesame seeds and green onions and serve with the slaw for topping.
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