Korean BBQ Breakfast Tacos

My go to restaurant of choice for any special occasion in my life is Korean BBQ. I try to find any excuse to go. I made it through the work week, KOREAN BBQ TIME! I did all the laundry all by myself, KOREAN BBQ TIME! I cleaned the fridge, most definitely KOREAN BBQ TIME! I can’t really explain it, but there’s just something so awesome about going to a restaurant that makes you do all the work. They know what they’re doing. Sure I cook at home everyday and the last thing you’d expect me to want to do is to go out and cook some more, yet it’s still so much fun to me. If you’ve never been to a Korean BBQ place before, I suggest you drop what you’re doing right now and google the nearest restaurant to you, and you go immediately because it’s the best experience you’ll ever have outside of your home. I promise. If there is no KBBQ place anywhere near you, have no fear because Jonathan (that’s me) is here to save the day with these Korean BBQ Breakfast Tacos. (Cue applause). 

I love a good breakfast recipe, mainly because I’m a big fan of breakfast in general. If I’m being specific though, I’m a big fan of breakfast for dinner. This recipe is definitely one of those breakfast for dinner recipe situations that you must definitely try out for yourself sooner rather than later. Whenever I eat breakfast for dinner I always think of my childhood because my mamma was the queen of making breakfast dishes for dinner. I remember thinking how cool it was to have potatoes and eggs and pancakes at night, instead of in the morning. I liked this because I was never a big breakfast eater when I was a kid and I felt like I missed out on all of those great dishes in the morning, but on days when my mamma made them at night, I always thought she was the coolest mom on the planet. Not much has changed, she’s still the coolest mom on the planet. Except now I’m finding new ways to eat crazy things for breakfast like Korean BBQ and Breakfast Fried Rice and Breakfast Enchiladas. It’s like all of my wildest dreams come true and I’m totally not complaining about it. 

The first thing we need to do is make the marinade for the bulgogi (the meat). The longer the meat sits in the marinade the better, so if I were you I’d plan ahead and make it the night before so that it can do its thing. Combine the marinade ingredients in a food processor or blender and blend until smooth. 

Pour over the beef and mix with your paws to fully coat every piece. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours or overnight. 

**Note: The best meat for this is boneless beef short rib. It has the best flavor and perfect amount of fat. Trim off any excess fat and then slice the short ribs into thin strips. The thinner the better.**

Korean BBQ is all about cooking on a grill and having smoke go everywhere so let’s try and recreate that in our home. Cook the beef on a stovetop grill over high heat, until charred and crispy. 

**Tip: Make sure to turn on all of your vents and fans and open all of your windows. Have a kitchen towel on hand because you might need it for fanning your smoke detector. I’ve been there. Done that (on multiple occasions.**

I’m all about having different textures in my meals so we definitely need something cold and crunchy to go on top of these tacos to off set the warm meet and egg filling. So we’re going to make a quick slaw. 

In a large bowl, toss together the napa cabbage, daikon, carrots, scallions, and cilantro. 

In a small bowl, whisk together the lime juice, soy sauce, fish sauce, sriracha, and olive oil until well combined.

Pour over the slaw and toss until fully coated. Set aside while you put together the rest of the components for the tacos. The hardest part is done already. The rest is a walk in the park from here on out. 

Once the meat is done, and the slaw is ready to go, the last thing to do is get the egg filling ready. It wouldn’t be breakfast without involving a few eggs. In a large skillet, quickly sauté the scallions and garlic just to develop their flavor. 

Add the whisked eggs and leftover rice to the skillet. 

**Note: The rice is optional, you don’t have to make rice if you don’t have any leftover, but if you do happen to have a bit of rice in the fridge from last night’s dinner, you that! It’ll be perfect in the tacos.**

Cook until the eggs are firm and no longer runny, make sure to stir the eggs with a rubber spatula throughout the cooking process so that they cook evenly. 

To assemble the tacos, warm a few flour or corn tortillas in a dry skillet and then fill with the egg mixture and top with the bulgogi. 

Add a mound of slaw on top of each and then serve with a bit of hot sauce and lime wedges on the side, just in case people don’t think you did a good job with the seasoning of the dish and they think it needs hot sauce and lime juice to make it better. KIDDING! You did a great job. You don’t need either of those things, but just in case people want it, it’s nice to have on hand. 

These are perfect for breakfast or brunch, and I know what you’re thinking…Who has time to do this first thing in the morning. Have no fear, make some of the steps in advance. Marinate the beef the night before, toss the slaw together (don’t dress it), and make the dressing the night before. Store it all in the fridge and then cook the meat, and assemble the slaw the morning of. 

If you’re not a fan of beef, or just don’t feel like eating it, you can definitely still make this with chicken breast if you prefer. Thinly slice it the same way you would the short ribs. You can also make it with tofu, but that seems a bit boring to me. 

By now you know that I’ve come to not mind cold food because of shooting it all day and by the time I actually get to eat any of it, it’s stone cold…with that being said, I do have to admit that this isn’t bad at all cold, well at room temperature. So if you make this for a brunch at home, don’t worry about it being super hot. You can totally set it out on a buffet for people. 

The possibilities are endless with this recipe. If you’re not feeling the breakfast tacos, then regular tacos would work out just fine. Just the bulgogi as the base and then add all of the usual taco toppings like guacamole, tomato, and the slaw. Or just serve it over rice (or rice noodles) with the slaw on top for the perfect dinner. 

Make these tacos soon because if you don’t you’re going to be depriving yourself of life’s greatest pleasures. Breakfast tacos made with Korean BBQ is definitely one of life’s greatest pleasures. You don’t want to deprive yourself of something so magical, do you?! No you don’t! Let’s make this week count, and even if we don’t let’s make tacos because tacos make everything better 100% of the time. 

Korean BBQ Breakfast Tacos

 

Print

Prep time

3 hours 15 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

3 hours 35 mins

 

These breakfast tacos are made with homemade bulgogi, scrambled eggs cooked with green onions, garlic and rice and topped with pickled veggies.

Author: The Candid Appetite

Serves: 6 servings (12 tacos)

Ingredients

Bulgogi

• ¾ cup low-sodium soy sauce
• ½ cup fish sauce
• ½ cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 6 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
• 6 scallions, sliced
• 2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
• ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 3 pounds boneless short ribs, thinly sliced

Slaw

• 3 cups shredded napa cabbage
• ½ cup thinly sliced daikon, julienned
• ½ cup thinly sliced carrots, julienned
• ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 6 scallions, sliced
• 2 limes, juiced
• 2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 2 tablespoons sriracha
• ⅓ cup olive oil

Tacos

• 8 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons half and half
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 4 scallions, sliced
• 1 cup leftover cooked white rice (optional)
• 12 small flour or corn tortillas

Instructions

1. To make marinade for beef, place the soy sauce, fish sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil, garlic, scallions, ginger, and red pepper flakes in a food processor or blender. Pulse until well blended and pour into a large bowl with the sliced short ribs. Mix until fully incorporated. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 3 hours or overnight.
2. To cook the bulgogi, set a stovetop grill pan over high heat. Lightly grease with olive oil or cooking spray and place the beef in batches on the hot grill. Cook, stirring often, until charred and crispy, about 8 minutes. Transfer to a plate or platter and repeat with remaining beef.
3. In a large bowl, toss together the cabbage, daikon, carrots, cilantro and scallions. In a small bowl, whisk together the lime juice, soy sauce, fish sauce, sriracha and olive oil. Pour over the vegetables and toss until well combined. Set aside.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs and half and half. Set a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil, garlic, and scallions. Cook for a minute, and then stir in the white rice. Cook for a minute longer and then add the whisked eggs. Stir with a rubber spatula and cook until no longer runny, about 10 minutes.
5. To assemble the tacos, warm the tortillas in a dry skillet. Divide the scrambled eggs, bulgogi and slaw between all of the tortillas. Serve immediately. Enjoy!

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