Korean Grilled Beef Lettuce Wraps

Korean Grilled Beef
1 1/2 pounds rib-eye or other well-marbled steak
1/4 cup soy sauce
11/2 tablespoons unrefined sugar
1/3 cup stout or porter
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
2 scallions, minced
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 tablespoon honey
1 Asian pear, peeled and grated

For Serving:
Cooked sushi rice
Large lettuce leaves
Chopped scallions
Cilantro
Cucumbers, thinly sliced and marinated briefly with seasoned rice vinegar and chili flakes
Sriracha or other chili sauce

I've been making a lot of Italian food lately, and needed to switch things up. I was thrilled to find a new recipe while flipping through the NY Times Magazine that wasn't stir-fry or noodles! I also don't make a lot of steak, so I thought I would give this a try.

I soaked the sushi rice for 30 minutes before hand, and while I fired that up, I threw the steak in the freezer for a few minutes while I put together the marinade. Mince the garlic, scallions and the pear finely add in a bowl with the soy sauce, honey, pepper, and sugar. The recipe calls for sesame oil, but I just had hot sesame oil to make it nice and spicy. Since it was Sunday and couldn't buy the porter at Whole Foods, I had to leave that out. I took the steak out of the freezer and sliced into 1/4 inch slices and let it sit in the marinade for half and hour or so (putting it in the freezer made it easier to slice). The recipe calls for rib-eye, which is a fatty piece of meat. I think next time I would use a flank steak instead.

The rice is ready and the grill is heating up, so it's time to get all the fixins ready. I sliced some cucumbers really thin and marinated in rice wine vinegar and chili flakes (FYI, this would also be a great side dish). I also sliced the extra scallions and picked some cilantro leaves, and you can't forget the sriracha sauce. You can also add shredded carrots, radishes, hot chilies, the possibilities are endless. I couldn't find Boston lettuce, so I just used green lettuce and left the leaves whole. I put everything in separate bowls so we could just add whatever we wanted to our wraps. The steak took about five minutes to cook, and it's time to eat!

Oops, by the time we devoured everything we realized we forgot to take a picture of our beautiful spread! I know I will be making this again, so next time!

P.S. This marinade would also be great with chicken or shrimp!