Recipe: Sanjeok – Korean Skewers with beef and vegetables

Sanjeok (Korean skewers) is a traditional Korean snack, typically served at celebrations and holidays. There are many types of sanjeok, but this traditional combination with beef, green pepper, mushroom and imitation crab sticks, is one of the most popular and colorful.

Recipe and notes by my Korean friend Ella @cookiestorykim

Beef: Use a nice cut of tender beef such as sirloin.

Green peppers: You can use any kind of green peppers, spicy (if you can eat spicy) or non-spicy, but smaller, shishito-style peppers work really well in size. If you use green bell peppers, cut into pieces of the same size as the other ingredients.

Korean-style imitation crab sticks are longer than in the US and Europe. One Korean crab stick can be cut into 3 pieces. If you use western-style crab sticks, they are typically too short to cut.

Regarding mushrooms, use a big, meaty kind, such as king oyster mushrooms or big shiitake mushrooms.

You only use the white and light green part of the green onion, not the upper, dark green part.

Use short, wooden skewers, approximately 3″-3.5″ long. You need 18 skewers for this recipe.

Recipe: Sanjeok – Korean Skewers with beef and vegetables

Recipe by Ella – @CookiestoryKim

Course: side dishCuisine: Korea

Servings

18

skewers

Sanjeok (Korean skewers) is a traditional Korean snack, typically served at celebrations and holidays. There are many types of sanjeok, but this traditional combination with beef, green pepper, mushroom and imitation crab sticks, is one of the most popular and colorful.

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Ingredients

• Beef Marinade

• 1 cup soy sauce

• ½ cup sugar

• 1 tablespoons minced garlic

• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper

• 1 tablespoon sesame oil

• Skewers

• 8 oz beef sirloin

• 12 Korean imitation crab sticks (or 36 short, imitation crab sticks)

• 5-6 mushrooms

• 18 small green peppers

• A bunch of green onion

• Batter

• 6 eggs

• 2 cups flour

• A pinch of salt

Directions

• Beef
• Mix the soy sauce, sugar, garlic, pepper and sesame oil.
• Cut the beef into 2.5″-3″ long pieces, approximately 0.6″ wide. Marinate the beef in the soy sauce mix for one hour.
• Skewers
• Cut the green onion, mushrooms and imitation crab sticks into 2.5″-3″ long pieces.
• Thread the beef, imitation crab sticks, mushrooms and peppers on wooden skewers. The wooden skewer should be placed at one side, approximately 1″ from the end of the beef and vegetable pieces. Start and finish with a crab stick to keep the other ingredients in place.
• Beat the eggs and pour the flour in a bowl or on a plate (or in a plastic bag as in the video).
• Dredge the skewers in flour. Soak the skewers in beaten egg.
• Fry in a frying pan until the batter is golden-colored. You can add a little extra egg while frying to “glue” it all together.
• Cut the sanjeok in half with a pair of kitchen scissors. Serve as part of a meal with rice and side dishes, or as a snack.

Recipe Video