Hot grilled beef, cold crisp lettuce, and the sauce that ties a Korean table together
In Korea this way of eating is called ssam — wrap. Grilled marinated beef, a spoonful of rice and a dab of punchy ssamjang, all folded into a crisp lettuce leaf and eaten in one go. Nobody plates anything; the table does the assembling and the talking. The marinade — soy, grated nashi, garlic, sesame — is the traditional one, and the BBQ steak takes to it the way it takes to every marinade: deeply. Dinner becomes an activity, and the activity empties the board.
Ingredients
- 380g Your Farmer grass-fed BBQ steak
- 60ml (1/4 cup) soy sauce
- 1/2 nashi (or ripe pear), coarsely grated
- 1 1/2 tbsp brown sugar
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 2 tsp finely grated fresh ginger
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 2 tbsp doenjang (Korean soybean paste; white miso works)
- 1 tbsp gochujang
- 1 tsp sesame oil, extra (for the ssamjang)
- 1 tsp honey
- 1 spring onion, finely sliced
- 1 small clove garlic, extra, crushed
- 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds
- 2 baby cos or 1 butter lettuce, leaves separated, washed and chilled
- Steamed short-grain rice, to serve
Instructions
For the marinade
Whisk the soy sauce, grated nashi, brown sugar, garlic, ginger and sesame oil in a shallow dish until the sugar dissolves.
60ml soy sauce1/2 nashi1 1/2 tbsp brown sugar3 cloves garlicAdd the steak, turn to coat well, cover and marinate in the fridge for 2 hours (overnight is even better, optional).
380g BBQ steakFor the ssamjang
Stir the doenjang, gochujang, extra sesame oil, honey, spring onion, extra garlic and sesame seeds together, loosening with a teaspoon of water until it's a thick, spoonable paste.
2 tbsp doenjang1 tbsp gochujang1 tsp honey1 spring onionTo grill and serve
Heat the barbecue grill to medium-high. Lift the steak from the marinade, letting the excess drip away, and grill for 2–3 minutes per side — the sugars char quickly, so turn early rather than late.
Rest the steak for 5 minutes, then slice thinly across the grain.
Set the table with the chilled lettuce leaves, steamed rice, sliced beef and ssamjang, and let everyone build their own: a leaf, a spoon of rice, a few slices of beef, a small dab of ssamjang, folded and eaten in one bite.
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Why the Marinade Has Fruit in It
Korean cooks have grated pear into beef marinades for generations — it brings a gentle sweetness and helps the surface of the meat soften and caramelise, which is why bulgogi tastes the way it does. Nashi is the closest thing in an Australian fruit bowl to the Korean pear the tradition calls for, and any ripe pear will do the job. The BBQ steak is the right cut to build this on: it comes off the oyster blade, a shoulder muscle whose open grain drinks up a marinade in a way the tight, fine-grained premium steaks never quite manage. Two hours in the soy and nashi, a hot grill, a rest, and a thin slice across the grain — that last cut matters most, because ssam wants beef that yields in one bite. Your Farmer® beef is raised on pasture from first day to last, and there's a BBQ steak in every Pack A and Pack C box of the grass-fed beef CSA share.
Swaps and Variations
Rump or scotch fillet take the same marinade if you want to run this with a different steak — scotch needs a slightly gentler grill or its fat flares against the sugars. Kimchi and cucumber batons on the table are the traditional company and both earn their place. If the wrap-and-share format is a hit at your table, the Thai beef larb bowl works the same interactive magic from a different direction, and for the slow-cooked end of Korean beef cookery there's the galbi jjim-inspired braise.
Storage and Leftovers
Ssamjang is the great keeper here — covered in the fridge it holds a week and arguably improves, so make double and put it near anything grilled. The steak can also go into the freezer raw in its marinade for up to 3 months, thawing and marinating in one move. Cooked beef keeps 3 days; reheat it briefly in a hot pan or serve it at room temperature over rice with a fried egg and a dab of ssamjang — a leftover bowl good enough to plan for.
Frequently asked questions
I can't find doenjang — what's the closest substitute?
Why grate pear into the marinade?
Which lettuce works best?
Can I cook the steak indoors?
How far ahead can I make the ssamjang?
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