Apple Hop & Bulgogi

Part I
There is a relatively unknown brewery here in Japan called Minamishinsyu Beer. They are actually not half bad, but nothing special. However, a few months ago they made a beer called Apple Hop that won some awards and a number of us in Tokyo are digging. Its fermented with apples and basically tastes like apple cider, only less sweet, dryer, and with a bit of a pale ale taste to it. Also they change the Apples used every month or so and I had a couple in my fridge, so I got to thinking, what kind of dinner could I do with this. Immediately I thought of a recipe for Korean BBQ or Bulgogi which uses apples in the marinade, and decided to give it a try. I used the following recipe for the marinate and its going as I type. So I will see how the pairing works out in a bit:

meat

apple (grated)
apple Hop Beer
ginger (grated)
garlic (grated)
green onion (grated)
korean pepper
sesame oil
mirin

Part II

My little grill did not let me down, and the meat was grilled successfully. I was expecting a flavor link between the Apple Hop/ shredded apple/ apple hop marinade. Unfortunately, and probably because I was only able to marinade it for a hour and a half the connection was rather weak and mostly lost in the other flavors of the dish. However, the meat did get quite 『まるやか』、as they say, or roughly translated rounded in taste, so juicy a little sweet, that type of flavor. It was more subtle than I was expecting but satisfying in a delicious way. So much so that it gathered a crowd in from the unusually strong rain, and someone bought more meat to grill on my little fire hazard bombe. Then out of the blue a friend from the area shows up, having a just few hours before learned he is to be a father. Much celebration and good beer, including a great bottle of Bons Voeus from Dupont ensued. For a review check my BA profile and click on the beer. All and all a surprising but rewarding night. Congratulations to the soon to be father! Cheers!

-Eric