Easy Galbi Tacos {Simple Sundays}

I wasn’t sure if I should really put the word “Galbi” (aka Kalbi / 갈비) since this recipe isn’t a traditional Galbi recipe. Galbi is a Korean grilled dish made by marinating meat in a soy sauce based sauce. It usually requires grated onions and Asian pears, and to be honest some days I don’t even have the time to do that. So this is my extremely simple version of Galbi sauce. You literally put everything in a glass bowl, whisk, put meat in and you are done. The only utensils you need are measuring cups and spoons, and no cutting boards, or knives are required. Is it going to taste traditional? No.  But it’s darn tasty, I can guarantee that.
On the weeks I know I will be short on time, I cut up whatever meat I have on hand (usually short ribs or chicken breasts) make this marinade and toss it in. Over the next few days, I’ll cook it up little by little incorporating it to whatever dish I decide for the day.
Whenever I decide to make tacos, I usually buy more corn tortillas than I need and freeze the leftovers for another day. If you toast it over a (clean) gas burner, it reheats well and becomes soft and pliable in the middle and toasty crisp on the edges. I happened to have some frozen corn tortillas in the freezer and decided to make quick tacos.
You can really top this with whatever you’d like. On this particular day, I ran out of cheese, sour cream, parsley, avocados… pretty much every traditional taco ingredient and put my meat on a bed of mixed greens, topped it with Sriracha and sesame seeds. It still turned out delicious.
Easy Galbi Tacos

For the marinated meat:
½ c. brown sugar, packed
½ c. soy sauce
¼ c. water
2 tbsp. mirin (rice wine)
2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
2 tsp. granulated garlic
1 tbsp. sesame oil
½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
2 lbs. of meat, cut into strips (I usually use chicken breasts or short ribs)

Instructions:

1. In a large glass bowl, whisk all the ingredients (minus the meat) until combined.
2. Place meat into bowl, turning to coat.
3. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and put into the fridge to marinate.

For the tacos:
½ lb. mixed greens
12 corn tortillas, toasted
¾ lb. cooked, marinated meat
Sriracha sauce
toasted sesame seeds

Instructions:

1. Cook the meat to desired doneness.
2. Top toasted tortillas with mixed greens.
3. Top with meat, Sriracha and sesame seeds.
4. Consume.