The word bulgogi literally means “fire meat” in Korean. The meat of choice in this popular dish is typically beef, sliced into thin strips, marinated in bulgogi sauce (basically a doctored soy sauce), and “fired” on a grill. We love this dish, and have explored some of our own versions, like Trader Joe’s Korean Inspired Bulgogi Beef Fried Rice with Kimchi to name just one. Continuing our exploration, we’ve chosen some less traditional territory in the creation of Trader Joe’s Korean Beefless Bulgogi.

The fire “meat” in this case is not meat at all. Instead, it’s 100% Beefless textured soy protein. Even so, the marinade is quite traditional, made by our Korean supplier (in the Republic of Korea) using common bulgogi- sauce ingredients, such as soy sauce, pear puree, garlic, ginger, green onions, and sugar. Though completely vegan, the texture of our Beefless Bulgogi is satisfyingly meat-like; and the savory, sweet, salty sauce adds authenticity (not to mention enjoyability!) to the whole eating experience.

Korean Beefless Bulgogi cooks from frozen in 3-7 minutes, depending on your chosen method. Serve it with a side of Organic Jasmine Rice, or in a stir fry with your favorite TJ’s veggies. Since we’ve already gone non-traditional, why not take it a step further and pack some TJ’s tortillas with this Bulgogi for truly inspired, totally meatless tacos?!