Yukhoe

Yukhoe(Korean:육회;Hanja:肉膾;[jukʰø]) is a raw meat dish inKorean cuisine. It is most commonly made of beef but it can come in various kinds and cuts of meat.
Yukhoeliterally means 'raw' (hoe,회;膾) 'meat' (yuk,육;肉). Therefore, in the strictest context, the term designates any dish of raw meat cut up for consumption without the marinade but, colloquially,yukhoemeans a dish of marinated raw beef slices. Though relatively rare to find these days,yukhoecan come in all kinds of meat. Yukhoe made of other meats will specify the source of the meat, for instance, akkwong-yukhoeis made ofpheasant, and amal-yukhoeis made of horse meat.
Yukhoeis most commonly made of lean cuts such as an eye of round, but more tender cuts of a beef can also be used. The beef is cut into thin strips while the fat is removed. It is then seasoned with salt, sugar, sesame oil, pepper, and garlic.Korean pear, raw egg yolk, and pine nuts are commonly used as garnishes. It is similar to a Westerntartareor a Levantinekibbeh nayeh.
Yukhoeis also made with other cuts of beef, such asliver,kidney,heart,cheonyeop, oryang, in which case the dish is calledgaphoe(갑회;甲膾). The ingredients are thoroughly cleaned and salted, then rinsed and dried to remove unpleasant odors.Gaphoeis usually seasoned with sesame oil, salt and pepper, and is served with a spicy mustard sauce.
According to the 19th century cookbookSiuijeonseo(시의전서,是議全書), thin slices of tender beef are soaked to remove blood before being finely shredded. The shredded beef is then marinated in a mixed sauce of choppedspring onion, minced garlic, pepper, oil,honey,pine nuts,sesame, and salt. Its dipping sauce,chogochujang(초고추장,chili peppercondiment mixed withvinegarand sugar) can be altered to taste, with pepper or honey.
Meat in Korean cuisine has highly detailed classifications regarding freshness,quality, andpart differentiationfor specific cooking methods.Sinceyukhoeuses raw beef, freshness is the most important criterion, and, for this typical dish's beef, it is recommended to use no more than one day afterdefrosting, and, traditionally, should not be aged more than one day after slaughtering. Regular Koreanyukhoecustomers are often patrons of trusted restaurants or butcher's shops which have well-known, high-quality beef distributors.
Since 2004, the Korean Government has run the Beef Traceability System.This system requires ID numbers with the age of the beef animal of origin, supplier, distributor, the beef's grade, and butchering date and originating butchery. Most of the good beef restaurants in Korea list their beef's information on the wall. Also, butcher shops post signs saying, "new beef coming day" (소 들어오는 날so deureooneun nal): these words have become a well-known idiom in Koreaand it means newly butchered beef supplied at the day.
Raw beef can be contaminated with pathogenic bacteria, with enterohemorrhagicE. coli(O111 or O157:H7) being of particular concern.Only by the freshness of beef can the risk be reduced.
In April and May 2011, five people died and more than 35 people were hospitalised after eatingyukke(Japanese spelling of yukhoe)made from beef not designated for raw consumption in various branches of ayakinikurestaurant chain焼肉酒家えびすinToyamaandKanagawaprefectures,Japan, with enterohemorrhagicE. colibacteria found in many of the cases.
On October 22, 2011, the last hospitalized victim, a 14-year-old boy, died ofhemolytic-uremic syndrome. The final death toll of the incident was five people.As a result, the MHLW developed regulations for trimming raw beefto remove surface contamination, and the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) developed new regulationsto require cooking the surface 1 cm deep to further reduce contamination. However, since the dimensions of individual pieces of yukhoe/yukke are quite smaller than 1 cm cubes, preparing the beef to this standard would cook it all the way through, and it would no longer be yukhoe/yukke.