Meat Jun – Local Hawaiian Style

Hawaiian-style meat jun is a revelation in flavor, with tender marinated beef coated in a simple batter and then quickly fried.

Like so many other local Hawaiian dishes, meat jun is packed with a ton of flavor.  The beef is marinated in a sweet, salty mixture of soy, sesame oil, sugar, and other ingredients.  And since the beef is thinly sliced, the marinade really digs into the meat giving it a deep flavor.

It’s fried in a flour and egg batter that protects the beef from drying out and keeps it super moist.

Finally, to add even more flavor, it’s served with a sweet, spicy dipping sauce that perfectly compliments the crispy, oily meat.

Be sure to serve meat jun with white rice to soak up some of the extra dipping sauce!

What is meat jun?

Meat jun is a Hawaiian dish that consists of thinly-sliced beef marinated in a mixture of soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, and mirin, breaded in a batter of flour and eggs, and then pan-fried.

Meat jun is often served with a spicy dipping sauce of soy, rice vinegar, sesame oil, sugar, gochugaru, garlic and scallion.

You’ll find meat jun across Hawaii and it’s often part of plate lunches.

Where does meat jun originate from?

Meat jun is a fusion dish that originates from Korea.  It’s based on Korean jeon, fritters that are made with meat, vegetables, or fish dredged in a flour and egg batter, and then fried.

There are many different types of Korean jeon, such as cabbage, kimchi, seafood and more.  Here are some of the different variations:

Cabbage jeon

Napa cabbage leaves are lightly battered and fried in this recipe.

Kimchi jeon

The main ingredient in this jeon is kimchi.

Seafood (shrimp, clams, and squid) jeon

This recipe batters and fries a mix of seafood into pancakes.

Meat jun is Hawaii’s take on Korean jeon and it’s unique to the islands.  It first appeared in Hawaii in the 1970s, when a restaurant named Kim Chee #1 in Kaneohe, Oahu added it to its menu.

Since then, meat jun has become widespread on the Hawaiian islands and is often one of the components of plate lunches, served with rice, mac salad and kimchi.

How to make local style meat jun

Meat jun is a simple dish that comes together in three steps.  

First, you marinate the thinly-sliced beef in a soy-based marinade for one hour. 

Second, you batter the meat by first dredging it in flour and then coating it in an egg wash. 

And third, you pan-fry the meat in oil for 1-2 minutes on each side.

You can also make an optional dipping sauce that comes together in just a few minutes.

Meat jun marinade

The marinade consists of soy sauce, sesame oil, mirin, sugar, minced garlic and minced scallion.

To make the marinade, first finely mince two cloves of garlic and one full scallion (both the green and white parts).

Add the minced garlic and scallion along with ¼ cup soy sauce, 1 tablespoon sesame oil, 1 tablespoon mirin, and 2 teaspoons sugar.  Stir the marinade until the sugar dissolves.

Now add the meat to the marinade and massage the meat to ensure that the sauce begins to permeate the meat.

Place the meat in the fridge for one hour to allow the flavors to soak into the meat.

How to make meat jun batter

Meat jun uses a simple batter containing only two ingredients: flour and scrambled eggs.  

The meat is battered in two steps.

To start, place the flour on a plate and the eggs in a bowl.

First, dredge the meat in the flour.  Coat all sections of the meat with a thin layer of flour.  Then shake off the meat to remove all the excess flour.  You only need a very thin layer of flour to remain on the meat.  The flour layer helps the eggs stick to the meat.

Second, dredge the meat in the scrambled eggs.  Place the beef in the eggs and coat all portions of the meat with egg.  Once fully coated, lift the meat out of the eggs and let the excess eggs run off of the meat.  You only need a thin layer of eggs and don’t want too much remaining on the meat.

Place the battered meat on a separate plate, and repeat the dredging process for the other slices.

How to make meat jun dipping sauce

There are typically two types of meat jun dipping sauces.  The first is a soy-based sauce and the second is a red gochujang-based sauce.

This recipe uses the soy-based dipping sauce consisting of soy, rice vinegar, sesame oil, sugar, minced garlic, minced scallion, and gochugaru (the spicy Korean chili flakes).

The red gochujang-based dipping sauce includes some of the same ingredients as the soy-based sauce, with the addition of gochujang.

What kind of meat do I need?

Meat jun uses thinly sliced beef.  The specific cut of beef that you use can be flexible.  You’ll find recipes that use ribeye, sirloin, cross rib, filet minion, and others.

It’s important that the meat is sliced thinly, but not too thinly.  The ideal thickness is about ⅛ of an inch.  This thickness allows the marinade to fully penetrate the meat, giving it a super savory and salty flavor.  

If the meat is any thinner than ⅛ of an inch, it could be difficult to batter and fry and will likely fall apart during the process.

How to reheat leftovers

It’s best to serve meat jun while it’s fresh, and can become soggy if left out for too long.

However, you can store leftovers in the fridge for 2-3 days and reheat them.  For the best results, follow the process below to reheat the meat jun.

1. Remove the meat jun from the fridge and let it warm up to room temperature. 
2. Add 1-2 tablespoons of oil to a frying pan over medium-high heat and fry the meat jun for around 30 seconds on each side, for a total of one minute.

This frying process will help to crisp up the outsides of the meat jun.

What to serve with meat jun

Meat jun is usually part of a Hawaiian plate lunch with two scoops of white rice and one scoop of Hawaiian mac salad.  

Other Korean inspired sides like kimchi, cucumber salad, or moochae (spicy Korean radish salad) go well with meat jun.