For those who love a good braised short rib dish and love short ribs, I challenge you to make your own BBQ Korean Shortribs (Galbi) at home. This is one of those special dishes you usually leave to the professionals at all those awesome Korean BBQ restaurants out there, but like a beautiful braised short rib, it can be successfully made at home as well. Growing up in a small town we didn’t have the luxury of a Korean BBQ restaurant to go to BUT I did have the luxury of my uncle owning a very popular Korean BBQ restaurant in the Bay Area. People went nuts for their galbi. As a little girl I would see multiple 5 gallon buckets of short ribs getting marinaded at once and safely watch as the employees would replace the burnt out coals on the tabletop grill with fresh ones they kept going in the back outside to fetch throughout the meal. What a production. The care that goes into the marinade for a cut of meat of that quality was something you learned to appreciate, even at a young age.
My uncle’s marinade included pears which seemed odd at first but you come to understand the importance of a fruit in these types of marinades. When I started making my own galbi while living in LA, I almost always used Korean pears but I’ve come to realize they aren’t always accessible year-round depending on where you live. For this recipe I use a Bosc pear which works beautifully. My mom uses a kiwi which is great, especially when you want to do a quicker marinade. Using a fruit like kiwi for a 24 hour+ marinade can sometimes over-tenderize the meat though.
Grilling is what makes this dish a lot of fun, but when your husband graciously offers to do the grilling for you in the 100 degree (plus) heat, you take him up on his offer.
-Jenny
| Prep Time | 20 minutes |
| Cook Time | 10 minutes |
| Servings |
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- 2 1/2 pounds Korean style beef short ribs
- 1/4 cup brown sugar, packed packed
- 1 small Asian pear grated I substituted Bosc pear
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced peeled and minced
- 1 tablespoon dark sesame oil
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 tablespoons mirin (rice wine)
- 1/2 small onion, peeled and grated peeled and grated
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced (optional for garnish)
Ingredients
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- Sprinkle and rub brown sugar over both sides of the meat and let sit for 10-20 minutes. Mix the remaining ingredients in a large bowl and transfer to a large sealable freezer bag. Add meat and mix marinade around the meat. Let sit in the refrigerator overnight.
- Before heating up your grill, remove meat from the sealed bag, brush excess marinade off with your fingers and lay short ribs over a rack on a cookie sheet to drain. Preheat your grill. Charcoal grills are great for gabli because I like to cook it over high heat (plus you get a little extra flavor!). They should only take about 2-3 minutes per side. The end result should be tender deliciousness with a little chew no matter what temperature you cook it to - but I prefer medium.
- We like to cut the short ribs into their three natural sections to make it easier to enjoy family style. It also makes it a bit more kid friendly.
Wow, those ribs look amazing. I’ll be getting my butcher to cut up what we call over here in Sweden “Tjock revben” (thick ribs) into the korean style. How thick are they cut? Thanks for the post.
Jenny says
Hey Ron, thanks for your interest. You want to ask your butcher to cut in 1/2 inch slices across the bone. Hope you enjoy the recipe!
Thanks for the info.