Galbi

Short ribs butterflied open along the bone into a flat sheet, marinated, and grilled fast.

Beef. Not vegetarian — contains beef.

Ingredients

• 1.5 kg beef short ribs, thick cut
• half an Asian pear, grated
• 1 onion, grated
• 6 tablespoons soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons sugar or rice syrup
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons mirin or rice wine
• 6 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
• black pepper
• lettuce, ssamjang as on its own page, and steamed rice as on its own page, to serve

Method

1. THE RIBS ARE BUTTERFLIED OPEN ALONG THE BONE. A thick short rib is cut along the length of the bone and then sliced away from it in a continuous sheet, turning and cutting, so a 4 cm block of meat opens out into a flat piece under a centimetre thick still attached at one end. That is what makes galbi grillable: the whole surface is exposed to the heat and it cooks in minutes. Left as a block it has to be braised, which is the galbijjim on this site and a completely different dish.
2. IT TAKES A SHARP KNIFE AND PATIENCE RATHER THAN SKILL. Cut a few millimetres at a time, keeping the blade parallel to the board and the meat under tension with your other hand. A butcher will do it if asked for LA-cut or butterflied galbi.
3. THE RIBS ARE SOAKED IN COLD WATER THIRTY MINUTES FIRST and patted dry. It draws out blood that would otherwise go grey and bitter on a grill, and it is the step that gets skipped because the meat looks fine already.
4. THE MARINADE HAS GRATED PEAR IN IT and the same limit applies as to the bulgogi on this site: the enzyme keeps working, so four hours is good, overnight is the outside edge, and two days gives mushy meat.
5. AND THE GRILL IS HOT AND THE MEAT IS SHAKEN DRY. There is sugar in the marinade, so it chars quickly -- which is the point -- but marinade dripping into the pan burns and smokes bitterly. Lift each piece and let it drip before it goes on.
6. Ribs soaked in cold water 30 MINUTES, the water changed once, then patted dry.
7. Each rib BUTTERFLIED along the bone into a flat sheet about 8 mm thick, with a sharp knife, cutting a few millimetres at a time.
8. Shallow cuts scored across the meat on both sides, which lets the marinade in and stops it curling.
9. Pear, onion, soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, mirin, garlic, sesame seeds and pepper combined.
10. The ribs folded through it and left 4 HOURS in the fridge, or overnight at most.
11. A griddle or barbecue brought to a high heat.
12. Each piece lifted out, allowed to DRIP, and laid on the grill.
13. 2 to 3 minutes a side, until the edges char and the sugar has caramelised. Not longer -- these are thin.
14. Cut up with scissors on the grill and eaten straight away, wrapped in lettuce with ssamjang as on its own page and steamed rice as on its own page.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under South Korea · All recipes