Galbitang

Short ribs in a broth that stays clear, which is why it is skimmed constantly and never boiled hard.

Beef, Egg. Not vegetarian — contains beef.

Ingredients

• 1.2 kg beef short ribs, in 5 cm pieces
• 2 litres water
• 400 g Korean radish, in thick chunks
• 1 onion, halved
• 6 cloves garlic
• 4 spring onions
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 100 g glass noodles, soaked
• 1 egg, as a thin omelette, cut in strips
• salt and black pepper

Method

1. THIS BROTH STAYS CLEAR, WHICH IS WHY IT IS SKIMMED AND NEVER BOILED HARD. A bare simmer for the whole ninety minutes, with the grey foam lifted off every few minutes for the first twenty. That is the exact opposite instruction from the seolleongtang on this site, which is boiled hard for hours on purpose to turn milky -- same animal, same bones, contrary methods, and the reason is simply which broth each dish is. Boil this one hard and you get a cloudy soup that is neither thing.
2. THE RIBS ARE SOAKED IN COLD WATER ONE HOUR AND THEN BLANCHED, and the blanching water is thrown away. Soaking draws the blood out; the ten-minute blanch takes the scum that remains. With a clear broth there is nowhere for any of it to hide.
3. THEY ARE ALSO TRIMMED HARD. Short ribs carry a great deal of surface fat, and in a clear soup it floats as a yellow film. Cut it away before cooking rather than skimming it afterwards.
4. THE RADISH GOES IN LATE, after an hour. Korean radish cooked for ninety minutes disintegrates and clouds the pot; in for the last thirty it stays in translucent chunks you can lift out whole.
5. AND THE NOODLES ARE COOKED SEPARATELY AND PUT IN THE BOWL, never in the pot. Glass noodles shed starch and would undo the whole hour of skimming in two minutes.
6. Ribs trimmed of surface fat, covered with cold water and SOAKED 1 HOUR, the water changed once.
7. Drained, covered with fresh water, boiled 10 MINUTES, and the WATER THROWN AWAY. Ribs rinsed and the pot washed.
8. The ribs returned with the 2 litres of water, the onion, garlic and spring onions, and brought to a BARE SIMMER.
9. Skimmed every few minutes for the first 20 minutes, until no more foam rises.
10. Simmered gently 1 HOUR, never boiling.
11. The radish added and cooked 30 MINUTES more, until the ribs give at the bone.
12. The onion, garlic and spring onions lifted out and discarded. The soy sauce stirred in and the broth tasted and salted.
13. Any fat on the surface lifted off with a ladle or a sheet of kitchen paper laid flat on it.
14. Noodles cooked separately, drained, and divided between the bowls.
15. The ribs and radish set on the noodles, the clear broth ladled over, and the egg strips, spring onion and pepper on top.

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