Galbi (Korean-Style Short Ribs)

Galbi (Korean-Style Short Ribs)
Karsten Moran for The New York Times
Total Time
30 minutes, plus several hours’ marinating
Rating
5(1,461)
Notes
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This dish, known as galbi, is a fine thing to eat in a restaurant, but it also makes for a wonderful and easy meal at home. If you buy English-style short ribs, which are cut along the bone, you must butterfly the meat into a thin, long strip. If the ribs you buy are flanken-style, in which a band saw is used to cut across the ribs, creating half-inch slices of beef dotted with three little bones, rinse them under cold water before seasoning to remove any bone fragments. It’s a good idea to let the ribs marinate for at least two hours to allow the seasoning to penetrate; marinating overnight is even better.

Featured in: Short Ribs Worthy of Winter Grilling

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Ingredients

Yield:About 20 slices, 4 to 6 servings
  • 3pounds short ribs, cut in ½-inch slices across the bones (flanken-style)
  • cup soy sauce
  • cup brown sugar
  • cup rice wine
  • 1tablespoon sesame oil
  • 2teaspoons black pepper
  • ¼teaspoon cayenne or gochujang
  • 1medium onion, peeled and quartered
  • 8garlic cloves, peeled
  • 1small Asian pear, peeled, cored and quartered (or use an ordinary pear or tart apple)
  • 11-inch chunk of ginger, peeled
  • 2teaspoons sesame seeds
  • Lettuce leaves
  • Sliced red or green hot pepper, optional
  • Ssamjang (spicy Korean soybean paste), for dipping, optional
  • Steamed rice, optional
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)

1002 calories; 85 grams fat; 36 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 38 grams monounsaturated fat; 4 grams polyunsaturated fat; 19 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 12 grams sugars; 35 grams protein; 895 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Rinse short ribs in cold water, pat dry and place in a wide shallow bowl. In another bowl, mix together soy sauce, brown sugar, rice wine, sesame oil, black pepper and cayenne.

  2. Step 2

    Put onion, garlic, pear and ginger in the work bowl of a food processor. Grind ingredients to a smooth purée, then add to soy sauce mixture. Add sesame seeds. Thin with ¼ cup water. Pour marinade over short ribs and mix well. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or overnight. Bring to room temperature, drain and discard marinade.

  3. Step 3

    Cook short ribs on a hot grill or under the broiler for 2 to 3 minutes per side, until nicely browned but juicy. Pile grilled meat on a platter and serve immediately with lettuce leaves on the side. Accompany with sliced hot peppers, ssamjang and steamed rice, if desired.

Ratings

5 out of 5
1,461 user ratings
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Cooking Notes

These types of ribs, called kalbi, are very popular here in Hawaii. The exact portions on the marinade are not too important. I use green onions instead of the regular onion, and any type of white wine. You can skip the sugar, and the ribs turn out just fine. You don't even need to purée the marinade if you don't want to. For me, the real trick is equal parts of soy sauce and white wine.

I have made this a number of times with the flanken style ribs and it is just super. That cut can be hard to find around here so I recently used the marinade with a couple of New York strip steaks, marinating overnight in fridge. They were wonderful and very tender - which must have been the marinade because they were just supermarket steaks. I only needed half the marinade for the steaks, froze the rest in an airtight container for next time. And there WILL be a next time.

This is a wonderfully delicious recipe! I opted to throw these into an Instant Pot pressure cooker since no grill and I didn't want to smoke up the house with the broiler. 20 mins at high pressure and natural release and they literally were falling off the bone and melt in your mouth tender. It's a different way to cook them if you can't broil or grill but have an instant pot --- the rest of the recipe stays essentially the same. Next time, I'll grill them!

I find that the pear puree is really unique and provides a sweet flavor that sugar cannot replicate. I'd say keep the pear and skip the sugar!

Okay, I've now done this a few times, and have to agree with skipping the apple, using scallions (lots) in place of regular onion and whirring it all in food processor together. Throw in ziploc with boneless beef shortribs from Costco, and you've got a super easy crowd-pleaser. Add coconut or Filipino-style garlic rice and grilled corn (maybe brushed with soy + mirin)...

To tenderize, try using a bit of kiwi instead. That's what my mom usually does.

I’ve made this with boneless ribs with the full portion of marinade in a Dutch oven in my oven at 325. 1 hour with lid on 1 hour lid off to thicken the sauce. The meat falls apart and the marinade becomes a thick, fatty, sweet, gorgeous sauce. Eaten lettuce wrap style with white rice inside, which cuts the richness of the meat - wow. Its life changing. I increase the gochujang and add Korean chili flakes for some more heat.

These were the best short ribs I've ever had. They were absolutely delicious.

Skip the pear puree - it's mushy, overkill, and unnecessary. Otherwise a great and easy recipe.

This recipe is in the book, THE KREMLIN'S CANDIDATE by Jason Matthews. Each of his books in his 'Sparrow Trilogy' have recipes at the end of each chapter. I just pulled up the recipe on my Kindle and it is exactly the same (minus proportions). What a hoot! I have prepared this recipe and it is delicious. I did use half a Granny Smith in lieu of the pear. Just bough a package of flanken ribs and will soon be making it again. I will serve it with rice, cucumber salad, etc.

Excellent. Made exactly as described.

A delicious meal! I was sorry to have it come to end, but grateful to have enough for leftovers. Easy and flavorful, a really good recipe. I thought about skipping the pear but I'm so glad I didn't. It added a sweet and textural element to the marinade (overnight is best). The ribs grilled up perfectly, with a little smoke and bits of char. Served with rice and sugar snap peas for some color and crunch. Leftovers were great. Good for casual company, not too scary for timid eaters.

These were fantastic!! Accidentally forgot the ginger and had to do them under the broiler (guessing they would have been best on the grill) and they were still amazing. Will definitely make again.

I honestly don’t understand why this recipe gets such good reviews. I’ve made it three times now, exactly as written, and marinated for an ample amount of time – 1 to 2 days. Grilled perfectly, and they still have no real flavor compared to the recipe I find on allrecipes.com. that gets lesser star ratings. I’ve tried to love this one, but I just don’t.

The flavor is wonderful. Definitely will use the marinade recipe again. Without the right cut of the ribs the timing of cooking is off. Needs more time. There was another review that used steak instead and I think using this marinade on other cuts or the same with the ribs in a slow cooker or roasting would work well.

Enjoy!

I made an entire cow's worth of this over the years.. Regular sugar is fine.. You don't need brown and won't taste the difference. Don't mess with fresh ginger. Takes forever to peel and grate all that. Asian stores sell pureed ginger. Asian pear can be deleted unless you have very thick ribs. It adds a sweet taste but mostly tenderizes it.. I have it cut 1/4 thick and you don't need it at that thickness. And Asian pear is hard to find and expensive.

I was wondering how the fat was rendered with such a quick cook. It wasn’t. Mine were chewy with marbled fat. The cooking method and protein seem mismatched.

The rib is tough meat. Just because it is marbled like wagu it won't be tender like wagu. You need to let the rendered fat fry the meat. You need thinner ribs like 1/4 inch, not 1/2 inch. This can actually be tricky to cook because the rendered fat will drip and cause flair-ups. This is not an easy one to grill because of the flare-up. But the last thing you want to do is cook in low heat or worse yet cook on aluminum foil You will basically get steamed meat not grilled.

Can anyone explain how you are supposed to eat this, specifically what to do with the bones? Do you cut the meat off the bones with knife and fork before wrapping in lettuce? Pull the meat off the bones with your hands? put the whole thing in your mouth and pull the bones out?

I was wondering the same thing!

You don't usually eat this with lettuce. You basically grab it with your finger and rip into it. I don't think I have seen other Koreans serve ribs with lettuce.

Excellent! Easy for cooking for a crowd. I did not have asian pear so I used a pink lady apple and added about 1tsp of rice vinegar to the recipe for extra tenderizing. Otherwise followed as written! Boiled the leftover marinade for 10 minutes and used as a sauce for veggies and rice on the side.

Do <1/2 of the sugar Try Green onion instead of onion

I made this for dinner last night and everyone liked it. It had a great flavor. The only thing I had a minor problem with is in the ingredient list where it called for rice wine I didn't know if it called for Chinese or Japanese rice wine. I think they meant the Japanese (Mirin) but not being sure I used the Chinese (Shaoxing) rice wine. It still came out very tasty but I would love to know which one was meant to be used.

Another great recipe NYT Cooking! My husband and I live near LA's Korea Town- and indulge in the many nearby restos often. This recipe had us puffing up our chests with excitement that we could make something so good at home.

I made this today after a 24 hour marinade. I substituted a diabetic friendly brown sugar (Truvia) and was worried about it caramelizing properly. I also used Apple instead of pear annd doubled he garlic and ginger. I also blended it all together at once (combining first two steps). I then grilled on a 600° grill. The caramelizarían was beautiful and the taste is OUTSTANDING. Thanks for the recipe! My diabetic father REALLY enjoyed this flavor packed meal.

About the "rice wine"... is that sake? Or Mirin? Anyone subbed pinot grigio?

Grilled short ribs for 2 minutes per side

Does anyone cook down the marinade and turn it into a sauce? Seems wasteful to toss it?

Followed the recipe to a tee. Decided to broil in the oven and it turned out great. Was able to easily determine how much "char" I wanted. Next time, I will try to use an outdoor grill to see if it makes a difference.

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