I had my boyfriend over and he mentioned before that he wanted to try to make a dish called Galbi Jjim – Korean Braised Short Ribs. I did some research and we made this dish together for dinner just in time for a Zoom happy hour session!

Here’s the link to the original recipe: https://mykoreankitchen.com/galbi-jjim-korean-braised-short-ribs/

Ingredients:

FOR THE MAIN COURSE:

• 1.5 – 1.8 kg bone-in beef short ribs (3.3 to 4 pounds)
• 1 1/2 cups water + water to help boil meat in the beginning (eyeball)
• 2 carrots (275g / 9.7 ounces), cut into medium size pieces
• 8 dried jujube (optional)
• 10 ginkgo nuts , peeled (optional)
• 10 chestnuts , peeled (optional)

FOR THE SAUCE/MARINADE:

• 1 red apple or nashi/asian pear, (170g / 6 ounces), cored & chopped
• 1/2 onion (60g / 2 ounces), peeled & chopped
• 6 Tbsp regular soy sauce
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp honey
• 2 Tbsp rice wine (mirin)
• 1 Tbsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 5 whole black peppers

Instructions:

FOR THE BEEF PREP AND SAUCE/MARINADE:

1. Submerge the beef ribs in a bowl of cold water for 10 – 20 mins to draw out the red liquid from the meat
2. Change the water a few times during this time just to make sure
3. In-between the meat soaking times, blend the sauce ingredients in a mixer or food processor
4. Set it aside until needed

FOR THE MAIN DISH:

1. In a large pot or dutch over (at least 6 quart), fill the pot with water, just enough to cover all beef ribs
2. Once you’ve gotten the water to start boiling, add ribs and boil for 6 to 8 minutes over medium high heat
3. Drain the water and rinse the ribs in cold running water then cut off any obvious excess fat from the ribs
4. Place the ribs back into your pot or dutch oven and pour the water (1 & 1/2 cups) along with 2/3 of the sauce/marinade
5. Bring them to a boil them on medium heat for about 25-30 mins, covered (It burned the first time with this heat and time combo so instead I chose to bring it to a boil on high heat, then after 5 minutes, reduced the heat to just under medium to cook for 10 minutes and then increased the heat to medium for the remainder)
6. Remove the cover to stir gently and change the position of the ribs
7. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for about 10 minutes, covered
8. Add the remaining ingredients (carrots, jujube, gingko nuts, chestnuts and the remaining 1/3 sauce) and continue to simmer over medium low heat for about 20 mins, covered (I added a touch more water as well)
9. By now the ribs should be fully cooked, but they may not be as tender as you desire — Continue to simmer over medium low heat until your desired tenderness in the beef ribs is achieved (I simmered for an additional 45 minutes covered)
10. Depending on how long you simmered it, you may still have a reasonable amount of sauce/liquid left in the pot. You can either boil it off, by increasing the heat to medium high for 10 to 12 minutes, covered — which should thicken the sauce and leaves just the right amount of it at the bottom of the pot. Or alternatively, you can spoon/pour the sauce out into a bowl and save to use as a base for fried rice – which is what I did and the flavor was amazing and I highly recommend!
11. Best to serve galbi jjim hot with steamed rice or fried rice

Tips/Notes:

• To reheat the galbi jjim the next day, add 1/3 cup of water in a dutch oven and boil it for 5 to 7 mins over medium high heat, covered
• For the main portion of galbi jjim, the ingredients listed above are your typical ingredients, however, I used potatoes once when making this since it was all I had at home and the flavor was just as good!
• According to the original recipe, you shouldn’t let the meat fall off the bone since it doesn’t look nice when serving – this of course is just a suggestion and not necessary to follow (to each their own)

Please leave your rating below: