This past Saturday, I tried my hand at an improved version of Korean short ribs, or Kalbi. I made some modifications to the traditional recipes out there on the advice of a Korean friend of mine’s grandmother.
2 1/2 Pounds Cross Cut Beef Short Ribs, about 1/2 inch thick.
1 Cup Dark Korean Soy Sauce
1/4 Cup Brown Rice Vinegar
1/4 Cup Grapeseed Oil
1 TBS Toasted Sesame Oil (This is potent, so make sure you like the flavour profile)
8 Cloves Garlic, Finely Minced
1 Bunch Green Onions, Thinly Sliced
3 Inches Lemon Grass, Thinly Sliced
1 Kiwi Fruit, Finely Grated (I used a Microplane zester and the seeds are removed)
2 TBS Fresh Ginger, Finely Grated
1 TBS Telicherry Pepper, Finely Ground
2 Knobs of Palm Sugar
2 TBS Sriracha
–Combine all ingredients except ribs in a saucepan and heat until boiling. Immediately remove from heat and allow to cool completely.
–In a one gallon ZipLoc container, add ribs and pour in marinade. Remove as much air as possible and place in fridge for at least six hours.
–Remove ribs from bag and scrape off as much marinade and solids as you can.
–Fire up your grill and shoot for pretty hot.
–Grill short ribs for two minutes per side, turning once.
–Garnish with toasted sesame seeds.
Damn good. Since I was making them for the kids as well, I backed off the heat. Next time, instead of Sriracha, I will use my house-made Ghost Chile sauce.
Is all that work really significantly better than something from an H-Mart (korean grocery market).
They have premade marinade, and most Koreans we know use thT instead of making their own (even though they know how to and have done so)… b/c it’s easier and apparently the taste is similar. Quality is more driven by the meat quality than difference between premade vs home made marinade.
No disrespect meant of course… honest question b/c we always used premade, and never thought to try making it from scratch…but if it’s significantly better, may be worth exploring…
Mark, I definitely see the advantage of buying the ribs already marinated from a time/cost perspective. Bottom line is that I like to give a visual inspection of the meat prior to purchase.
Those ribs in the marinade could be days old, and one would never really know (not making an accusation at all, just my personal choice). Also, I like to do as much as possible myself in the kitchen. Call me a control freak or kitchen Nazi, my wife and friends already do.
Bill, i didn’t mean to buy pre marinaded meat… you buy the ribs separately (thus quality is driven by the quality of the meat you buy).
I meant the premade marinade that’s in a jar… then the steps is quite similar to yours:
–In a one gallon ZipLoc container, add ribs and pour in marinade. Remove as much air as possible and place in fridge for at least six hours.
I meant are there differences between home made vs those jar marinades… of course there’s probably some chemical crap you can avoid going homemade?
I have no experience with the pre-fabbed marinades. But, from a purely speculative standpoint, I would think you could control the ratio of soy sauce (and quality, yes there is a difference in taste to me) to other ingredients to manage sodium content. Also, heat level could be controlled as well as the sesame oil component that some might not like incorporated into their beef. I personally like that nutty background note that it provides.
Lol, I’m with Mark on this one. I know how to make my own (although not with Bill’s super secret ghost chili) but it’s easier for me to just buy it from Korean supermarket which is more than adequate. I don’t like my short ribs too lean, I like fat on them to help with the sizzle and too lean is sometimes too dry. Bottom line…I’m lazy.
I make it from scratch since we don’t have a Korean market. I also make what I call cheating Kimchee to go with it.
I grill up the ribs, have a big mound of rice on a platter put the kim chee around the perimeter and then the grilled ribs on top of it all. We usually eat it outside, one of my kids favorite meals. Instead of Sriracha I use sambal olek for the heat component. Otherwise my marinade is pretty similar. I don’t use the Kiwi and add some black bean sauce.
The short ribs look like heaven. This sauce, however, I just don’t get. What fails with Ghost Chiles is that they have no flavor. I can’t imagine the sauce to be worthy of such succulent meats.
