LA Galbi (Korean BBQ Short Ribs) | LA 갈비

Pronounced: LA Gahl-Bhee

What: Skip BCD Tofu House or eating out, here's how to make LA Galbi at home that's just as good, if not better. We created a marinade that does not use water, but rather, relies on fruit juices to do all the work. The result? Flavorful, perfectly sweetened tenderized ribs.

Taste: Sweet and savory — LA Galbi is known for being sweet, but it’s sweetened just right from the fruit juices that also tenderize the meat as it marinates for 1 to 2 days. Often, we see recipes use a lot of soy sauce which is then diluted with water and added with a bit of sugar or sweet syrup. We omitted both water and sweet syrup and limited the amount of sugar; the fruit juices do all the work to create a balanced marinade that’s perfectly sweetened naturally. When charred and slightly burned, it complements the meat just right.

How It’s Made: Submerge ribs in water. Rinse ribs thoroughly. Create marinade. Add ribs to marinade. Marinate for 2 days. Cook and enjoy. It’s very easy.

How to Serve: Enjoy with rice and other banchan. We like to top cooking onions (yes, the onions continue to cook as you eat) with cooked galbi, which you see in the picture. Instructions on how to do this are in the recipe below.

Tip:

• Buy short ribs and Asian pear from the Korean grocery store if you can. The meat at the Korean grocery store has a much better marble and the Asian pears are big and juicy.

• Run pear, apple, and onion juice through a cheesecloth to obtain smooth juices to avoid a gritty texture on the meat.

• Minimum 1 day wait. Tastes good on the second day. It tastes best on the third day (2 day marination).

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Yield: 4

Author: Sarah Ahn

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LA Galbi (Korean BBQ Short Ribs) | LA 갈비

Skip BCD Tofu House or eating out, here's how to make LA Galbi at home that's just as good, if not better. We created a marinade that does not use water, but rather, relies on fruit juices to do all the work. The result? Flavorful, perfectly sweetened tenderized ribs.

Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 10 MinInactive time: 30 MinTotal time: 55 Min

Ingredients

• 2.83 to 3 pounds beef short rib trim
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• Water

Marinade

• 1 Asian pear, peeled, cored, and roughly chopped (457g); to yield 1 ¼ cup pear juice
• ½ fuji apple, peeled, cored, and roughly chopped (115g); to yield ¼ cup apple juice
• ½ yellow onion, peeled and roughly chopped (141g); to yield ¼ cup onion juice
• ¼ cup pineapple juice (We use Dole brand)
• 5 Tbsp soy sauce (We use Kikkoman brand)
• ½ Tbsp fish sauce (We use Three Crabs brand)
• 4 Tbsp mirin (We use Lotte brand)
• 2 Tbsp toasted sesame oil (We use Ottogi brand)
• 2 Tbsp (36g) minced garlic
• 1 tsp (8g) minced ginger
• 2 green onion, finely chopped (25g)
• 3 Tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp black pepper

Instructions

1. Submerge ribs in water with 2 Tbsp sugar. Mix around meat so that the sugar is dissovled and set aside for 30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, process Asian pear in a blender until very smooth. Run the pear juice through a cheesecloth, allowing the liquid to collect in a measuring cup. Squeeze the cheesecloth to extract as much liquid. Discard the pulp in the cheesecloth. Reserve exactly 1¼ cup pear juice. Transfer to a large bowl. Repeat the same process for fuji apple and reserve ¼ cup apple juice. Add to large bowl. Repeat process for yellow onion and reserve ¼ onion juice. Add to large bowl.
3. To same large bowl, add the remaining ingredients to create marinade. Mix thoroughly to dissolve sugar.
4. Once 30 minutes have passed, drain the ribs and rinse, rinsing one rib at a time. Make sure to rinse the bones to remove bone powder. Transfer to strainer. Repeat process to rinse twice total. Lay the rinsed ribs on a strainer and let it drain for 30 minutes (tip: tilt the strainer to make sure the meat doesn’t sit in the drained liquid). Discard drained liquid.
5. Mix marinade once more to dissolve remaining sugar at bottom of bowl. Working with one rib at a time, dunk rib into marinade to coat with marinade and chopped vegetables. Transfer rib to airtight container. Repeat with remaining ribs, making sure to layer the ribs so that the bones aren’t all aligned on one side. Pour remaining marinade over ribs and cover with lid. Refrigerate for at least one day, rotating the strips from bottom to top the next day. Enjoy on second or third day.

To Cook

1. Heat a nonstick pan over medium-high heat until just shimmering. Add 1 Tbsp of marinade per galbi strip. Cook for one minute, then flip, making sure to cook other side of strips over the marinade. Continue to cook until marinade is reduced by half, about 2 minutes, then cut the strips by sections of the bone. Continue to cook, flipping occasionally, until marinade is absorbed and ribs are slightly caramelized and charred, about 4-5 minutes. Garnish with green onion. Enjoy with rice and other banchan.
2. Optional: Top galbi on a bed of cooking onions. Here's how - When you begin step 6, preheat cast iron over medium heat. When the marinade is reduced by half in step 6, add yellow onions to cover entire cast iron and pour 2 tsp of marinade over onions. Let it slowly cook as galbi cooks. Top with cooked galbi and enjoy.

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @ahnestkitchen on instagram and hashtag it #ahnestkitchen

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My Appa (Dad) and brother said it’s better than the ones from restaurants like BCD Tofu House. I hope you guys enjoy this recipe and are able to save a couple bucks (several bucks, actually — they’re ridiculously priced at restaurants!) from making it at home. If you like it, be sure to let our ahnest kitchen community know by tagging #ahnestkitchen so I can share your creation with everyone!

Eat Well,

Sarah