Show-stopping braised short ribs
I love this recipe. I love this dish. In Korean, this is 갈비찜 (galbi jjim). It uses the most luxurious cut of beef: the short ribs. I used to follow the two-dozen-step recipes from popular Korean recipe websites. The galbi jjim came out great, but it was just so much work.
You’ve got to see the tenderness of this meat in my video.
I learned how braising works, thanks to some life-changing recipes from America’s Test Kitchen. So after having kids, I re-imagined the galbi jjim recipes I knew, and decided to cut out steps whose effort didn’t seem proportional to the extra flavor it yields! Because we’re all about #minimumwork for the #maximumflavor here at The Asian Allergy Mom!
For more simplified Korean and other Asian recipes, follow me at The Asian Allergy Mom on Instagram.
A few practical notes:
Bone-in? Yes, the bone-in part is actually important. I’ve tried making this with boneless short ribs, and it turned out fine, but it really was missing something.
Where do I find them? I’ve found bone-in short ribs pretty consistently at my Whole Foods for about $10-12/lb. It’s also at your local Korean grocery store. Here in Colorado, I also find them at Sprouts sporadically.
Make sure your short ribs look plump with meat, otherwise this dish will kind of fall flat and there won’t be enough meat for everyone.
I chose Yukon Gold potatoes for this recipe because I’ve found it to be the creamiest potato for this recipe while still holding together. And we’re really turning up the creamy, luxurious, irresistibility factor here, so we have to go with the creamiest potato!
A Dutch oven or Instant Pot is necessary here. We really need to be cooking low and slow - anything else might cause some burning. For a slow cooker or Instant Pot, just add ingredients and figure out what setting is around 300 degrees.
Korean soy-braised short ribs (galbi jjim)
Ingredients:
1/2 cup soy sauce (tamari for wheat-free)
1/2 water
8 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled (no need to mince)
1 TBS brown sugar or honey
3 lbs. bone-in beef short ribs, large chunks of fat trimmed
2 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, rinsed and cut into large cubes, about 3/4”
Directions:
Preheat oven to 300 degrees F with wire rack in center of oven.
With the Dutch oven on the stovetop, turn heat to medium. Add soy sauce, water, smashed garlic cloves, brown sugar. Stir.
Add short ribs, arranging them so that bones are as close to the liquid as you can get.
After the liquid comes to a steady boil, cover with tight-fitting, oven-safe lid. Place into oven. Set the timer for about 3 hours.
Remove pot from oven and place on heat-safe surface. Working quickly, add potato cubes, making sure that potatoes are touching the liquid. If short ribs are not submerged in the liquid, use this time to rotate them. Replace lid, then put Dutch oven back into the oven. Set the timer for 1.5 hours.
After the last 1.5 hours, your short ribs and potatoes are done. Take them out of the oven, and using chopsticks or two forks, break the meat apart. Serve with rice. See below for other serving ideas.
Allergens: wheat (if using soy sauce), soy
More ideas for serving your short ribs:
Garnish with chopped (or scissor-cut!) scallions
Serve with kimchi
Drizzle Trader Joe’s Chili Onion Crunch over short ribs
For very young children, you can make a short rib and rice mash. Just be sure to cut the long fibers of meat with scissors to make very small pieces. Frozen peas would also be a great addition here.
Add a drizzle of sesame oil and a shake of toasted sesame seeds
Make wraps! Have a plate of beautiful red-leaf or green-leaf lettuce on the table. Fill with a spoonful of rice and spoonful of short ribs
A word of caution: This will be greasy, and there will be a lot of liquid fat leftover. Please follow safe procedures to dispose of the fat so that it does not solidfy in your kitchen sink drain.
