Grilled Korean Beef Short Ribs

GALBI (갈비) or KALBI

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What is KALBI?

Kalbi or Galbi is the Korean word for ribs. It is a strip of beef cut across the bone from the chuck end of short ribs and recognizable by the 3 short bones laid up and down the length of the meat. It is also known as “flaken.”

I used to only be able to find this cut of meat at Korean grocery stores like Hmart or Lotte. Lately I’ve been finding Kalbi at more mainstream supermarkets like Whole Foods, Wegmans, and even at Costco.

What makes KALBI so great?

Kalbi is my family’s favorite item to order at the Korean BBQ restaurants. When you order Kalbi at the Korean BBQ restaurants, it is usually marinaded in a soy based sauce and grilled table side. In addition to soy sauce, the marinade usually contains ingredients like Korean pear puree, mirin, ginger, garlic, and sesame seed oil.

The meat itself is heavenly, marbled with a glorious amount of fat content which makes it melt in your mouth. The combination of the sweet marinade and the smokiness of the grilled meat creates the most irresistible, unctuous, melt in your mouth bite of food that will leave you craving for more.

What makes my Kalbi recipe so great?

My recipe for Korean BBQ Kalbi is a family staple that we eat regularly. I use premade BBQ sauce that you find in the grocery store and elevate it by adding fresh garlic, soy sauce, and sesame seed oil. The BBQ sauce is great on its on but when you add the extra fresh ingredients the flavors really pop.

If you already have these ingredients on hand you might ask yourself why even add the store bought sauce and not just make homemade sauce. I heavily debated whether to post this recipe or not because it might seem counter productive but the extra bottle sauce is the secret to making these ribs addictive and a real crowd pleaser.

Ingredients

• Beef Short Ribs – Could be called flaken cut or LA Kalbi. In a pinch, you can try beef back ribs.
• Bottled Korean BBQ Sauce – There are many brands. Just choose one that is specifically for Kalbi.
• Oyster Sauce – Adds extra umami flavor that is irresistible.
• Soy Sauce – The bottled sauce already includes soy sauce but I like to add more for an extra punch.
• Sesame Seed Oil – Aromatic and nutty, this really wakes up the marinade.
• Chopped garlic – I use 8 garlic cloves because I love the flavor of garlic
• Scallions – Thinly slice. I use 2 but use as much as you like.
• Optional – Add 1 pureed pear and 1 TB grated ginger. If you want to make this spicy, add 1 TB of Korean red pepper flakes (Gochugaru)

Instructions to make Grilled Korean Beef Short Ribs

Prepare the Marinade.

Mix together 1 Bottle of premade Korean BBQ sauce for Kalbi, 2 TB each of Oyster Sauce and Soy Sauce, 1 TB Sesame Seed Oil, 8 chopped garlic cloves, and 2 thinly sliced scallions.

Poor the marinade all over the Kalbi and place in the fridge for at least 4 hours but overnight is preferable.

Grill meat until desired doneness. We like it medium well which will take about 3-4 minutes on each side on medium hot grill.

My favorite way to serve Grilled Korean Kalbi is with a side of rice and kimchi.

Grilled Korean Kalbi is also great for Potlucks and Gatherings.

For my daughters 12th birthday party I pre grilled the Korean Kalbi and served it buffet style with Jap Chae ( Korean stir fried noodles) and Cha Gio (Vietnamese Eggrolls).

Try my recipe for delicious meaty Vietnamese Eggrolls here.

Happy Eating!