Kalbi Recipe (Korean Short Ribs)

Kalbi (Grilled Korean Short Ribs). Authentic grilled Kalbi is easy to make, quick to cook, and all the ingredients are available at a modern American grocery store. All you need is thin cross-cut short ribs.

Jump to:

• What is Kalbi?
• Ingredients
• How to Make Korean Short Ribs (Kalbi)
• Recipe Tips
• What to Serve with Korean Short Ribs
• Equipment
• Korean Grilled Short Ribs (Kalbi)
• Related Posts
• 💬 Comments

This recipe is the most authentic lettuce wrap that I know - Korean grilled short ribs, or Kalbi.

Lettuce wraps are a favorite way to sneak extra vegetables into my diet. We serve them like we do "taco night" - everything goes on the table, and people assemble their own wraps. Of course, the kids won't touch the lettuce, so they just grab the rest of the components of the meal.

This is authentic, easy to make, and quick to cook. All the ingredients are available at your local grocery store. Sounds too good to be true, right? The hard part is finding the ribs cut this way. Check out your local Asian market, or ask your butcher to cut some short ribs very thin - ¼" thick is what you want, but ½" thick is OK.

What is Kalbi?

Kalbi are Korean beef short ribs, sliced thin and grilled. (It is sometimes spelled Galbi, because there are multiple ways to transliterate the Korean word 갈비 into English.)

Ingredients

• 2 pounds beef short ribs, cross-cut (sliced ¼-inch thick, across the bone.)
• 1 head Boston bibb lettuce (for wraps, optional)

Marinade

• 2 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1 scallion
• 1 pear, peeled and cored
• 1 cup soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 teaspoon Mirin (or rice wine)

How to Make Korean Short Ribs (Kalbi)

Marinate the short ribs for 4 hours

In a food processor or blender, pulse the garlic and scallion with 1-second pulses until finely minced. Add the pear, and pulse again until finely minced. Add the rest of the marinade ingredients and process until well combined. Put the short ribs in a gallon zip-top bag (or a baking dish) and pour the marinade over the ribs. Seal the bag and store it in the refrigerator for 2-4 hours, turning occasionally to marinate evenly.

Preheat grill for direct medium heat cooking (350°F)

On a gas grill, preheat on high for ten minutes, brush the grates clean, then turn the heat down to medium. On a charcoal grill, light the coals, wait until they are covered with gray ash, then spread them in a single layer over the charcoal grate. Clean the grill grate with a grill brush, and brush the grate with a paper towel dipped in vegetable oil.

Cook the ribs for 4 minutes a side

Remove ribs from marinade, and cook over the direct-medium heat for 2-4 minutes per side, or until well browned on both sides. Remove ribs to a plate and let rest before serving.

Recipe Tips

• On my gas grill, I cook in a 2-2-flip-2-2 pattern; cook 2 minutes, turn the ribs 90, cook another 2 minutes; flip the ribs, 2 more minutes, turn 90, final 2 minutes. This gives you a nice diamond pattern on the ribs.
• Watch the ribs carefully - the marinade has a lot of sugar in it, and will burn if left over too hot of a fire.
• A trick I learned at my local Korean barbecue restaurant: Use Kitchen Shears to cut the meat off of the bone after cooking.
• If you can't find Korean cut (aka "Flanken cut") short ribs, substitute either flank steak or skirt steak, cut on the diagonal into ¼" thick slices.
• I like Mirin in my marinade. It's a Japanese cooking wine with a lot of natural sugar. If you can't find it, substitute regular rice wine or a dry sherry.
• If you can't find an Asian pear, a regular pear works fine.

What to Serve with Korean Short Ribs

To serve as lettuce wraps, use a head of Boston bibb lettuce, leaves separated and rinsed. I usually serve it with a vegetable stir fry, white rice, and, even though they're not really Korean, some hoisin sauce and Sriracha hot sauce. To be really authentic, also serve this with Kimchi, Korean pickled fermented cabbage.

Equipment

• Grill (I use a Weber Summit grill. It's overkill for this recipe, but I love it.)
• Food processor or blender

Print

Related Posts

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• Pressure Cooker Korean BBQ Pork Lettuce Wraps
• Pressure Cooker Korean Short Ribs
• Pressure Cooker Korean Beef Stew (Beef Doenjang Jjigae)
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Check out my Grilling Recipe index

Inspired by:
Steven Raichlen - The Barbecue! Bible

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