Galbi

One of my favorite dishes, especially for winter. Korean meats are generally sweet as opposed to smokey or saucy, and beyond tender; the best dish I had literally melted in my mouth. The tenderness was almost a barred secret as I could only find "long marinating time" as the primary factor...until I stumbled across aeriskitchen.com!

Behold, the Korean pear--those over-sized golden-brown orbs.


Ingredients (adapted from aeriskitchen.com)

2 lbs of beef short ribs - look for meat with a marbled texture; if there's any excess fat, it's best to have it on the peripheries so it's easier to trim off.


1 asian pear
1/2 white onion

Sauce
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 Tbsp cooking wine
1 Tbsp sesame oil
1.5 Tbsp minced garlic - about 2-3 cloves
1 tbsp ginger -- I just cut 1/2 thumb-sized chunk and mince it
1.5 Tbsp sugar
1.5 Tbsp honey
2 stalks green onion
a big pinch of black pepper

Estimated prep time: 2.5 hours

Step 1: trim off excess fat from the meat.

Step 2: after defrosting your meat, soak it in tap water for an hour to eliminate as much blood and distasteful meatiness as possible. Change the water every 20 minutes or until it gets really bloody.

Step 3: Cut up 1 pear and 1/2 white onion into chunks. Then blend together in a food processor to get a nice pulp. The pear-onion mixture further eliminates the bad meaty taste.


Step 4: Drain the meat again, followed by marinating it in the pear-onion pulp in a glass dish. I usually rub the mixture into the meat before setting it aside. Marinate for 30 min.



Step 5: Make the galbi marinade. Combine all the liquid ingredients and stir until the honey is all dissolved. Then add the dry ingredients to the sauce.

Step 6: In a large bowl or container with a lid, marinate the meat overnight in the fridge. I usually stack the meat in layers of 3 or 4 slices and pour 1/3 of the marinade in between each layer so I can get a good distribution of the sauce. Keep the pear-onion pulp in. Cover the top with saran wrap and the lid. It can be refrigerated up to 3 days.



Step 7: The next day, you can cook the meat on a grill or on a pan at medium heat. Let the meat cook until well done, and add some carrots and fresh onions if you like. I tend to find the flavor fully set after 2 nights of marinating.


Korean food is best enjoyed in good company, mmm!