Korean Braised Short Ribs (Galbi Jjim) Recipe | The Subversive Table (2024)

1. Soak beef short ribs. Add beef short ribs to the stock pot and cover with cold water. Soak for about 30-60 minutes, and up to overnight, to remove the blood from the meat. Drain and rinse well.
2. Make puree. In a food processor, add the onion, Korean pear, garlic, and ginger. Pulse until pureed. It should look like baby food.
3. Cook. In a clean stockpot, add beef short rib. Add the pureed onion, garlic, ginger, and apple/pear mixture to the beef. Add soy sauce, sugar, dates, mirin, and water. Give everything a good mix. Cover and cook until the beef short ribs are almost tender and about 80% cooked, about 45 minutes.
4. Add vegetables. Add daikon and carrot. Cover and simmer until tender, about 30-45 more minutes.
5. Reduce the sauce. UNCOVER and simmer vigorously for 15-30 more minutes. The sauce should be thick, rich and clinging to the ribs in a thick gravy.
6. Serve. Drizzle with sesame oil. Serve hot with with rice and kimchi. Enjoy!

• 4 lbs beef short ribs

In Food Processor:

• 1 large onion (peeled + cut into chunks)
• 1 Korean pear (peeled, cored, cut into chunks – Korean pear, Bosc pear, Bartlett pear, Fuji apple all work well)
• 8 cloves garlic (peeled)
• 2 inch ginger (peeled + cut into chunks)

In Dutch Oven:

• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup Mirin (Korean sweet cooking wine)
• 2 cups water
• 5 dried red dates or jujubes (I used deseeded ones), optional
• 1 lb Daikon (peeled + cut into 1-inch half moons)
• 2 Carrots (peeled + cut into large chunks)

• Soak the beef ribs. Add the beef ribs to a large stock pot. Cover with cold water and soak for at least 30-60 minutes or up to overnight. Refrigerate if not cooking on the same day. Right before cooking, drain water and rinse short beef ribs with cold water. This is an important step in Korean cooking to remove the excess blood from the meat.

• Make Puree. Add onion, garlic, ginger, and Korean pear to a food processor.Pulse until pureed. It should look like baby food(Or, use a box grater to grate onion, garlic, ginger, and Korean pear.)

• Cook. In a clean stockpot, add beef short ribs. Add the pureed onion, garlic, ginger, and apple/pear mixture to the beef. Add soy sauce, sugar, red dates or jujubes, mirin, and water. Give everything a good mix. Cover and cook until the beef short ribs are almost tender and about 80% cooked, about 45 minutes. The meat should look shrunken but not completely tender yet.

• Add vegetables. Add daikon and carrot, making sure they are submerged under the liquid. Simmer vigorously (covered) for another 30 minutes, until the meat is very tender and falling off the bone. The daikon and carrot should also be soft.

• Reduce sauce. UNCOVER and cook for 15-30 more minutes to reduce the sauce. The sauce should be thick and clinging to the ribs. Some people prefer more liquid in their sauce so feel free to reduce to your preference.

• Garnish and enjoy! Garnish with green onion and a drizzle of sesame seed oil. Serve hot with rice and kimchi. Enjoy!

Tips:

• Simmer VIGOROUSLY. To make the beef short ribs fall apart tender, cook vigorously. It should be boiling with lots of bubbles breaking the surface but not too hard that it burns on the bottom of the pot.
• Make in advance. Korean braised beef can easily be made 1-2 days before serving. Keeps well in the fridge and reheats easily.
• Use a box grater. If you don’t have a food processor, a box grater also serves to puree the onion, pear, garlic, and ginger.
• If the sauce reduces too quickly, add more water. The consistency of the sauce should be thick and gravy-like. If it reduces too much, feel free to add more water – about 1/2 – 1 cup. Cook until you’ve reached the desired consistency.