Galbi is a very popular Korean meat dish made from beef short ribs. The ribs are marinated in a sauce made from Korean pear juice, rice wine, soy sauce, garlic, sesame seed oil and sugar. Most recipes contain these basic ingredients but many variations exists from sweet to spicier marinades.

The meat itself is often cut in the L.A. rib style, which is basically a rack of ribs cut in thin slices across the bones. This makes eating galbi easier with chopsticks or with fingers. Galbi is usually available in most Korean restaurants but it is generally served in venues that specialize in galbi and the meat is cooked on an in-table BBQ.

This dish is usually served with a side of lettuce, spinach, or other leafy vegetable, which is used to wrap a slice of cooked meat, often times along with a dab of ssamjang, kimchi, or other side dishes, and then eaten as a whole. To see a visual illustration, click here. Galbi itself means rib in Korean and there are many dishes that incorporate galbi to make soups and stews.

Recipe Ingredients

• 16 ribs
• 1 cup soy sauce
• ¾ cup sugar
• ½ cup water
• 1 Asian pear, chopped (or ½ Korean pear)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 tbsp minced garlic
• 4 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp ground pepper
• 1 tbsp juice of ginger

Cooking Directions

1. Wash meat. Rarely but sometimes you can find tiny bone scraps stick to the meat. Soak in water for 1 hour, drain.
2. In a food processor, add chopped onion and pear, purée finely. Pour out to a large bowl, add remaining ingredients and stir.
3. Marinate beef for 8-10 hours or overnight for optimal taste. They cook fairly fast, 2-3 minutes on one side.
4. Traditionally, it is grilled with a wood charcoal but certainly you can grill on a gas stove or outdoor grill.