Galbi Jjim – Korean short ribs

I had been having a hankering for Galbi Jjim, a Korean short ribs stew/roast. I first came across it at a local restaurant, and then recreated it years ago. For this go around, I dug up what I did earlier:
http://girl-on-wheels.blogspot.com/2010/08/slow-cooker-kalbi-pot-roast.html

The link nested in there is a great reference for process. I further used elements from this recipe in NY times to update the flavor profile in keeping with my current taste. So, we’ll call this result “Meera’s Galbi”.

I stayed faithful to the traditional process, soaking my meat in cold water for 30 minutes (changed water out once), and then boiling it for 5 minutes. I updated the recipe to add onions and garlic to the boiling water.

Lacking shitake mushrooms, I soaked up some maitake mushrooms for the recipe. They did wonderfully.

All the veggies (radishes, carrots, onions, mushrooms and turnips) added to the pot after an hour of cooking the meat in the marinade. I cooked this further for one more hour. I added 1/4 pear for fruity sweetness.

The end result.

My recipe:

1. Prep meat & mushrooms. I bought 1.5 lbs of bone in and 1.5 lbs of boneless short ribs. I did this becasuse the bone-in pieces weren’t very meaty. Get the dried mushrooms soaking. Meanwhile, soak meat in cold water for 30 minutes (rinsing out at least once). Make slits in meat, against the grain. Add half an onion and 3 garlic pearls to boiling water. Add meat to it and boil for 5 minutes. Remove meat. I discarded the broth.
2. Drain mushrooms and chop finely. Reserve 1/2 cup of mushroom soaking liquid.
3. The braising liquid- here I merged the two recipes. My contents were:
   1. finely grated onions (1 medium yellow), garlic (two big pears), ginger (1.5″). Sautee these in pan.
   2. Add to this a mixture of: 1 cup soy sauce (prefer low sodium), 1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup mirin, 1/4 cup orange juice, 1/2 cup water, 1/4 cup light (not dark) sesame oil. Add some freshly ground black pepper. Bring to boil.
   3. Add meat, and wait till it returns to boil. Reduce to simmer, cover, and let cook on simmer for 1 hour, turning meat over once after 30 minutes, and once more after the hour.
   4. Add veggies. I used 8 radishes (regular), 2 large carrots, 3 turnips, the mushrooms, chopped up. and the whites of one bunch of green onions. I also chopped and added 1/4 bartlett pear. You are supposed to use the vegetable peeler and go around the veggie edges to round them out and make them aesthetically pleasing. I skipped this step.
   5. Cook on simmer for another hour, adding in the reserved mushroom liquid if needed. Turn/mix contents halfway through.
   6. Optional- allow to cool and skim fat. However, discarding the broth in step (1) takes care of this.
4. Top with greens of green onions. Serve.

I like my galbi jjim stew-like with extra broth. Several recipes cook out the liquid. Some use cornstarch to thiken it. I did neither. I will use my recipe again, since it turned out delicious. Kid, hubby, and I were all equally pleased with it.

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