Galbijjim

Ingredients

• Beef short ribs1.5 kg
• Soy sauce150 ml
• Korean pear1
• Onion1
• Garlic10 clove
• Ginger30 g
• Sugar3 tbsp
• Sesame oil2 tbsp
• Mirin60 ml
• Carrots2
• Daikon300 g
• Shiitake mushrooms150 g
• Chestnuts — peeled150 g
• Jujube dates8
• Spring onion3

Salt and spices grow more slowly than the rest: doubling a dish does not double the pepper.

Weight converts to ounces and volume to cups. Grams of flour are not turned into cups, because that depends on how tightly it is packed.

Method

1. 1

   Soak the ribs in cold water for an hour, changing it twice, until the water runs clear.

   65 min

2. 2

   Blanch the ribs in boiling water for five minutes, drain and rinse them under cold water.

   10 min

3. 3

   Blend the pear, onion, garlic and ginger to a smooth purée.

   8 min

4. 4

   Mix the purée with the soy, sugar, mirin and sesame oil and pour it over the ribs.

   8 min

5. 5

   Bring it up, skim, and braise covered for an hour and a half on a low heat.

   95 min

6. 6

   Add the carrot, daikon, mushrooms, chestnuts and jujubes and braise twenty-five minutes more.

   27 min

7. 7

   Uncover and reduce the sauce to a gloss, spooning it over the ribs. Scatter with spring onion.

   15 min

About the dish

Korean pear in the marinade is not a sweetener but a tenderiser: it carries an enzyme that breaks down protein. Kiwi can stand in, but for ten minutes only — longer and the meat turns to mush.

The ribs are soaked in cold water for an hour, changed twice. That draws out the blood and keeps the sauce clear rather than cloudy with grey scum.

Galbijjim is festive: it appears at Seollal and Chuseok. Short ribs are expensive, and even now they are not cooked on a weekday.

Worth knowing

• — The vegetables are cut large with rounded edges. They then survive half an hour of braising and hold their shape on the platter.
• — Reduce the sauce only at the end. Reduced early it turns salty before the meat is done and oversalts the dish.
• — Galbijjim is better the next day. The fat is lifted off cold, it is reheated, and the flavour comes out cleaner.

Nutrition

Per serving at the base yield, calculated from the ingredients rather than measured in a lab.

Calories

780 kcal

Protein

48 g

Fat

46 g

Carbs

40 g

More from Korea

• Bibimbap — Rice under separately cooked vegetables, meat and an egg, mixed with gochujang right before eating.
• Kimchi jjigae — A stew of over-fermented kimchi with pork and tofu. The older the kimchi, the better it works.
• Samgyetang — A whole young chicken stuffed with glutinous rice and ginseng, simmered in its own broth.