The ultimate dish for special occasions: Korean Braised Beef Short Ribs or Galbi Jjim! Tender, fall-off-the-bone short ribs stewed in a delicious, mouthwatering braising liquid with daikon, onion, soy sauce, garlic, and jujubes. The savory sauce and tender meat combine to make a celebratory dish that is truly special!
What is Galbi Jjim?
Galbi Jjim, also known as Korean Braised Beef Ribs, is a very special Korean dish. Beef short ribs are braised in a savory sauce until tender and falling off the bone. A combination of soy sauce, garlic, and Korean pear makes a killer sauce. The addition of daikon and jujubes makes it extra special!
In Korean, Galbi means “rib.” Generally, it means a cut of meat that’s attached to a bone. Specifically, it refers to beef short ribs, which come from the working muscles of a cow near the rib bone. In Korean cuisine, beef short ribs are highly prized. They are fatty, tender, and well-marbled. They are also expensive, reserving this dish for the most special of occasions.
As a Korean American, I grew up eating Galbi Jjim — or braised short ribs — for every major holiday and for significant life events. It’s a rich and decadent dish. In South Korea, Galbi Jjim is commonly eaten during Chuseok or Korean Thanksgiving. In the US, Korean Americans serve it alongside turkey at Thanksgiving or Christmas. The tender beef and rich braising sauce melts in your mouth. So good with rice!
The traditional cooking method requires soaking the beef bones in cold water. This important first step draws out the blood and removes the gamey flavors. It creates a cleaner, more beefy final dish. The beef short ribs are then cooked for a long time in a savory braising liquid until meltingly tender. The cooking time is long. But the results are worth it! The sauce becomes rich and thick. The meat becomes bone tender. With chunks of braised daikon and stewed jujubes that soak up all the flavor!
Spoon the rich sauce over rice. Bite into tender chunks of decadent short ribs. Enjoy this one pot galbi jjim recipe!
Ingredients:
- Beef Short Ribs. Look for thick, well-marbled, bone-in beef short ribs trimmed of fat. Look for them at Korean grocery stores or your local butcher shop. Regular grocery stores also carry them from time to time.
- Asian Pear. Sometimes called Korean Pear. Adds sweetness and is necessary to the overall texture.
- Onion, Garlic, Ginger. The essential aromatics.
- Korean Radish (Daikon) + Carrots. Adds flavorful heft and body to the sauce. Not the same without it!
- Dried Red Dates (Jujubes). A classic addition that adds sweetness and that special Korean flavor. Look for seedless ones.
- Soy Sauce. Do not use low sodium soy sauce! I find it makes for a flat-tasting sauce with a strange aftertaste.
- Sugar. The flavor profile of Galbi Jjim is salty-sweet. You’ll need sugar to balance out the soy sauce.
- Mirin. Korean/Japanese sweet cooking wine. In Korean, it’s called Mirim. In Japanese, it’s called Mirin.
How to make Korean Braised Beef Short Ribs:
- Soak beef short ribs. Add beef short ribs to the large pot and cover with cold water. Soak for 30-60 minutes, or up to overnight, to remove blood from the meat. Drain and rinse well.
- Make puree. In a food processor, add the onion, Asian pear, garlic, and ginger. Pulse until pureed. It should look like baby food.
- Cook. In a dutch oven or large pot, add the cleaned short ribs. Add the pureed onion, garlic, ginger, and apple/pear mixture on top of 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.
- Add vegetables. Add daikon and carrot. Cover and simmer until tender, about 30-45 more minutes.
- Reduce the sauce. Simmer (uncovered) vigorously for 15-30 minutes. The sauce should be thick, rich and clinging to the ribs in a thick gravy.
- Serve. Drizzle with sesame oil, black pepper, and garnish with chopped green onions and pine nuts, if you have them. Serve hot with rice and kimchi. Enjoy!
PRO Tips:
- Simmer VIGOROUSLY. To make the beef short ribs are fall-apart tender, cook vigorously. It should be boiling with lots of bubbles breaking the surface but not too hard that it burns the bottom of the pot.
- Make in advance. Korean braised beef can easily be made the day before serving. Keeps well in the fridge and reheats easily. As a bonus, it’s easier to remove the excess fat which will solidify in the fridge.
- Use a box grater. If you don’t have a food processor, a box grater can also be used 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.
Serve with:
Make sure to serve with rice. You’ll need something to mop up that delicious, mouth-watering sauce!
Also, serve with kimchi. Napa cabbage kimchi or Cubed Radish Kimchi are both good additions. The bright, acidic, spicy bite will balance the heavy, rich sauce and beefy flavor.
Other suggestions include:
FAQ
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container for 3-4 days in the fridge. Before reheating, remove the hardened fat which will collect at the top.
Both Galbi Jjim and LA Galbi are Korean dishes made from beef ribs. However, Galbi Jjim is made from thick-cut beef ribs and stewed until tender. By contrast, LA Galbi is a quick-grilled BBQ dish made from thinly sliced short ribs, or flanked ribs, cut across the grain.
Galbi Jjim is a stewed beef dish in a savory, soy sauce braising liquid. Galbitang is a Korean soup with clear broth, sweet potato noodles, and daikon. They are both made with the same cut of meat — thick short ribs — but seasoned and cooked very differently.
There are several places where I’ve found Beef short ribs:
Korean markets (Galleria, H Mart, Paldo World). They are trimmed of fat, beautifully marbled, and very meaty.
Asian/Chinese markets (T & T, Food World, Ranch Market). They are a bit fatty here but the price point is very good. They are commonly found in large, 3-rib sections; ask the butcher to cut across the bone into 3-inch sections for stewing.
Regular grocery stores. From time to time, thick-cut beef ribs can also be found at typical grocery stores. No Frills, President’s Choice, Albertson’s, Safeway, Whole Foods, and even Costco.
Boutique Butcher Shops. Look for a local, boutique-style butcher shop. The short ribs from these local butcher shops are very expensive but also very meaty, trimmed of fat, and well-marbled.
More braised recipes:
- Spicy Galbi Jjim (Spicy Pork Ribs)
- Dak Dori Tang (Spicy Braised Chicken)
- Instant Pot Bossam
- Kimchi Jjim (Braised Kimchi)
- My North Korean Grandmother’s Braised Pork Belly
Korean Braised Beef Short Ribs (Galbi Jjim)
Equipment
- Dutch oven or Large Stockpot
- Food Processor (or box grater)
Ingredients
- 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)
Instructions
- 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!
Notes
- 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.
Very good! Adding rice cakes this time and melted mozzarella cheese like a San Francisco restaurant does. Mmmm