I Love Me some Kalbi

We don’t eat enough kalbi. That’s what I said to my husband at dinner as I was chewing a tender piece of beef. One reason is the right cut of beef can be hard to find. I asked at my local grocery store if they could get short ribs cut Korean style, but the butcher just gave me a confused look and pointed out the beef spareribs.

The right cut of beef is worth seeking out, but it can be confusing because there are several cuts of short ribs (read a little more here). This time, I just could not find the cut I wanted (after calling 3 grocery stores), so I tried boneless beef chuck eye steak (name from the packaging). It worked great. Do not use the thick short ribs meant for braising. They are too thick and it won’t work well even with the overnight marinating. The original recipe called for 4 lbs of beef, but since we’re only 3 people, I used 2 lbs and we had enough leftovers for a whole other meal.

This recipe is from Foodnetwork.com. The thing that piqued my interest was the Sprite used for marinating. You can find the original recipe here. I should warn you it is a two day marinating process (not clear from the original recipe), but well worth it.

Kalbi

• 1 20-oz bottle Sprite or 7-up
• ½ cup soy sauce
• 1 Asian pear, grated with juices (I used Bartlett)
• 2 tbs garlic, minced
• ½ onion, grated or sliced
• 1 tbs ginger, grated
• 3 tbs light brown sugar
• 2 tbs sesame seeds, toasted
• ¼ tsp ground black pepper
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced
• 2-4 lbs of short ribs, cut Korean style

To make the marinade, combine everything but the Sprite/7-up. Keep in the fridge until use.

On the evening of day one, combine the soda and meat in a large Ziplock bag or other container, and marinate in the fridge overnight. The following morning, transfer the meat to the marinade and discard the soda. Allow to marinate for few hours in the fridge. Half an hour to 1 hour before grilling, take the meat out of the fridge. Ideally, the meat should be grilled to medium.

Before serving, I like to sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and thinly sliced green onions. Serve with Japanese style short grain rice and various condiments, such as kimchee. Since I’m the only one who eats kimchee in our house, I made a quick carrot and celery sauté with ginger and sesame oil (toss veggies with 1 tbs grated ginger, 1 tsp sesame oil, salt to taste) for the boys.