Korean BBQ Short Ribs (Kalbi)

I have been wanting to try to make Korean short ribs for ages, but I never seemed to see them in my grocery store, then the other week I came across some at my local meat outlet.  I live in an area of Toronto that is now referred to as Upper Junction or The Stockyards.  Twenty years ago when first moved to this part of west Toronto, the word "stockyards" had much more meaning, much like the Meat Packing district in New York.   The area was very industrial and it was the dreaded place where cows, pigs and chickens came to give up their lives to make an appearance on our dinner plates.

From the Archives of Canada Packers

This incredibly cool photo shows what it looked like across the road from us in 1960!  I moved into this area in the late 1990 and I can tell you that while some of the industry was gone then, there were still terrible wafts of barnyard that still came from the yards, especially on a hot summer day.

Today almost all of the industry has gone, replaced by town homes, retail and Big Box, but there still remains one abattoir and a number of meat packing plants, which means great access to cheap meat for us.  This is a long lead up to the fact that finally Meat Stop had some beef short ribs in their freezer section that will be turned today into Kalbi by me!

Korean-style short ribs can be found in most Asian markets and also some regular grocery stores.  The meat cut is called flanken, which is an unusual cut to North Americans because the beef is cut across the bone instead of along the bone as we are used to.  The short-ribs are then marinated over-night in  then grilled to be slightly charred on the outside, but medium rare on the inside.

There are lots of recipes for Kalbi out there on the internet but am turning for inspiration to the one from Howard Yoon at Kitchen Window for his family`s long time recipe.  I have modified the recipe slightly, mostly to scale the quantities and to substitute things like white sugar for brown, etc.  And I added in some ginger.

Korean BBQ Short Ribs (Kalbi)

(Serves 4)

2 pounds short ribs (flanken cut)
1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted (for garnish)

Marinade:

3/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons sesame oil
2 tablespoons corn or canola oil
4 cloves garlic (chopped)
1 inch ginger (grated)
3 green onions (sliced)
1 tablespoon sesame seeds (toasted and crushed)

Directions:

Combine the soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil and corn/canola oil in a large mixing bowl. Add garlic and green onion and stir together. Put short ribs into large ziplock freezer bag (you may need two). Pour marinade into bag and turn bag over several times to ensure all meat pieces are covered. Refrigerate for at least four hours, but preferably overnight. Turn bag at least once in the middle of the marinating process.

Heat grill to medium-high heat before adding the meat. Drain excess marinade off short ribs and grill them until medium, about 6-8 minutes. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and chopped green onions. Serves 4.

Serve with Cilantro Rice