When I saw these New Zealand Short Ribs on sale at S&R, I immediately knew what I was going to cook with them: Galbi-jim!
Korean food lovers know that galbi-jim or kalbi-jim is one of the popular dishes ordered at Korean restaurants, apart from bulgogi. It is a beef ribs recipe that is sweet, fragrant, and indescribably yummy. I love ordering this when we’re at Korean restaurants, and now I can make it at home!
Bet you don’t know what the secret ingredient is, huh?
It’s pears! Pears have a tenderizing effect on meat, and they also add that sweet, fruity flavor that you just can’t figure out.
Of course, since I am no Korean food expert, I turned to my favorite Korean food expert, Maangchi. All her recipes that I have tried have always turned out delicious!
FYI, the New Zealand Short Ribs is still on promo during the Members’ Treat 2017!
New Zealand Short Ribs Galbi-Jim (갈비찜) Recipe
You also probably have everything you need at home, the ingredients used are basically kitchen staples. The only thing you probably need to buy are the pears. I just used an ordinary pear, the ones very common in our markets. I still had one pear and one apple from a fruit basket I received a few weeks ago, so I just used the pear and the apple to use them up. It still turned out delicious!
- 2 pounds of beef short ribs, trimmed of excess fat. Rinse, soak in cold water, and drain.
- 1 large onion (1½ cups’ worth)
- 6-8 garlic cloves
- 2 pears (about 1½ cups’ worth), peeled, cored
- 2 ts worth of ginger
- 3 tbs soy sauce
- 1 tbs brown sugar
- ½ ts ground black pepper
- 1 ts sesame oil
- 1 tbs toasted sesame seeds (optional)
- green onions for garnish (optional)
This recipe is very easy.
- I just sliced the beef short ribs in between the bones, into smaller pieces, rinsed it, soaked it in water for a few minutes, drained it and then boiled it in enough water to cover for 5 minutes. The purpose for doing these steps is to remove all the blood and impurities from the meat and bones.
- After it boils for 5 minutes, take out the ribs, rinse them again, and throw out the boiling water. We don’t want any of those bloody flavors in our galbi-jim.
- Roughly cut up the pears, onions, garlic and ginger, put them in a food processor. Add the soy sauce, brown sugar, and black pepper. Process them all until they are finely blended.
- Add the pear mixture to the boiled short ribs, add 1 cup of water, stir, and cook until the short ribs achieve the desired tenderness. I cooked mine for about 1.5 hours, and I just checked ever 10 minutes or so to stir the beef ribs and make sure that they are not burning.
- Mix in the sesame oil. Garnish with green onions and/or sesame seeds. Serve!
Here’s what it looks like after I boiled and rinsed the beef, and then added all the ground up pear mixture to it plus 1 cup water, and simmered it until tender:
Here is Maangchi’s video on how to make galbi-jim, but I did change a few things. Instead of green peas, I used green onions, which I think match the dish better.
WHAT’S DIFFERENT ABOUT NEW ZEALAND BEEF?
The New Zealand beef is really different than the regular beef that we get here. The New Zealand short ribs smelled so good even during the boiling phase. They smell like butter.
This Galbi-jim is soooo good with rice! If you love fatty, fragrant beef that smells like butter, you’ll be in beef heaven.
The recipe is very simple, but so damn good, especially when made with New Zealand short ribs. It’s not supposed to be this rich, but I’m not complaining. It’s so creamy! Your meat-loving friends and family will love it, and you can make it with very little effort!
#NoRegrets
#LoveSnR #SnREveryday
