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Food & Wine Recipe

Korean Short Ribs

Contributed by and
  • ACTIVE:
  • TOTAL TIME: 35 MIN Plus overnight marinating
  • SERVINGS: 4

Hi Sang Lee and his wife, Young Hwa Chung, owners of Dana Estates in Napa, often make the classic Korean grilled marinated short ribs called kalbi. The ribs they use are flanken-style, which means they are thinly sliced across the rib bones.

  1. 6 garlic cloves, halved
  2. 1 small Asian pear, peeled and coarsely chopped
  3. One 4-inch piece of daikon, peeled and diced (1 cup)
  4. 1 small onion, peeled and coarsely chopped
  5. 1/4 cup chopped fresh ginger
  6. 1 1/2 cups soy sauce
  7. 1/2 cup sugar
  8. 1/2 cup mirin (sweet rice wine)
  9. 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
  10. 1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds
  11. 3 pounds flanken-cut beef short ribs (cut across the bones)
  1. In a food processor, finely chop the garlic, pear, daikon, onion and ginger. Add the soy sauce, sugar, mirin, sesame oil and sesame seeds and puree. Transfer the marinade to a large bowl or sturdy resealable plastic bag.
  2. Using a sharp knife, make slits in the flanken ribs every 1/2 inch, cutting to within 1/2 inch of the bones. Add the meat to the marinade and refrigerate overnight.
  3. Light a grill. Wipe the marinade off the meat. Grill the meat over moderately high heat, turning often, until nicely browned and charred in spots, about 10 minutes total. Let rest for 2 minutes, then serve.

Suggested Pairing

The traditional sauce for these ribs is quite spicy, but Chung adds sweet ingredients like sugar and Asian pear to tame the heat and help the dish pair with wines like a complex, fragrant Cabernet Sauvignon.