Chef Jeong-sun
Bulgogi (불고기, Marinated Grilled Beef)
Paper-thin beef in soy, sesame, garlic, and grated pear, cooked fast until the edges caramelize and served in lettuce wraps at the kind of table people lean into.
Culinary Explorer
A cooking platform built around craft, culture, and the stories behind what we eat.
Galbi-gui (갈비구이, Charcoal Beef Short Ribs)
Created by
Cross-cut beef short ribs scored to the bone, rested in soy, pear, garlic, and sesame, then grilled over charcoal until the edges darken and the meat releases cleanly.
Main Dishes
Korean
Celebration
BBQ
Special Occasion
35 min
Active Time
20 min cook•4 hr 55 min total
Yield4 servings
Galbi-gui lives or dies before it reaches the fire. The ribs must be cut and scored correctly, down to the bone but not through it, so the marinade can enter and the meat can curl open over heat. A lazy cut gives you chewy beef with sauce on the outside. A proper cut gives you meat that pulls from the bone without a fight.
My teacher made us score each rib in silence. 눈동냥, 귀동냥, borrowing with the eyes and ears. She would turn one piece over, look at the depth of the knife marks, and put it back without praise. That was enough. The lesson stayed: galbi is celebration food, but it is not careless food. The table may be noisy. The preparation should be exact.
Keep the sweetness restrained. Pear and onion soften the meat and round the soy, but sugar should not lead the dish. You want beef first, then soy, garlic, sesame, and charcoal at the edges. If you have no charcoal, use a broiler or cast-iron grill pan honestly. 시대가 바뀌면 음식도 바뀌어야 해요. When times change, food must change too. The vessel can change. The knife work and seasoning cannot.
Galbi-gui became strongly associated with celebration dining in modern Korea as beef, once expensive and eaten sparingly, grew more available in the twentieth century. Suwon is especially known for wang-galbi, large beef ribs seasoned with a soy-based marinade, and the city's galbi restaurants helped make grilled ribs a destination dish. LA galbi, the thin cross-cut style common in Korean American kitchens, developed through immigrant butchery and is now cooked in Korea too, a good example of the table moving both ways.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
beef short ribs
Quantity
1.5kg
flanken-cut LA galbi style, 1/4 to 1/3 inch thick
Korean pear or Asian pear
Quantity
1/2 pear, about 120g
peeled, cored, and grated
yellow onion
Quantity
1/2 medium, about 100g
grated
soy sauce
Quantity
6 tablespoons
sugar
Quantity
2 tablespoons
mirin or rice wine
Quantity
2 tablespoons
honey or rice syrup
Quantity
1 tablespoon
toasted sesame oil
Quantity
2 tablespoons
garlic
Quantity
5 cloves
minced
fresh ginger
Quantity
1 teaspoon
grated
scallions
Quantity
3
finely chopped
black pepper
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
freshly ground
toasted sesame seeds
Quantity
1 tablespoon, plus more for serving
neutral oil
Quantity
1 tablespoon
for the grill grate
red leaf lettuce or perilla leaves (optional)
Quantity
to serve
ssamjang, sliced garlic, and sliced green chili (optional)
Quantity
to serve
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| beef short ribsflanken-cut LA galbi style, 1/4 to 1/3 inch thick | 1.5kg |
| Korean pear or Asian pearpeeled, cored, and grated | 1/2 pear, about 120g |
| yellow oniongrated | 1/2 medium, about 100g |
| soy sauce | 6 tablespoons |
| sugar | 2 tablespoons |
| mirin or rice wine | 2 tablespoons |
| honey or rice syrup | 1 tablespoon |
| toasted sesame oil | 2 tablespoons |
| garlicminced | 5 cloves |
| fresh gingergrated | 1 teaspoon |
| scallionsfinely chopped | 3 |
| black pepperfreshly ground | 1/2 teaspoon |
| toasted sesame seeds | 1 tablespoon, plus more for serving |
| neutral oilfor the grill grate | 1 tablespoon |
| red leaf lettuce or perilla leaves (optional) | to serve |
| ssamjang, sliced garlic, and sliced green chili (optional) | to serve |
Equipment Needed
- •Charcoal grill or broiler
- •Sharp knife
- •Kitchen scissors
- •Large nonreactive bowl or zip-top bag
- •Tongs
Instructions
- 1
Rinse the ribs
Rinse the cut ribs briefly under cold running water to remove bone dust from the saw cut. Soak them in cold water for 10 minutes, then drain and pat very dry. This is not to wash away flavor. It is to keep gritty bone from ending up at the table.
- 2
Score the meat
Lay each rib flat and score the meat in shallow diagonal cuts, about 1/8 inch deep and 1/2 inch apart, on both sides. Do not cut through the meat. These cuts let the marinade enter and help the rib relax over the fire instead of tightening into a tough strip.
If your butcher gives you very thin LA galbi, score lightly or skip the second side. If you have thick English-cut ribs, butterfly them carefully along the bone before scoring, or the marinade will never reach the center. - 3
Mix the marinade
In a large bowl, stir together the grated pear, grated onion, soy sauce, sugar, mirin, honey, sesame oil, garlic, ginger, scallions, black pepper, and sesame seeds. Taste it before the raw meat goes in. It should be salty, gently sweet, garlicky, and nutty, not syrupy. 손맛 is real; I measure it anyway.
- 4
Marinate the ribs
Add the ribs and turn them by hand so marinade touches every cut surface. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours and up to 12 hours. Turn the ribs once halfway through. Longer than overnight is not kindness to the meat; the soy takes over and the texture softens too far.
- 5
Prepare the fire
Set up a charcoal grill for medium-high direct heat. Oil the grate lightly. The coals are ready when they glow evenly and you can hold your hand 4 inches above the grate for only 3 to 4 seconds. Too weak and the ribs stew. Too fierce and the sugar burns before the meat releases from the bone.
- 6
Grill in batches
Lift the ribs from the marinade and let excess drip back into the bowl. Grill in a single layer, 2 to 3 minutes per side, turning once or twice as needed, until the edges darken, the surface turns glossy, and the meat begins to pull back from the bone. Do not walk away. Sweet soy marinades burn quickly, and galbi asks for attention.
- 7
Rest and cut
Move the ribs to a platter and rest them 3 minutes. Cut between the bones with kitchen scissors if you want easier sharing, or serve the strips whole for people to pick up at the table. Scatter a little toasted sesame over the top.
- 8
Serve with ssam
Serve with rice, lettuce or perilla leaves, ssamjang, sliced garlic, green chili, and several banchan. Wrap one piece of rib with rice and sauce, then eat while the edges are still glossy. This is celebration food because it makes the table reach toward the same plate.
Chef Tips
- •Ask for flanken-cut short ribs, also called LA galbi, 1/4 to 1/3 inch thick. If the slices are uneven, the thin ends burn before the thick centers cook.
- •Korean pear is best here because it tenderizes gently and sweetens cleanly. If you cannot find it, use Asian pear, then apple. Do not use much kiwi for this marinade; it works too fast and can make the meat woolly.
- •Charcoal gives the right edge, but a broiler can serve. Put the ribs on a rack set over a foil-lined pan and broil 4 to 5 inches from the heat, turning once, watching closely.
- •Do not pour used marinade over cooked ribs unless you boil it hard for at least 2 minutes first. Raw beef has been in it, and good cooking includes clean handling.
- •Galbi wants companions with freshness and bite: pa-muchim (scallion salad), kimchi, cucumber muchim, lettuce, perilla, and plain rice. The meat is rich, so the table should answer it.
Advance Preparation
- •The marinade can be mixed 1 day ahead and refrigerated. Add the ribs 4 to 12 hours before cooking, not earlier.
- •Ribs can be scored and rinsed the morning of cooking, then kept covered and cold until marinating.
- •Cooked galbi is best the day it is grilled. Leftovers keep 3 days refrigerated and reheat best in a covered skillet over medium-low heat with a spoonful of water.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 280g)
Calories
770 calories
Total Fat
55 g
Saturated Fat
20 g
Trans Fat
2 g
Unsaturated Fat
33 g
Cholesterol
165 mg
Sodium
1600 mg
Total Carbohydrates
24 g
Dietary Fiber
3 g
Sugars
15 g
Protein
45 g
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