the dinner diary: kalbi jjim

Korean Braised Short Ribs (Kalbi Jjim 갈비찜)
Serves 4-6 people (my family being the sauce lovers they are, this version makes a lot of sauce.)

2 1/2 to 3 1/2 lbs of short ribs (if you buy them from a US supermarket, you may have to ask them to cut the bones in half - so instead of a long 2 inch by 4 inch piece, you actually have a 2 inch square)
1 cup soy sauce
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1/2 cup sesame oil
1/2 cup sake
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
8 cloves of garlic, finely chopped or crushed
2 carrots, cut into 2 inch chunks
1 potato cut into 2 inch chunks
1 large onion, cut into chunks

Preparation
The preparation of the beef is the most important. First - drain the blood by soaking it in cold water. Dump all your beef, bones and all into a large pot and cover with plenty of cold water. Let the beef sit in the water, about 45 minutes or up to an hour.

Drain water. The meat color will have become a somewhat muted red.

After draining, slice into the beef across the grain - essentially breaking the top of the meat, the chunkiest part into smaller pieces still attached to the bone. This allows for maximum soakage of the marinade and the sauce and maximizes tendering of the beef.

Each piece should look something like this.

Cooking 1st round
Put all the sliced, soaked meat into a pot and cover with clean water. Bring the beef and the water to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer. Allow to simmer for 45 minutes. The boiling liquid will be brown, foamy and ugly.

After drain all the beef and WASH OFF all of the foam and dirty bits. Rinse well under cool water until you have "clean" pieces of cooked beef. (You can break up the work and do this the first day, and then do the 2nd round of cooking the following day. Simply cool meat, then cover and refrigerate until needed.)

Cooking 2nd round
In a clean pot (or the pot you used before but make sure it's clean) add the following
1 cup sugar
1 cup soy
1 cup water
1/2 cup sesame oil
1/2 cup sake
8 cloves of garlic, minced or crushed
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Heat over medium heat until simmering.

Add all of your beef to the simmering liquid.Cook over medium low heat - turning often and allowing different pieces of the beef to soak and cook in the liquid. Cook for 40 minutes or until the beef is tender.

Add onion, carrots and potato.

Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are fully cooked, about 15 more minutes.

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