Galbijjim, first time i tasted it, was in Melbourne. In a restaurant, which i already forgot the name.. But i guess it was quite popular among people who live in Melbourne, because we need to cue (you know a restaurant in Australia good or not depending on how long the cue is!!!). The ribs was so… tender, moist, sweet, spicy at the same time. And, it was really perfect to eat it with steamed rice and kimchi.
So, i decided to give it a try, besides my husband recently is so much in love with ribs… however, when i went to the butcher, there is cheaper option than ribs, it was beef with bone (poor international student always looking for something cheaper *lol*). So, long short story.. i decided to cook with that beef with bone.
I got the original recipe from http://www.koreanbapsang.com/2015/03/slow-cooker-korean-pork-ribs.html. But you know, i always change it to my liking :D. After browsing for the recipe, i found that this recipe is the easiest one, its cooking in one pot. So the process is only chopping all of the ingredients, and throw it to a pot. It is that easy!!! But, you know.. it takes more than 4 hours to make it!!!!
Here’s how i make it:
Starts with chopping all of the ingredients such as potato, shallot, onion, potato, apple into a big chunks like this.
Prepare your ribs or beef, clean it if there is any dirt. The koreans from what i observe, they like to rinse the ribs with cold water, because they want to eliminate the excess fat. Whereas, for me, I’ve been told to my previous mentor that washing meat is a huge sin in cooking a meat (kidding! This is just me exaggerate things). Anyway, i like to keep the fat because it will give a rich-beefy flavor to the stew.
Then, throw (not literally) potato, shallot, minced garlic, the beef/ribs, chilli (yeah i need fresh chilli!!!), onion, ginger, gochujang, chilli powder, water, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar and grated apple into the pot. Stir the whole thing. For the water, i think it does not matter how much, because in the end, we want the liquid to be all reduced creating a thick soup, besides you need lots of liquid so that the ribs wont be burned in 4 hours!!
Now, heat in on a stove with minimum heat. If you have slow cooker, please cook it in slow cooker for about 4 hours. But for me, since i don’t have one, i cook it in a top stove, then i transferred it into the oven, covered it with aluminium foil. Then i figured that using oven, the liquid was not reduced, so i put it back to the stove with minimum heat. Hahah… hey its an experience after all.. so many trial and error!
So, this is how it looks after about 3 hours..Still not satisfy, the liquid has been reduced, but the meat is not tender enough. I want it to be so tender that i don’t meed any effort to cut it and chew it. So, i keep going..
After about 4 hours or so… i tried to taste one of the beef, cut it.. and.. perfect!
See? Now its super easy to cut with only fork.. I did not even apply pressure on it. Perfect!!!!! Ouh, it taste so rich, spicy, sweet, a little bit sour, so beefy .. yumms!
Topped it with Sesame Seed, and your are done!
Ingredients:
- 1 Kg of Beef with bones/ Ribs
- 1 medium onion, cut into big chunks
- 3 small potatoes, cut into big chunks
- 2 scallions, cut into big chunks
- 6 to 7 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- 1-1/2 inch ginger, thinly sliced
- 3 tablespoons gochugaru, 고추가루, Korean red chili pepper flakes
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons of apple vinegar
- 2 tablespoons liquid sugar ( i use avage nectar)
- 4 tablespoons gochujang, 고추장, Korean red chili pepper paste
- 1 apple, grated
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
Ps: i let one of a Korean Guy living in my building taste it. And he said, for a Korean, it is not sweet enough and not spicy enough. But for me, a Sundaneese Indonesian who like not too sweet dishes, i like it like this. Not too sweet and for the level of spicy, i agree.. it is not hot enough. And he suggested me to go to Korean Mart in Pitt Street, they got heaps of chilli powder selections… So, thats the problem apparently. My chilli powder is sweet! And he also gave me suggestion to cook the potato separately so that it won’t melt with the beef. But… i like a melting potato hehehhe :P. But it’s a good idea, especially if you want to add carrot and others vegetable, please cook it separately first, then in the middle of the process when the beef is already tender enough just combine it.
However, my first trial of Galbijjim is a success, this dish will definitely go into my regular dishes especially for the coming winter!
Enjoy everyone, tell me if you make it or tell me if you have another tips to cook korean food!
Cheers,
Nisa, The Woman in Kitchen
WOMAN IN KITCHEN 