Kalbi Jjim – Korean Braised Short Ribs with Radish and Carrots

October 16, 2011 § 4 Comments

Dear Korean Food,

I love you.

Love,

Stephanie

Kalbi jjim, galbi jjim, any way they’re spelled, these Korean-style braised short ribs are perfect. With only just a few ingredients and around two hours, you will end up with a foolproof, delicious, and impressive meal. This entry is for you my little Bobo šŸ™‚ And thank you, chapster, for all of your help.

Notes:

1. When reserving the beef broth, make sure you discard all the foam and impurities in the broth.

2. Make sure you rinse the ribs really well and drain fully to get most of the tiny bone fragments out.

3. Cook covered for the first hour and half, on medium low heat, and then after you add the vegetables, uncover and cook on medium high heat for the last thirty minutes to reduce some of the sauce.

4. Many people like putting potatoes in, and up to a couple years ago, so did I! But, I found that the broth is much cleaner, light, and more consomme-esque without potatoes but for a heartier meal, feel free to put some in.

Kalbi Jjim Recipe – Korean braised short rib

Ingredients

  • 5-6 lbs thick English-cut short rib, also called “Beef short rib for soup”
  • 8 cups boiling water
  • 3/4 cup of soy sauce
  • 7 tbsp brown sugar
  • 6 tbsp mirin rice wine
  • 2 tbsp sesame oil
  • 16 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tbsp sesame seeds
  • 1/ tsp black pepper
  • 1 large onion or 2 medium onions, sliced thinly
  • ~2 cups Korean radish (moo), cut into 1 inch cubes
  • 3-4 carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces

Directions

  1. Soak beef ribs in a big bowl, submerged in cold water for 1 hour. Rinse and drain a few times.
  2. Boil 6 cups of water in a big pot, and add the ribs when the water is boiling. Bring to a rapid boil for 10 minutes, and you will see lots of foam and impurities come out. Take off the heat, and then reserve around 4-6 cups of the broth and discard the foam and impurities and fat.
  3. While the beef is boiling, mix the marinade ingredients together in a bowl: soy sauce, brown sugar, rice wine, sesame oil, garlic, sesame seeds, and black pepper.
  4. Wash the pot well and put the semi-cooked short ribs back to the pot. Turn heat to medium high and add the marinade to the beef, and 4-6 (if you like more sauce, then add the full 6-cups, if you like it more braised and less saucy, 4 cups) cups of the beef broth. Bring to a boil, and then cover and reduce the heat to medium low for an hour and a half, at least (2 hours is better).
  5. Prepare your vegetables, wash and peel the radish and carrots and onions. (My dogs were begging me for some carrot pieces and how could I refuse those cute little faces?) After the beef has been simmering, add the vegetables and mix well into the pot. Keep the pot uncovered and bring the temperature up to medium high and boil for 30 minutes. The liquid should reduce a bit.
  6. Serve with hot rice! Enjoy!

Bulgogi (ė¶ˆź³ źø° Korean Marinated BBQ Beef)

September 9, 2011 § Leave a comment

This is probably one of the most popular Korean dishes and one of the easiest to make.

1. Probably best to marinate for at least 1 hour, overnight is ideal but 1 hour will still be pretty delicious.

2. This can completely be vegetarian-friendly if you make the sauce for some mushrooms, onions, cabbage, whatever vegetables you’d like, and then grill the same way! I like to marinate some of my onions in the sauce. Another quick and easy snack, served with rice!

3. This can be great for a jungol as well, please see my other post!

Stephanieā€™s Bulgogi Recipe

Ingredients

  • 2.5 – 3 lbs of thinly sliced rib-eye or beef brisket
  • 1/2 cup soy sauce
  • 10-15 minced garlic cloves (around 3 heaping tablespoons)
  • 1/4 cup mirin (rice wine)
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 3 tablespoons honey
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons sesame oil
  • 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
  • 3-4 green onions, minced
  • 2 onions, sliced thinly
  • 1 carrot, sliced thinly at an angle * optional
  • mushrooms, sliced thinly * optional
  • 2 hot green peppers, sliced thinly * optional

Directions

  1. Mix all of the ingredients in a large bowl and taste. If you like your sauces a little sweeter, add a little more honey or sugar to your liking.
  2. Add your beef, onions, and green onion. Toss gently to combine with your hands, that’s the best way. Add other veggies if wanted.
  3. Marinate for at least one hour (up to overnight), and then grill and cook until the beef is cooked through. (Only a few minutes.)
  4. Serve with rice and some kimchi, the best combination.
  5. Enjoy!!

Chili Lobster (Hurricane Lobster Party)

August 27, 2011 § 3 Comments

I am sorry, poor lobsters. šŸ˜¦ Your sacrifice, due to my horrific murderous actions, was much-appreciated. Thank you!

One of my favorite restaurants in NY is Fatty Crab. Their pork-belly watermelon salad is AMAZING. But the “piece de la resistance” is undoubtedly their chili crab. It is SO delicious. Mop up that sauce with their huge pieces of buttery toast…mmm…mmm….mmm….

But since I am implementing austerity measures, I decided I would try to make an adaptation of the infamous chili-crab Ā recipe at home. With lobster. I think lobster is a little easier to eat because while still-messy, less messy than crab. And it was on sale for $5.99/lb, which is basically a steal. And once, at Fatty Crab, I tried the Chili Lobster instead one day, which was just as amazing as the crab.

Notes:

1. Yes, 4 tablespoons of sriracha does seem like a lot, but I really couldn’t taste that much spiciness! Feel free to start off with 2 (bare minimum) but be liberal, I would actually do 5 next time.

2. Since I couldn’t bring myself to breaking down the lobsters while they were alive, I decided to steam them first and then break them apart. But I am sure if you have more guts than I do, you could break them apart while they are alive and then cook them in the sauce, which might make the meat more flavorful. I actually didn’t mind the light flavoring, especially since I had a lot of sauce that I could dip my lobster-meat into.

3. The original recipe called for some cornstarch, but my sauce was pretty thick so I didn’t put it in. But I’m guessing that this will help the sauce coat the lobster better, so I suppose you could always give it a try!

4. This was really good, doesn’t really remind me of Fatty Crab’s too much (in a league of their own) but it was still super delicious! I will absolutely make this again and again.

5. Stay safe from the Hurricane everyone!

6. I hope I don’t lose too many visitors after this post…I truly did feel bad for those little guys. But they tasted pretty damn good…

Stephanie’s Hurricane Chili Lobster

Adapted from NY Times

Ingredients

  • 4 tablespoons sriracha
  • 3 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon Golden Mountain seasoning sauce
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 3 tablespoons rice-wine vinegar (or 2 tablespoons mirin, 1 tbsp rice vinegar)
  • 3 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 cups chopped shallots (about 8 ounces)
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 6-8 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch* optional
  • 2 tablespoons water* optional
  • 1 tablespoon peanut oil
  • 3-4 1 3/4-2 lb lobsters, steamed, cleaned and split, large claws slightly cracked
  • 1 egg yolk, beaten
  • cup chopped scallions for garnishing

Directions

  1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, with a steamer. Be careful not to let the water level be higher than the steamer, just-touching is fine. Bring the water to a boil, and then carefully drop those lovely lobsters into the pot and close the lid immediately. :*( Then steam for about 18-20 minutes. Remove from heat and cool. After cooled, break them apart, taking the claws, tail, and legs off and reserving the head for soup stock if desired. Remove the gills and innards (greyish/greenish yucky stuff) and roe (orange/red stuff). Crack the claws and segment the tail carefully. Set the lobster pieces aside, you can do this up to one night before.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk the sriracha, soy sauce, sugar, Golden Mountain sauce, rice-wine vinegar, tomato paste and sesame oil with 1 cup of water and set aside.
  3. Place the shallots, garlic, ginger and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until the mixture becomes a smooth paste. In a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch with 2 tablespoons water.
  4. Heat the peanut oil in a wok over high heat, and when it shimmers, add the shallot paste and fry for 2 minutes until very fragrant. Add theĀ chiliĀ sauce, and when the liquid simmers, continue to cook for 5 minutes on medium low heat (it may start to splatter, lower heat if this happens).
  5. Add the lobster and coat well with the sauce, keeping the heat at medium.
  6. Add the cornstarch paste if you want your sauce to be thicker, now, and cook for 2 minutes.
  7. Add the egg yolk to the sauce and stir immediately into the sauce so it is a smooth consistency. Coat the lobster pieces.
  8. Turn off the heat and serve the lobster with lots of rice or toast, and a LOT of napkins!
  9. Enjoy!!

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