Kalbi Recipe (Korean Short Ribs)
Published October 2, 2023. This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
This Korean-style short ribs recipe known as Kalbi is marinated overnight in a tasty sweet fruit marinade and grilled to perfection. You will quickly fall in love with how delicious these are.
I am a sucker for ribs, no matter the animal or how they are cooked. Ribs are always so flavorful and tender. If you feel the same, you must try my Braised Beef Short Ribs or 321 Ribs.
Korean Short Ribs
Korean short ribs, better known as kalbi or galbi, are often referred to in America as Korean short ribs, which make up the specific way the short ribs are cut, as well as the traditional marinade that is in the recipe.
It translates from Korean to English as “rib.” Kalbi is said to have been created in the 1700s when a Korean king allowed for the banned butchering of a cow to help feed a large mass of people who were helping construct an important structure. The ribs were thrown into a soup and then later, someone suggested they should be roasted.
Kalbi Beef
Kalbi beef is a special cross-cut short rib where the rib is cut longways using a band saw, making it a thin cut of meat. The cut bones are exposed along the bottom and if you were to line up the beef together, you would easily recognize that it comes from the short rib.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Onion – You will need a combination of yellow onions and garlic cloves. You can substitute with a red, white, or sweet onion.
- Ginger – Freshly grated peeled ginger will brighten up the flavor of the ribs. You can substitute with a 1/2 teaspoon of dry ground ginger.
- Water – Regular tap water is fine and is used to stretch the marinade.
- Soy Sauce – Any good tamari or shoyu soy sauce will work.
- Brown Sugar – You can use light or dark brown sugar.
- Wine – Mirin or sweet rice wine is best to use. Nonetheless, you can substitute with sweet sherry, sake, or regular rice wine like Shaoxing.
- Honey – Regular or raw honey will work. You can also add one teaspoon of salt and two tablespoons of regular sugar to make the marinade more intense in flavor.
- Sesame Oil – This will enhance the flavor of the ribs, but you can substitute it with a neutral flavored oil.
- Sesame Seeds – You will need regular white sesame seeds.
- Asian Pear – These pears can be easily found at a local Hispanic market if you cannot find them at your preferred grocery store. Use two Fuji apples if you can’t locate this.
- Fuji Apple – These are the best apples because they are the sweetest. However, you can use a Honeycrisp or gala apple.
- Kiwi – A regular fresh green kiwi is what you need. You can use a golden kiwi as well.
- Green onions – This is used in the marinade and as a garnish.
- Black Pepper – Plain ground black pepper is perfect to help season the Korean rubs.
- Ribs – You will need beef cross-cut Korean-style short ribs.
How to Make Kalbi
- Make the marinade and pour it into a deep casserole dish, plastic bag, or plastic container.
- Add the beef ribs or kalbi to the marinade and make sure to submerge completely.
- Transfer the marinated ribs to the refrigerator and marinate for at least 12 hours or overnight. I like to move the marinated ribs around in the bag every 4-6 hours to make sure they are getting exposed to the marinade.
- Remove from the refrigerator and let them sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes before grilling.
- Add the ribs to a preheated grill between 450° and 550° and cook for 3 to 4 minutes per side or until dark grill marks have formed.
- Remove from the grill and garnish with sesame seeds and green onions.
Reheat and Storage
Make-Ahead: You can make these up to 1 hour ahead of time. Keep them warm, covered in foil, and in the oven at low temperatures, between 200° and 250°.
How to Store: Store these ribs covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. The ribs will actually freeze well covered for up to 3 months. See the reheating instructions above.
How to Reheat: To reheat the kalbi, simply place them back on a hot grill for just a few minutes per side to heat up.
chef notes + tips
- You can also add one teaspoon of salt and two tablespoons of regular sugar to the marinade because it will make it more intense in flavor.
- Don’t marinate them for more than 24 hours.
- Kalbi is traditionally served with lettuce, leafy vegetables, and perilla.
- The marinade will last up to 4 days if you choose not to marinate the short ribs right away.
More Awesome BBQ Recipes
- Smoked St. Louis Style Ribs Recipe
- BBQ Smoked Chicken
- Pulled Pork Shoulder
- Country Style Ribs
- Bulgogi
Video
Authentic Kalbi Recipe (Korean Short Ribs)
Ingredients
- ½ peeled yellow onion
- 5 large garlic cloves
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, trimmed
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup soy sauce
- ½ cup packed light brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons mirin
- ¼ cup honey
- 3 tablespoons sesame oil
- 2 teaspoons sesame seeds
- 1 peeled and seeded Asian pear
- 1 peeled and seeded Fuji apple
- ½ peeled kiwi
- ¼ cup sliced green onions
- ½ teaspoon ground pepper
- 3 pounds kalbi cut short ribs
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients except for the ribs and green onions to a blender and blend on high speed until smooth.
- Transfer the mixture to a plastic zip bag and completely submerge the ribs in the marinade.
- Marinate in the refrigerator for 12 hours or overnight.
- Add the ribs from the marinade to a hot grill between 450° and 550° and cook for 3 to 4 minutes per side or until dark grill marks have formed.
- Remove from the grill, garnish with optional additional sesame seeds and sliced green onions, and serve right away.
These were amazingly delicious. I was leary, but that was unfounded. My family LOVED them. Making them again for dinner tomorrow. I highly recommend this recipe.
Thanks Chef Billy, you’ve helped elvated my cooking and skills.
A lot of flavor in those ribs.
do these ribs have bones?
yes
♥️♥️♥️🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Thank you!
My wife has a low tolerance for “heat” but this is one recipe we can both enjoy without making two versions!
excellent!
I love all Billy’s recipes but this is my absolute favourite
Authentic Korean taste and a flavour to die for
Excellent excellent excellent!!! If I’m making a TON of marinade, can I freeze it in batches for ease of use later?
Made it, and ATE IT! Delicious and so very easy. Buy the ingredients, make the marinade in a blender, throw the ribs and marinade in a plastic bag or in pyrex dish. Let it sit over night — and grill ’em — takes maybe 3 minutes per side. YUM!!! (Chef Billy — the sesame seeds are garnish, right? not a marinade ingredient?)
fantastic! All garnish.
Wow I have to try that version of Korean BBQ. I have only used regular pears in my recipes. Fuji apples and kiwi have got to add a different twist.
BTW: I love to watch you do different ethnic food. It’s how I started to love cooking. Cajun and Creole Jess my fist after spending months in NOLA for work
can you use a different type of apple like honey gala?
sure
Great recipe! One question though. Can this be made ahead at all?
If I used 1″ boneless country style short ribs how would I change the cooking times?
Not having done it, it’s hard to say but my guess would be double time on the grill. With that being said I can’t guarantee that those would be that tender or taste the same because it’s a completely different animal.
Hi, I haven’t made these yet, I would like to know about how thick the rib’s should be. The ones at the grocery are really thin & mostly bone. What should I be looking for ??
Thanks
They are about a 1/2″ to 3/4″ thick.
Sooooo yummy and flavorful!
Can a yalli pear be used as a substitute for Asian pear? I’ve been dying to do this recipe but can’t find an Asian pear
I’m not familiar with a yalli pear?
It was well worth the wait. I finally found an Asian pear, and it turned out fantastic! Wife was blown away by these
WOW on the ribs
Off topic the beignets came out perfect this weekend ( would love if the flour directions were by weight) I was a biochemist in an earlier life
My bagel recipe is identical to yours except I don’t add more malt syrup to the water, will try next time . (Since COVID I started baking and have gone through a 100 pounds of flour)
Question- I do the cold rise overnight and I put diastatic malt powder with the flour. On a cold rise is it serving a purpose as enzymes have optimal temperatures ?
When I was a kid my grandmother told me not to be intimidated by cooking
After all and I quote. “if you put an egg in boiling water, what’s to keep it from cooking
All the best,
Been passing your name to other kindred spirits
Why can’t i marinade for more than 24 hours?
the acid will start to break down the meat protein and turn it into mush.
This recipe was a total winner – thank you! Mouth watering!
Oh my, Chef Billy this recipe is the real winner!!! I tried two recipes in the past but yours is the real deal! I grilled it and just seeing how it looked (not dry, vs my other recipe) made me taste it right away! It exploded with flavor, sooo good and I can imagine myself eating in our fav Korean resto, its the exact taste! Your recipe was absolutely amazing! So proud and excited, cooked and serced this to family and they loved it! Thank you very mucu for the recipe!
Asian pear are not in season right now…can’t find any. What other pear do you suggest?
You can get them all year long at any local Asian market. There is no substitute.
Instead of grilling the ribs can I boil them instead in the marinade to make for a saucy dish?
That would not work and would make them incredibly salty.
I’ve heard about this Korean recipe 3 times this week and found your recipe. Reading it I’m salivating. Lol. I’m dying to make it. I created & mastered my own filet mignon shish kabob recipe 30 years ago. For about 5 years on my wifes birthday I would make 120- 12″ skewered kabobs for the party. Many friends & family suggested I open a kabob-shack business. Unfortunately I never could do it.😕
My family loves it so much occasionally I still make them.
This sir, I’m very much looking forward to trying.
Best Kalbi recipe (out of at least 4 previous attempts with different recipes)! It passed muster with my Korean friends – they said it’s just like Grandma’s. Mirin was not available at my local market, so I substituted a rice wine vinegar and sugar mixture (1/2 tsp sugar per 1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar). It turned out great. I will probably repeat this substitution as I have rice wine vinegar on hand for many other uses, and it’s more economical to stock in my kitchen. Also, I marinated for 10 hours, and still got excellent results.
Can you freeze the Marinade?
I don’t know why not?
Do the green onion get blended as well?
garnish at the end.
I don’t have a grill can I put these in the oven? If so what temp and degrees?
How about a grill pan?
Just made the marinade. Didn’t add anything else, did it exactly as it was posted there. The marinade tastes amazing, can’t wait to try the ribs!
It’s seriously so good, just wait until you grill them!!
The ingredient list is amazing! Can’t wait to try the recipe.
These were incredible! The flavor was perfection and they were so tender!
So dang delicious! love these!
This looks amazing! My husband is going to love this!
These look wonderful, flavorful and delicious. I am obsessed.
This recipe changed my life. I’m about to make it for the 4th time in 3 weeks. The flavor is incredible, very similar to other kalbi I’ve had and have been trying (unsuccessfully) to replicate for a long time. Until now!!! My search is over, this kalbi marinade is perfection! My family & I can’t get enough of it! I haven’t been able to get Korean short ribs in my town so I’ve been using boneless skinless chicken thighs and it is AMAZING!!! Just found some Korean short ribs in the next town and I’m so excited to try it with those! Thank you so much for sharing this incredible recipe!!! I’m kind of obsessed with it.