The Australian short ribs didn’t stay in the refrigerator for too long. I decided to make a recipe of Korean style braised short ribs. If you guys are old enough, you might 
remember one of the first fast-food halls at the basement of Shoemart Makati in the late 1970’s… my favorite stall there was called KIMCHI and today they are all over the city in nearly every major food hall. At the time, I would get either the bulgogi (Korean barbecue) or their beef stew that was sweetish, salty, pungent and served with bean sprouts, kimchi and rice for some outrageous price like PHP15 or 20 only. I recently visited a KIMCHI outlet last year but was sorely disappointed by the quality of the food, the size of the portions (and soup that tasted like soap water) and, of course, these days, the soaring price tag. Plus they actually had no kimchi in stock…how outrageous is that?? I had never made Korean style short ribs before so I turned to a new cookbook I purchased for some guidance. The Complete Meat Cookbook by Bruce Aidells and Denis Kelly has a wealth of information on meat in general, but they also have an international selection of recipes, including the one I used as a basis for this version…
Your starting point has to be superb large cut beef short ribs like I featured in the previous post. To make, take out a large heavy enameled dutch oven or pot and add the 3 kilos of ribs. Throw in 12 whole cloves of peeled garlic, 1 cup Kikkoman soy sauce, ¾ cup dark muscovado sugar, I added five large slices of fresh ginger, 10 green onions, 
5 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar and several cups of water until all the ribs were submerged. Add more soy sauce and water as needed. Bring this pot to a boil and simmer for roughly 2 hours or more if the meat is still tough. Fish out the ribs (they SHRINK in size dramatically) and drain them on paper towels and brush them with sesame oil and put them in a hot 450-475 degree oven to crisp their skins for about 15-18 minutes or until sizzling a bit. Remove from the oven and place in a deep serving dish. Reduce the sauce/broth they were boiled in until the sauce has a spectacularly rich and sweetish/salty flavor (I didn’t need to boil it down for too long). Also, if you wish strain out the remnants of garlic, ginger, etc. and pour the sauce over the ribs. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds if you have them.
Serve this hot with lots of white rice and some bowls of kimchi. I used a bottle of store bought kimchi and while it wasn’t as good as homemade, it was just right 
for that authentic pairing with the beef. I have to say this dish was easy and tasted great. But the ribs were not the best I have had. Despite their fantastic looks in the store, the heft, the fat, etc. they turned out a little tough and the shrinkage was more than I expected… maybe I cooked them too long but if I stopped sooner I would need an electric saw to eat them. I am still in search of a reliable supplier of short ribs and while these were okay for the price, I was not impressed… The ribs were also good the next day when re-heated and eaten shredded. I suspect they would have been better shredded then fried in the sauce….hmmm, next time maybe!
31 Responses
Mmm… kalbi tchim – haven’t had it in a long time.
Looks marvelous!
Ahhh, the aromas of kalbi and steaming white rice mixed with the pungent smell of kimchi :) My mouth is watering!
You might want to trying rubbing the beef with pureed kiwi first – it’s a great tenderizer!
I love this dish and made it a point to try the real thing when I visited Korea last year…but can you believe I went to 50 restaurants (no exaggeration) and when I asked them for kalbichim they didn’t have it on the menu/didn’t seem to know what it was! I was there for a week and a half and was searching for it until I was at the airport preparing for departure (hope sprung eternal). Is this actually a Filipino/Filipinized dish?
Wow! Looks yummy!
I do miss eating at Kimchi. When we were younger, my parents would often choose Kimchi as the fast food of choice. I was craving to eat at Kimchi just recently. The last time I ate there was like 2-3 years ago. And at that time, it already didn’t taste as good as it was before. Was it because our taste buds have evolved? Or did their quality actually deteriorate? Hmmm…
oh yeah kalbi chim. . . thanks ed. . . i tried thingking of the name of this korean stew for hours now, and what always comes in mind is bulgogi. . . now i remember kalbi chim. . . if i am not wrong, i think the recipe i remember also had grated apple. . .
Yum yum yum. Kalbi chim and chap che are my favorite korean dishes, plus beef bulgogi of course. I miss the Arirang restaurant in ortigas center. They had the best bulgogi for me. I remember a korean restaurant (name escapes me) at Pasay Road then and they also had fantastic kalbi chim. Oh, and there’s a japanese resto now also along Pasay Road called Sandaya located on the second floor of the same building where Ralph’s is and Love Garden. It serves superb beef bulgogi that you cook on your table (it’s actually their yakitori).
thanks for this recipe MM!
because every one in the family loves korean short ribs so much..my mom tried to do it at home… basically the same procedure except that she add “sibhot’ (im not sure of the spelling)…its a mixture of leaves, sort of a portion of a tree trunk, etc… and it tasted and smelled exactly like the original one at “kimchi’s”… i think i’ll make one for my kids one of these dyas!
hi MM, been away for a while. busy. anyway, since korean food is the topic of your latest post, i thought i might present some restaurant suggestions. I too used to eat in Kimchi but since those early days Korean restaurants in manila have improved dramatically, to say the least, esp since we seem to have been invaded by hordes of Koreans over the past couple of years (i think half a million flew in last year alone). They are everywhere!
And many are now residents and have opened all sorts of businesses from resorts, to karaoke bars, to groceries, and of course, many have opened restaurants.
I was at the ati atihan festival in kalibo this year and was surprised to find a korean community already established there of all places. i mean, kalibo??
anyway, aside from the obvious places (eg Kaya restaurants and the three joints by remedios circle in malate) i have discovered some gems that maybe only a few filipinos know about:
1. Bi Won Korean BBQ, on Burgos st. Makati. excellent food, filled with koreans yet virtually zero pinoy customers. this place is known for its cold noodles (great for summer) but i love the bbq pork in lettuce leaves (eaten like a taco) or any of the ihaw dishes and all the great little side dishes , sauces,and accompaniments.
2. The Korean restaurant beside Singing Cooks and Waiters restaurant on Roxas blvd. For the life of me i cannot remember the name but again, anything on the menu is brilliant, and again, mostly koreans eating and hardly a pinoy in sight. This place was recommended to me by , what else, a korean… a foodie korean. Excellent.
i know a couple more of the more unusual korean places but this post is far too long already…
MMMMMMMmmmmmm. MMmmmmmm. This is one of the dishes I miss the most from back home. Would you believe that kalbi chim is not considered restaurant fare here in the US. My family and I have visited almost every Korean restaurant in our are in search of kalbi chim. None of them serve it. I finally dared to ask why and was told that Kalbi Chim is considered a meal only for the home. Not sophisticated enough to be served at a restaurant. Can you believe?
I will definitely try your recipe for a Sunday Dinner. What can I replace muscovado sugar with? Will brown sugar work?
I suppose we should have a number of good Korean restaurants. Maybe you have noticed the increasing number of Koreans in the Phils. In BF Pque alone, there are so many but I am partial to Korea Garden in Makati Ave. Not sure if they still exist but they serve very good beef stew…tender, not fibrous. Korean stores sell home-made kimchi…better than the bottled ones. I cook Korean beef stew but I don’t crisp them in the oven. Next time, I will!
I would have used a pressure cooker to tenderize the short ribs while not totally shrinking it. Once you’ve cooked them for about 20 – 25 minutes, it should be falling off the bone. I actually remember the Kimchi at the SM fastfood, I used to go there too as a young kid and remember the great food. I have a friend in Malate who owns Korean Village and makes some wicked and authentic Korean food. Ask for Ponce.
Never had this ‘kalbi chim’ dish before. Sounds like worth trying the next time I’m at a Korean resto — that is, if they make it.
Ever tried the Vietnamese style beef stew though? I like it with the crunchy french baguette instead of the usual steam rice or noodles.
Yes, that’s what I noticed too about a lot of koreans lately. Maybe they will invade PI soon? :) Anyway, I tried this recipe yesterday. Put on the stove at medium, watched TV and fallen asleep. Woke up about 1.5 hours later with burned ribs :( Will try again of course.
Ed, MC and ykmd… isn’t it funny how particular dishes evoke an immediate salivary response? I think this is a pinoy favorite because it is sweetish, soy saucish, garlicky and soupy! Mia, I think this is home cooking in Korea, not restaurant fare; and no, it’s not pinoyish…I found the base recipe for this in an American cookbook. Korina, not sure if KIMCHI the fastfood place got worse or we got more discriminating, but I am not going back there for a LONG while… maddie, I remember the Arirang restaurant chain, I thik they had one in Makati as well… arr, ask your mom what “sibhot” is, please, I am very curious! :) Gonzo, thanks for those tips. I love Korean food. One of my roomates at university was Korean so I have eaten quite a bit! As for the influx, there are over 100,000 Koreans, here mainly for their kids to learn English and to engage in business. Tourists are coming faster than the Japanese and kimchi is on the breakfast buffet even at upscale resorts like EL NIDO! Knittymommy, YES, brown sugar can replace muscovado in this dish if you can’t find muscovado… corrine, the crisping adding a nice layer of texture to the dish… Jesse, AHA! a pressure cooker, good idea, but ours is broken at the moment… RobKSA, maybe the heat was too high? Just a gentle simmer will do…
What a coincidence, my sisters and I dined at a Korean barbecue restaurant last night so my cravings for Korean food have briefly been sated. I use the Kalbi Tchim recipe from Hi Soo Shin Hepsinstall’s cookbook Growing Up in a Korean Kitchen. It’s a bit involved so I’m glad to learn from you that there is a version of this dish in Bruce Aidells book which fortunately also resides on my bookshelf so I don’t have to run out and purchase another cookbook. Thanks once again!
Well, apparently the former Fatman Seoul went to a kalbi-tchim restaurant in Seoul called Keunsorang Galbijjim – Beoseot Nongjang.
https://fatman-seoul.blogspot.com/2004/12/galbi-jjim.html
Unfortunately, he does not list an address, and since his blog has been retired for some time, I don’t think email works either. Sayang!
I believe that Fatman Seoul went to a kalbi tchim restaurant in Seoul called Keunsorang Galbijjim/Beoseot Nongjang. (It’s in the Fatman Seoul blog.) Unfortunately, he doesn’t have the address, and since his blog has long since been retired, I don’t think emailing him would work either. Sayang!
Marketman, I hope to help you figure out sibot. My grandparents used it their whole lifetime. Sibhot or sibot, is a Chinese ingredient similar to 5 spice. The ingredients are dried barks and the likes. It is good for flavoring dishes even for just nilaga. Tip: secret ingredient in most Chinese dishes, to which some homecooks try to copy by using star anise. Try sibhot and it will be more authentic. :) We usually buy this in Chinatown but nowadays you can find it in the spices/herbs section of some supermarkets including SM.
The restaurant which comes to mind is korea Garden. formerly located along burgos now along jupiter. What’s great is that since i was a kid my family would frequent the place and until now its good to see almost all the waiters have stayed with them. Another place we would go to is masang near polaris makati . During that time the korean was just cooking in her “daster” and it was just a house then.
I tried this dish before MM but I added mirin and mixed in some korean sauce which is good for short ribs which i bought in a korean store. I don’t know the name coz it was written in korean.
Galbi Jin… Yummy!! :)
teny, like you, I tried replicating the Kimchi recipe and also added mirin… plus leeks. Turned out really yummy!
hi marketman! i usually get my short ribs from the tenderbites stall at unimart and i am never disppointed. just tell them that you want premium short ribs (as the name suggests they cost a bit more than usual but definitely worth it. i get mine on saturday mornings when there’s new delivery.
Highly recommend Seoul Barbeque along Libis (almost across from Eastwood City) for those craving Korean food. It ranks right up there beside Korea Garden and, well, Kimchi (during its heydays) in terms of taste and quality. Prices are also reasonable, given the generous serving sizes. Can’t wait to try this recipe at home though!
What a coincidence! I just attempted to make korean beef stew last night following a recipe from pinoycook. I miss kimchi too, the quality of their food did deteriorate, too bad.
Hi MM! You are an angel! Thanks for this recipe. I will definitely try this on Sat . . . I can already imagine the taste … hahaha! Thanks again!
I’m lucky enough to live in the middle of a Korean community up here in Subic. I love Koreans! Very generous and respectful people… at least to their teachers!
My student’s mom makes this dish to perfection… but she makes it a day ahead. After cooking, she lets it cool and the next day scrapes off the “sebo” before cooking it a second time. That lessens the fat, intensifies the flavor, and makes the meat practically buttery-soft. Yum! Lucky for me, she owns the local Korean Restaurant so I can get it anytime.
this’ll be my next project. can’t wait…my adobo and bistek tagalog were a great success. I was so inspired to cook.
i’ve been frying tocino,hotdogs,longganisa,tapa (c/o Seafood City) for most of my 2mos. here in cali. plus lotsa egg white omelettes. it’s no wonder when we go out my hubby eats like there’s no tomorrow. :
I personally didn’t find Kimchi’s Kalbichim exciting, although that’s probably because the quality has been watered down from the past. The best Kalbichim I have ever tasted came from a restaurant called Korea Garden. Another one, Korea Palace was also good.
To tenderise the beef ribs, I use either nashi pears or kiwifruit, depending on what is in season.