BEST Galbi Korean Beef Ribs Recipe & Video - Seonkyoung Longest (2024)

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BEST Galbi, Korean Grilled Beef Short Ribs!

I’ve shared galbi recipe a while ago and shared how and what you can do with the marinade. I used beef, pork and chicken so I decided to make a recipe that dedicated to beer ribs. Which is the most loved cut of meat for Korean bbq.

I mentioned a lot in the past that when it comes down to Korean bbq and grilling, I know what I’m talking about. Because my dad is a organic farmer, a butcher and Korean bbq restaurant owner.

I will answer a top 3 questions about gabli in this post.

First, what is the right name? Galbi or Kalbi?

The answer is, “Galbi” is more close the the original pronunciation so I prefer to spell “Galbi”

Ok, then what’s “LA Galbi” and why is it called by the name?

The most popular theory is that the first generation of Korean Americans who settled in Los Angeles in the 20th century were not familiar with the general cuts of the meats in United States, so they were in the process of searching for meat that fits the Korean culture.

In order to produce Korean traditional style ribs (Galbi) that can be marinated in Korean seasoning and grilled, the ribs must be butterflied 2 to 3 times with a knife. This is very special butcher skill that takes a while to learn and master. Also it takes a long time labors to achieve the result.

In the states, the labor cost is so high. Therefore, it was too expensive for poor Koreans immigrants to buy. So, while looking for cheap meat, they came up with a solution with Flanken style cut, a form that could be cut right away with a cutter machine instead of a knife.

This signature look of LA galbi got so popular now, even people in Korea enjoys too!

Lastly, Gabli vs. Bulgogi

Galbi is rib, galbi means literally ribs. So if it’s not made with ribs, it’s not gabli. There are many Korean dishes ha “Gabli” as a part of the name, because it’s cut of meat – even it’s not beef nor grilled.

However, bulgogi must have savory & sweet (sometimes spicy) flavor and cooked on fire. “But” means fire and “Gogi” means meat.
For bulgogi, commonly used thin cut meat, it can be beef, pork, chicken or any protein.

There are so many variation of bulgogi out there, I can name them all day and night long.

For this recipe, you will need 3 lb of beef short ribs. I used 1-inch thick beef short ribs because it’s more meatier but you can use thiner cut of short ribs that more commonly found at grocery stores.

Score beef short ribs about 1/8 to 1/4 inch deep in a criss corss pattern on both sides.

Pour marinate over short ribs, make sure each pieces are covered with marinate evenly. You could use ziplock bag if you preferred.

Cover, marinate for 6 to 8 hours in a refrigerator.

Preheat a cast iron grill pan over medium heat. Brush grill pan with 1 tbsp cooking oil. Place short ribs on hot oiled grill pan and cook until it’s done your desired doneness and edges are nicely charred, about 8 to 10 minutes. Flip occasionally. Do batches as needed.

If you are using outdoor grill, go ahead and grill ribs 8 to 10 minutes.

A tip: Don’t throwaway leftover marinade! Pour marinade into a sauce pan and bring it to boil. When it starts boiling, reduce heat to medium and cook sauce about 10 minutes. Skim as you needed. This will be a delicious dipping sauce for galbi!