Korean BBQ day

[wilburpan]

One of the things I’ve been craving since I went without a grill for most of the summer was Korean BBQ. I’ve seen some posts here on Korean BBQ-inspired dishes that look great, but nothing that seemed like how it’s traditionally done, so I thought I’d share how we do it.

 

First, the choice of meat. We really like kalbi, which is beef short ribs cut specifically for Korean BBQ. There are two ways of doing this cut. The most common method is to slice the ribs thinly across the ribs, and they are portioned in three-rib chunks. The second is to slice the meat around the rib thinly in such a manner that you get one continuous strip of meat and the rib at one end. The first method is a less labor-intensive cut than the second method, and the two cuts are priced accordingly.

 

The first step in making the kalbi is to marinate the meat. There are a lot of recipes out there for kalbi marinades, but we do what every Korean family I know does: use a bottled marinade. If you have access to a Korean grocery store, you’ll find all kinds of marinades, which can be overwhelming. But it’s easy to pick one out.

 

 

On the label at the top, you’ll see it says, “Kalbi BBQ Sauceâ€. This is your tip that you have the right marinade, as opposed to the marinade for bulgogi or other meats. The second is at the bottom of the label, where it says “Pear Pure 17%â€. Asian pear is a staple of many Korean BBQ marinades, much like how many BBQ guys incorporate apple juice into their cooks. You want the bottle with the highest concentration of Asian pear. And that’s all there is to know about picking out the marinade, even if you don’t know a single word of Korean.

 

Marinating the meat is pretty straightforward. Just pour the marinade over the meat. I usually use a glass baking dish with a lid for this. The bottle says that 30 minutes of marinating is enough, probably because the slices of meat are so thin. Having said that, if I can marinate overnight, I will. 

 

 

After that, it’s just direct grilling over high heat. I waited until my grill hit an internal temperature of 500ºF. Here are the action shots. First, the three rib cut.

 

 

And the more expensive cut. The top three pieces are pork belly. The middle piece has the bone still attached on the left, the right is off the bone.

 

 

Hot off the grill.

 

To be continued, since there seems to be a picture limit.

[wilburpan]

Here’s how to eat Korean BBQ. The kalbi is cut down to smaller pieces. A leaf of Romaine lettuce, some rice, and a dab of soybean paste are put together, and a piece of kalbi is put on top. The Romaine lettuce leaf serves as a way to hold it all together, and you eat it sort of like a lettuce taco stuffed with rice and kalbi meat.

 

 

There are other cuts of meat that can be served for Korean BBQ. My second favorite to kalbi is thinly sliced pork belly. This goes straight onto the grill without marinating or a rub. Here are the before and after pictures.

 

 

 

The grilled pork belly is eaten in the same lettuce taco setup as the kalbi, except that instead of soybean paste, I like to use a mix of salt and sesame oil. 

 

 

I also used the grill for more than cooking meat. One of our side dishes was seafood pancake, sort of like a pancake-like omelet with seafood incorporated into it. The grill was perfect for heating up the seafood pancake.

 

 

And finally, here’s a shot of the other side dishes we had. Clockwise around the plate of kalbi, there’s marinated spinach, spicy fish cake, seafood pancakes, and edamame.

 

 

If you’ve never tried Korean BBQ, it’s terrific. I’m so happy that I can make it at home again.

[Loquitur]

Thanks for the fascinating post, Wilburpan. I love Korean BBQ but the few times I've tried to make kalbi or bulgogi, I feel like I don't have the right balance even though I use the fresh Asian pear. So I'm delighted to hear that I should try a bottled sauce from the Asian market!! Also would be very interested in hearing about the recipes and techniques for the side dishes sometime.  

[tquando]

Well done! A big fan of Korean BBQ here in Japan and when visiting Korea but never thought about teeing it up on the beast. It must be done!

[wilburpan]

Thanks for the fascinating post, Wilburpan. I love Korean BBQ but the few times I've tried to make kalbi or bulgogi, I feel like I don't have the right balance even though I use the fresh Asian pear. So I'm delighted to hear that I should try a bottled sauce from the Asian market!! Also would be very interested in hearing about the recipes and techniques for the side dishes sometime.

Unfortunately, I don’t have recipes for the sides. We picked up the sides at the Korean grocery store, much like you would pick up potato salad at the deli.

Here’s the scoop on how I settled on bottled marinade for Korean BBQ. My sister teaches high school Chinese, and as such she has a lot of Korean students. She was on a quest for a kalbi marinade recipe and asked her Korean students for some. The recipes were all okay, but none of them were outstanding.

Finally, she realized that she was asking for the wrong thing. Instead of asking for recipes, she started asking her Korean students, “How do your parents make kalbi at home?â€

And the answer was universally, “First, they get a bottle of marinade from the Korean grocery store.â€

[EGGARY]

I did Korean Short Ribs last night as well and I used the same marinade.  I added some garlic and some Worcheshire Sauce.  They came out good.  I do have boneless chuck short ribs in the freezer that I am looking forward to smoking.  A little R & D.

[tony b]

Hosted a Korean themed dinner a couple of Saturdays ago for my supper club. As host, I was responsible for the entree, so I did the Kalbi. My local butcher can get the 3 bone ribs.  Made my own marinade, but didn't have the Asian Pear. Will look for the bottled stuff next time I'm at the Asian market. I have another pack of ribs in the freezer. Because I was hosting, couldn't take time out to take any pictures - Sorry! A bit of advice, if offered Soju (Korean liquor made from rice) - pass! We had a bottle at the dinner, can make a decent cocktail with it, but doing straight shots like the Koreans is a bit rough!

 

I am a huge fan of gojujang and like to put it in a lot of things, second only to maybe sriracha! Only wish I could get the hotter stuff - our markets around here only carry 3 chiles hot. Decent spiciness, but I'd like to see what 5 chiles is like. 

 

Speaking of hot sauce, a buddy in my homebrewing club taught me how to make fermented hot sauce. A neighbor was kind enough to give me a batch of chiles from his garden - Caribbean Red Habaneros and Ghost Peppers. Took 3 weeks to ferment. Then into the blender with carrots, fresh garlic and salt. This base is then cut with what ever vinegar you like (I made 3 different versions - white cider, rice, and white balsamic), with a bit of xanthan gum to tighten up the consistency. Had a bit of fun with labeling the bottles.

 

[dstr8]

Great post wilburpan!!!

[CeramicChef]

Wilbur - WOW! Great post that had my mouth watering! Very nice cook. And great photography too! Kudos!

[GoFrogs91]

Wilbur - Well done. Enjoyed the post.

[DaveyR]

Great post Wilbur it all looks yummy.

[daveco]

Thanks for posting this!

[DennisLinkletter]

Great post.. because of how rich/fatty beef ribs are eating them this thin really makes sense..

We have a great Japanese market that sells ribs that look exactly like yours.. They also have lots of different Kalbi sauces.

After looking at your shots, I'm sooo ready..

[Loquitur]

Speaking of hot sauce, a buddy in my homebrewing club taught me how to make fermented hot sauce. A neighbor was kind enough to give me a batch of chiles from his garden - Caribbean Red Habaneros and Ghost Peppers. Took 3 weeks to ferment. Then into the blender with carrots, fresh garlic and salt. This base is then cut with what ever vinegar you like (I made 3 different versions - white cider, rice, and white balsamic), with a bit of xanthan gum to tighten up the consistency. Had a bit of fun with labeling the bottles.

 

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Very professional looking,Tony!! Here is mine in progress. It's my first attempt and I am very encouraged after a slow start. Nothing was happening for a few days and I thought I killed everything between using my tap water which is from a municipal supply and probably full of chemicals and my house being closer to 60 deg than 70 most of the time at this time of year. But after the third day it started to rock!! I hope I have this cap contraption in correctly. I have no clue how this is supposed to keep oxygen out but let the CO2 escape. These are my Thai Hot Dragon peppers plus 3 poblano's to beef up the flesh a little bit. My plan is to do half of it with fish sauce and half of it with rice wine vinegar. I have an issue with commercial bottled hot sauces being to vinegary so I'm excited about being able to get away from that.  

[bgrant3406]

I hope I have this cap contraption in correctly. I have no clue how this is supposed to keep oxygen out but let the CO2 escape.

HI Susan, as a home brewer I've used that piece a lot. You just need to make sure that the plastic piece covers the pipe coming out of the fermenting vessel and then make sure to fill The barrel about halfway up, put the cap on it and you should be good to go.

One thing to watch out for though, as as the temperatures vary in the house and in the fermenting item whatever liquid is in that type of bubbler can be sucked back into the food or into the beer. In Brewing, a lot of times we used cheap vodka, in the bubbler, so that If anything does get sucked back in it won't harm the beer. Once that happens one time most people will immediately go and create what's called a "big bore blow off tube", basically they'll go get a half-inch (I think inner diameter) piece of tubing push it over the stem that comes out of the bubbler and put the other end into a jug of sanitizer or vodka. Just need to have enough liquid to cover the end of the hose by say an inch or so and make sure the hose is always in the liquid. Also if there are any cross pieces at the bottom of the bubbler (end that goes into the fermentation vessel), they should be cut off as they can create a clogging point and then the pressure can build up in the vessel and potentially cause a very messy explosion!

Here is a picture of a "big bore blow off tube " setup.

[Loquitur]

Thanks for the tip, bgrant. I went on you tube and watched some beer making videos and it seems to me that there is a lot more action in making beer than hot pepper sauce. I have nothing added to the peppers to aid in the fermentation besides water and salt and a cabbage leaf over the top of the peppers to keep them submerged. I will keep a close eye on it.   

[bgrant3406]

Thanks for the tip, bgrant. I went on you tube and watched some beer making videos and it seems to me that there is a lot more action in making beer than hot pepper sauce. I have nothing added to the peppers to aid in the fermentation besides water and salt and a cabbage leaf over the top of the peppers to keep them submerged. I will keep a close eye on it.

Yeah, some beer fermentations can be pretty wild!

Watch out for the liquid being pulled back in though, in brewing that happens after all the wild fermenting is done and the temperature variations cause a vacuum in the fermenter.

Btw, that hot sauce looks killer!

[tony b]

Susan, my buddy told me to cover the pepper mash/salt mixture with a cheap white wine, something on the sweeter side, like a Riesling. It adds a bit of sugar to help start the fermentation and the alcohol helps keep "bad bugs" (a homebrewing term) out, too.

 

BGrant3406 - glad to have another homebrewer in the group. I can attest to plugged airlocks leading to explosions. Major explosion first time I made a clone of Southern Tier's Creme Brulee Stout. Here's a picture of the permanent stain on my basement ceiling where the airlock shattered after it was blown completely out of the carboy. 

 

 

Would have uploaded a couple of short videos that highlight the activity, but looks like we can't upload mp4 files. 

[daveco]

My first experience with Soju was last month at a restaurant, celebrating a friend's birthday.  The owner brought out some bottles and glasses.  It was quite good, and potent; I was singing a lot of Karaoke after downing a few glasses, and I never sing to Karaoke.  My apologies to Mr. Sinatra.

[tony b]

I believe that Soju was the genesis of Karaoke. Serious stuff! I don't know what there is about it, but it packs quite a punch for the alcohol level. I have an iron liver and it kicked me pretty hard - much harder than Sake. Only "ta-kill-ya" packs a bigger punch in my liquor cabinet.