This Korean kalbi short ribs recipe is one of the best ways to serve up this cut of beef! Delicious and fun to eat, these short ribs are tender, have a sweet and salty flavor, and cook up in no time after marinating overnight.

A white rectangular plate containing cooked beef short ribs topped with chopped green onions and white sesame seeds

Are you in the mood for beef, but want something more than just a hamburger or steak?

Do you want a beef dish that's got a tasty Asian twist to it, that can also be fun to eat?

Then look no further than these Korean kalbi short ribs!

The Beef

Kalbi (or sometimes spelled "galbi") basically means "ribs" in Korean, and the dish uses a flanken cut of beef where thin slices are cut across the bones instead of parallel to the bones.

This cut of beef has three to four small bones next to a strip of beef that is often marbled with fat (which is what makes this cut so tender and tasty!). Short ribs can be found easily in Asian food stores that sell fresh meat, or you may be able to find them frozen in larger supermarkets.

A metal pan of red raw slices of beef strips with bones

The Marinade

Besides the usual Asian marinade ingredients like soy sauce (tamari for gluten-free), garlic, ginger, sesame oil, etc., this marinade also has a special ingredient: Asian pear!

While offering a bit of sweetness to the marinade, the pear also acts as a tenderizer for the beef. If you don't have access to Asian pears, I have read that Bosc pair will also do the trick. All you need to do is grate the pear and mix it right in (juices, too!) with the other marinade ingredients.

Collage of half a round pear, a pear being grated, grated pear in a blue bowl, and grated pear in a measuring cup with brown liquid

Place the short ribs and marinade in a ziploc bag or shallow container, making sure all the meat has been well-coated on all sides, and let everything hang out overnight!

Collage of raw meat with brown marinade in a sealed bag, raw beef short ribs on a grill on a pan

On cooking day, you've got a few different choices on how to prepare them. Cook them on an outdoor barbecue grill, fry them in a skillet, or broil them in the oven. No matter which method of these you choose, the thin cut of these short ribs means you only need to cook them for a few minutes on each side. That's it!

A dark round plate containing brown cooked beef short ribs, green vegetables, and white rice, topped with chopped green onion and sesame seeds

Serve these ribs with simple sides like leafy greens and rice. Alternatively, you can make this more of a Korean style meal by serving them with Korean Sweet Potato Noodles (Japchae) and have some Korean Chili Sauce (Gochujang) on the side if you want to add some spice to the meat!

My favorite part of the short ribs is actually eating right around the bones! My boys, however, do not find it as enjoyable as I do and instead, they'll devour the meat and give me and their dad the bone sections...more fun for us! Whether you like eating off the bones or not, you are going to love the flavor and these kalbi short ribs and how quickly you can cook them up any night of the week!

~ Lisa.