The weather has been so wacky lately.
We basically skipped winter and had beautiful California sunshine weather (80-90 degrees!!) for most of January. Rumor has it that it's going to rain tomorrow! Today was pretty cold, but the nights in our little apartment are super, super cold on these kind of days. Days like today would be so perfect with a nice bowl of hot, steamy comfort-food soup. On chilly days like today, I wish I could stay at home and be knee high in 3 layers of socks and make galbitang all day long.
Galbitang is surprisingly easy to make, but the broth takes a long time to brew. (Gotta squeeze all that flavor out of the bones!) This soup is the kind that you can be making in the background while you're catching up with chores at home. It sits on your stove for 6-8 hours without requiring much of your attention, so you can sneak in some laundry-folding, bathroom-cleaning, pantry-organizing and netflix watching while you're prepping dinner at home. It's amazing!
So here we go...
The first step is to soak your short ribs. (I actually got the cheaper kind, and it didn't have as much meat on the bones - but we're on a budget so it was my only choice!)
Soak your short ribs in for 1 hour. Change the water a few times during that hour if you need to. This little bath allows the blood to be drained and any loose bone chips to fall off. Wash thoroughly and be sure to wash your hands in between - it gets super oily because of the fat! ;)
Drain the cold water and blanch the short ribs in a pot of boiling water. I "blanched" mine for about 20-30 minutes. This will ensure you get some more of that fat off. (Short ribs carry a lot of fat on them, so this will help you get rid of most of it.)
This is what it looked like after the first 20 minutes. You can drain your fatty water, give your ribs a good wash and repeat the blanching sequence 1-2 more times if you want to get all crazy. I did it twice. (20-30 minutes for each sequence).
Pour out your fatty water, give your short ribs and your pot a really good rinse. Then boil your clean water one more time to make the broth. When the water is boiling - add your short ribs, radish, garlic and whole onion. (I also included a few inches of ginger for flavor). Let it come to a crazy boil, then lower your heat to a simmer and let it go it at for 6-8 hours.
When the broth is done, pull your short ribs and radish out and set aside. Discard the onion.
Pour your broth into a large, heat-protected bowl over a strainer covered in cheesecloth. Scoop the excess oil/fat off with a spoon or a fine mesh strainer. Return the broth into a clean pot, so that you can re-heat immediately before serving.
Prepare your toppings!
Cook your noodles in the broth and set aside when fully cooked.
Arrange short ribs, radish and noodles in a bowl and pour a generous amount of broth. Top with egg, green onions and hot sauce (optional).
Eugene approved of this recipe and asked me to make it again!
Hopefully we can make it again next month. :)
Galbitang Recipe (Korean Beef Short Rib Soup)
Adapted from Maangchi
Ingredients:
Galbitang
1 kg (about 3 pounds) beef short ribs
1 small korean radish, peeled (also known as daikon)
1 medium size onion, peeled with ends removed
1 ginger (at least 3-4 inches), peeled
12 cups water
starch noodles (optional)
6-8 cloves of minced garlic
6 green onions, chopped
ground black pepper
Fried Egg
two egg yolks only, stirred
pinch of salt
EVOO for frying
Hot Sauce
1/4 cup of soy sauce
2 Tbsp of sesasme oil
1 Tbsp hot pepper flakes
1 Tbsp sesame seeds
1 green onion, finely minced
Instructions
1. Soak short ribs in cold water for 1 hour, changing water 2-3 times.
2. Wash short ribs and blanch in boiling water for 20-30 minutes. Discard water and repeat if necessary.
3. Thoroughly wash blanched short ribs and wash the pot completely of any grease. Fill with 12 cups of water and bring water to a boil on HIGH heat.
4. Add short ribs, radish, onion, and ginger to boiling water. Allow the soup to come to a boil then lower heat to MED or LOW-MED until soup comes to a simmer. Allow soup to simmer for 6-8 hours.
5. Prepare toppings: Chop green onions and eggs and set aside.
6. Remove short ribs and radish from the soup base and set aside. Remove onion/ginger and discard.
7. Pour soup over a fine mesh stainer covered in cheesecloth into a large bowl. Scoop out any oil/fat floating on the surface.
8. Pour soup back into large, clean pot and cook the starch noodles for 10 minutes, or until fully cooked.
9. Arrange short ribs, radish, noodles and toppings into a large bowl and pour broth over immediately before serving. Sprinkle ground black or white pepper. Add hot sauce if desired.
Serve with rice and yummy side dishes. :)
Perfect for cold weather, I'm telling you! And your little home will smell wonderful, too!
Stay warm, everyone. :)
xoxo,
sharon
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