Korean Kalbi Recipe

This toddler-approved recipe is not exactly all from scratch for Korean kalbi. My goal was to achieve the taste I remembered eating at the Vietnamese restaurants in Garland, Texas and at some Korean restaurants I’ve been to in Dallas. It is more flavorful, and the beef is tender enough for my picky little foodie chef to eat. She hates eating meat, but this is one of the very few meat dish she enjoys eating with rice. Korean kalbi is grilled marinated beef ribs, but I cheat my way out and just pan sear it on my stove because it’s just more convenient.

Ingredients:

2-3 lb Korean style sliced beef ribs
toasted sesame seeds (optional)
2 Tbsp vegetable oil

For the marinade sauce, add the following ingredients into a large bowl to mix with the beef ribs.

1/2 cup CJ Korean Kalbi BBQ Sauce
1/3 cup Lee Kum Kee hoisin sauce
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 Tbsp minced garlic
3/4 tsp black pepper

Note: I make the marinade sauce in large quantity and keep it in my fridge since I make this often for my daughter.

Direction:

1. Cut the strips of beef ribs into small pieces, between the rib bones.

2. Marinate the meat. To achieve a more tender texture, marinate the meat overnight in the fridge. I usually marinate the beef ribs for 24-28 hours. My toddler doesn’t like eating this if I don’t make it tender enough for her to chew.

3. Pan sear the marinated meat. Heat skillet with vegetable oil and add in a few pieces of the marinated beef ribs at a time. I cook mine on high heat on each side for like 30 seconds. Overcooking the meat will result with a chewy and dry texture. I cooked my beef ribs medium to medium rare.

You may like to char grill it instead. I prefer pan searing meats instead. I had my friend grilled these for me. It tasted good but took too long and too much cleaning to do.