David Chang’s Kalbi Jjim
This is probably my most repeated “project” recipe over the years. The first time I ever cooked this was for Friendsgiving, the year “Friendsgiving” became a trending hashtag, I barely knew how to even cook, really. But I certainly thought I was the shit.
All I did was follow this recipe to the letter, stayed up literally all night cooking up a full spread at my friend’s apartment, and it turned out so savory and amazingly delicious. Since then, I’ve become more handwavy with some aspects of the ingredients while staying true to its simple and comforting flavor profile.
Every time short ribs go on sale in the winter, I automatically buy a bunch and make a huge pot of this. When we splurged on our Le Creuset Dutch oven at Sur La Table’s closing sale, we bought expensive, full-priced short ribs to break it in and shared a Korean-themed meal with friends. It’s a dish deserving to be the centerpiece of a special meal. Or it could totally just be meal prep for the week.
It does take all day to cook and would be much better next day after removing off a solid thick layer of fat. But the prep time is super minimal, and it’s easy to fit this into a day of chores or wfh.
Kalbi Jjim, David Chang Style
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Make braising liquid. Combine in a saucepot and simmer for 1-2 minutes:
1.5 cups blended Asian pear (or honeycrisp apple). Usually 1.5 large juicy pears, or maybe 2 large honeycrisps.
If you are me and often don’t buy enough fruit for this, just sub in a glug of rice syrup to taste
1 cup sake (usually subbed w/ a combination of dry wine + Chinese shaoxing wine for me)
1 cup mirin
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup soy sauce
2 Tbsp cracked black pepper
2 Tbsp chopped garlic
10 whole garlic cloves
1 Tbsp sesame oil
1.5 cup water
In an oven-friendly pot like a 6 or 7 quart Dutch oven, sear on med-high heat:
5 lb short ribs
Do in batches if necessary
Sear as many sides as possible
When the fond seems like it’s in danger of burning, deglaze with:
2 onions, roughly chopped
The liquid from the onions should prevent the fond from burning, and you can usually finish searing the short ribs until the onion is sweated down
Return the ribs to the pot, arranging them bone side up, meat side down.
Add braising liquid to the pot, and add a little more water if necessary to almost cover the meat.
Bring the pot to a boil, and transfer to oven. Bake uncovered for 2 hours.
At the 2 hour mark, add:
1 lb carrots, chunked
8-12 fingerling potatoes, chopped
I had some russets left from Thanksgiving. It was odd, like it sort of cured into a dried potato? Fingerlings or small yellow potatoes definitely yield a more creamy consistency. I usually buy fingerlings or “heirloom potatoes” when available.
Bake uncovered for 2 more hours, or until short ribs are tender.
If, for some reason, the liquid level has gotten too low, just add a little more water. But the displacement of the vegetables should allow everything to be covered.
Maybe check at the 1 hr mark and give it a tossy-toss.
Let the meat cool in the braising liquid, then strain.
Usually I do everything from here on the next day if I can. Smelling the braise all day makes it taste really dull the first day, but it does taste amazing the next day. Also, it’s much easier to skim the fat.
Return the liquid to a pot, skim off most of the fat, and reduce until it’s thicker and syrupy.
Tbh I rarely bother with this extra reduction, unless I’m serving guests. 4 hrs in the oven reduces it plenty, and I love having extra sauce to spoon over.
But it does glaze be-a-u-tifully if you do take it to a syrupy, shiny consistency.
Remove the bones that should be falling off at this point, and gently toss everything with the liquid.
Garnish with green onions, and serve with rice and side dishes.
This is probably the only David Chang recipe I’ve tried and truly liked. Someday, I hope to venture into other versions of kalbi jjim. But this version is just so easy and so good, it’s hard to want to shave carrots into balls and source fresh gingko and jujubes or something.
Notes:
The whole thing is supposed to eat a little sweet. But it goes well with refreshing, lighter side dishes and can take a ton of black pepper.
When you taste the liquid at any point, it may taste a little bland. But resist the urge to season more, because it’ll be too salty when reduced. Generally following the recipe will yield a decent result.
For this recipe, I tend to use English-style short ribs for easier handling. Whole Foods usually has ones that have a ton of meat per bone, like the ones I used in this batch, but they’re very expensive. I only make this dish when they’re on sale, and it’s worth it!
I’ve also done beef bones + boneless Costco shortribs, but the bone is where all the flavor is. Costco’s boneless short ribs tend to be better marbled.
Packed a take-out box for Noah on overnight w/ a vinegary mustard broccoli side dish.
