Burnt My Fingers

Galbi on the grill!

In a previous post we described the parameters for our Galbi vs Bulgogi taste test. We’d use beef flanken ribs for the Galbi, and there was a nice prime top sirloin on sale at the same butcher so we picked that up for the Bulgogi. Feeling a little experimental, we also defrosted one of our supermarket packages of American-style short ribs cut along the bone, to try Maangchi’s more authentic Korean butterflying method. And we created our own “best of” marinade which you can find in our Galbi recipe post.

Bulgogi grilling. Be careful it doesn’t fall through the grate!

The marinade ingredients went into the mini-chop and came out as a paste, which we rubbed into our sirloin and flanken ribs in the same bowl. Meanwhile, we prepared Maangchi’s no-soy marinade in which the butterflied ribs get lubricated with sesame oil, then a dry rub with sugar/salt/black pepper and sprinkled chopped green onion and garlic on top before they are rolled up. All meats marinated a little more than 2 hours, then it was time to fire up the grill in the BlueStar.

Galbi plated, with red lettuce and ssamjang sauce.

The winner was Galbi, of course, but not necessarily for their “luxury”. Bone-in ribs are just a lot easier to cook and a lot more fun to eat! The crosscut bones in flanken ribs act as an insulator, keeping the meat a little above the hot grill, and the marbling makes them easy to cook without burning or sticking. We had sliced the Bulgogi when not-quite-frozen to get really thin pieces, and now it proved quite a job to keep them from falling between the cracks of the grill or getting overdone. The butterflied full-size rib also cooked well though the no-soy marinade was less interesting than the other.

Maangchi-style spareribs, butterflied and rolled up to cure.

The KBBQ was served with two kinds of kimchi (our Happy Bellyfish recipe and a milder one made with daikon radish), haiga rice, red lettuce for wrapping around the meat, and an intensely flavorful ssamjang sauce from the Koreatown cookbook; ingredients and prep information in our Galbi recipe post.

I mentioned the Galbi was more fun to eat: you provide scissors at the table to cut the rib meat into bite-size pieces (in a restaurant the server might do this for you) with the bones on the side. Spread a bit of ssamjang on a lettuce leaf, wrap it around the meat: flavor explosion. And the riblets are a bonus to chew on when you’re done.

Galbi bones for gnawing.

The Bulgogi was fine, and we managed to avoid overcooking it. (And the marinade was a good flavor note, but it would have been overkill to prepare two slightly different recipes because the beef and char flavor predominated.) The butterflied Korean-style ribs cooked up well (though the bones are too big to gnaw on, alas) and we’d try those next time with our Korean marinade if flanken ribs are unavailable. But now we’re a big fan of non-authentic LA Galbi: along with Disneyland, the Hollywood sign and the La Brea Tarpits, they’re one more gift to the world from SoCal.