Korean Steamed Dish (Beef)

Galbijjim 갈비찜

Galbijjim or kalbijjim is a variety of jjim or Korean steamed dish made with galbi (갈비, short rib). Beef galbi is sometimes referred to as "gari" (가리), so the dish can be called "garijjim". Galbijjim is generally made with beef or pork short ribs. In the latter case, it is called dweji galbijjim (돼지갈비찜).

In traditional cuisine, galbijjim was traditionally eaten at Chuseok along with songpyeon, namul, taro soup, chestnut dumplings (밤단자), chicken jjimand autumn fruit. As galbijjim is usually made from only the center part of ribs from a calf while the rib ends used to make soup stock, galbi was more expensive than other cuts of beef in South Korea, and has been regarded as a high-class dish.

Ribs are cut to size and excess blood should be removed. Knife cuts are made in the meat till the bone to allow seasoning to seep in. Surplus fat is removed from the ribs, either by cutting or removing after parboiling. Soy sauce, sesame oil, scallions, minced garlic, pepper, ground sesame with salt (깨소금), ginger juice, and sugar are mixed together with the ribs and are simmered in a large pot on a mid-flame. The cooking is done slowly, occasionally stirring from time to time. When the meat is almost cooked additional seasoning is added with jujube, ginkgo nuts, carrots, and pine nuts and boiled once again. Chestnuts, shiitake, and seogi mushrooms are added near the end of the dish. Galbijjim is usually served in a bowl rather than a plate and was traditionally served in a hap(합, bowl with cover).

There is a galbijjim street in the district of Dongin-dong, Daegu, in South Korea. It is known as the original home of hot and spicy galbijjim (매운갈비찜), as a restaurant owner served the first plate of hot and spicy galbijjim as anju for makgeolli in 1972. The district still maintains its reputation as being the place to go for tasty galbijjim.

Jong-galbijjim (종갈비찜) is a variety of pork galbijjim from the Gyeonggi-do region. Pork ribs are marinated in ginger juice, soy sauce, minced garlic, sesame oil, ground sesame with salt, and pepper. The dish is cooked on a high flame and the sauce is reduced accordingly.

Ingredients:

2 lbs (about 1 kg) of beef short ribs

water

cooking wine

soy sauce

black pepper

brown sugar

garlic

green onion

onion

sesame oil

carrots

radish

shiitake mushrooms

mulyeot (corn syrup)

Directions:

1. Soak 5 shiitake mushrooms in warm water for about 4-6 hours.
2. Soak short ribs in cold water in a large bowl for at least 30 minutes and change the water a few times.
3. Boil water in a large pot. Put in the short ribs. Boil for 5-10 minutes.
4. Take out the ribs from the boiling water and wash them with cold water to remove unnecessary fat or floating bubbles.
5. Throw away the boiling water and clean the pot.
6. Place the clean  beef short ribs in the pot.
7. Prepare a bowl to make seasoned water by mixing  2 cups of water, 4 tbs soy sauce, 8 cloves of minced garlic), ½ sliced onion, 1 tbs rice wine, and 1 tbs brown sugar.Add it to the short ribs in the pot.
8. Boil it over medium heat for 20 minutes.
9. While it boils, you can prepare the other ingredients:
• Cut carrot and radish into 5 cm-size cubes and round the edges to make several balls (the size of the balls should be like ping pong balls )
• Cut the soaked shiitake mushrooms into bite size.
  *tip: You can add several skinned chestnuts and gingko nuts
10. Open the lid of the pot and add all ingredients (carrot, radish, shiitake mushrooms) to the pot. Let it simmer for about 1 hour over low heat.
    *tip: Stir the ribs and other ingredients with a wooden spoon from time to time. Pour the liquid from the bottom of the pot over top of the meat
11. Open the lid and check if the meat is cooked fully. Use your chopstick to poke the meat. When it is smoothly going through the meat, the meat is tender enough.
12. Add 2 tbs of moolyeot (corn syrup), 1 tbs sesame oil, ½ ts black pepper, and heat it up over high heat. Mix it well until liquid evaporates
13. Transfer galbijjim to a platter before serving.

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