In this LA Galbi recipe, I will teach you how to make an easy restaurant-quality marinade and pro cooking tips, tricks, and presentations to wow your family and friends!
LA Galbi is one of the most famous and expensive meats in Korean BBQ. The main feat why it is so expensive is because of the excellent marbling it has. As a result, despite it being a bit thicker than most Korean BBQ meat, it remains tender and juicy to eat. Quality at its finest!
The traditional Korean Galbi is cut along the bones and the meat is butterflied. However, Korean immigrants in Los Angeles were having a hard time looking for this cut so they just asked for sliced beef short ribs. This is flanken cut across three to four bones and is now known as “LA Galbi”. Since then, it has become well-known that even in Korea!
Galbi vs Bulgogi
I know many are confused when it comes to these two dishes. While their marinades can be similar, the major difference is really in the cut of meat and the way it is cooked.
Bulgogi uses thinly sliced ribeye or sirloin and is sauteed with sauce and additional vegetables. On the other hand, galbi uses beef short ribs and can be served plain without marinade (more commonly known as saeng galbi) or with marinade like this one! It is best when grilled and comes out like typical barbecued meat.
With all these different recipes, if you’re interested in trying them out, these cuts should be available at Hmart or you can instruct your local butcher for the cut you like!
LA Galbi Marinade
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The common marinade for any Korean BBQ is made of soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, and sesame seeds. Personally, I like adding sake and a blend of garlic, onion, and pear for additional aroma and flavor.
- Soy Sauce. While there are many variants of soy sauce out there, get the one that is light or regular kind. Some good brands include Sempio and Kikkoman.
- Sugar. White sugar is typically used in the marinade to balance the savor of soy sauce. However, you can also use another sweetener you may prefer.
- Sesame Oil. Much like how olive oil adds taste to any other dish, sesame oil is kinda like its Asian counterpart. It is used to add nuttiness and savor to LA Galbi.
- Sake. This is a Japanese rice wine that is normally served as a drink. But just like how any wine can add flavor to Western dishes, sake does the same. Aside from that, sake can also ease the strong smell of the meat and serve as a tenderizer. If you do not have sake, you can use 1 tablespoon of Soju and 1 tablespoon of Mirin.
- Garlic and Onion. These ingredients will add freshness and aroma to the meat. I like blending these with Korean pear so it gets absorbed thoroughly.
- Korean Pear. I highly recommend finding Korean pears for this recipe. I commonly get them at Hmart, but if you can’t find any, regular pears will do. This will help in tenderizing the meat as well as giving natural sweetness and acidity to balance the soy sauce base.
These different elements make a whole lot of difference to the recipe! Furthermore, marinade galbi for 12 hours in advance. Prep it the day before your actual BBQ so that all the goodness of the sauce penetrates through!
Grilling Tips & Tricks
Grilling this LA Galbi is a must for the best results. The charcoal gets the drip and the smoke that comes up adds additional flavor to the BBQ. The marinade is through and through the meat when you eat it!
But if all else fails and you can only make this stove top, here are tips you can do to still make it good!
- Wait until your pan is hot enough. Never put the meat in while it’s cold or just warm. When it is hot enough, the meat should sizzle right off the bat. This is very important!
- When you start cooking, it will take about 3-4 minutes per side. Do not, by all means, keep on flipping. Let it sit and sear to form that beautiful crust.
- Keep your eyes on the pan! Watch out for white smoke which could mean it is starting to produce that beautiful color at the bottom but at the same time minutes away from burning. The meat should have a good browning before flipping.
- You have to cook this well done. LA Galbi is not steak. You don’t need it medium, but I promise it will remain as tender! Cut the meat to check if it is cooked through.
- Torch the meat! At the tail end of cooking, you can torch the meat to mimic the smokiness from the grill.
Serving LA Galbi
Since we are being a bit bougie with LA Galbi, we need to make it presentable.
First, cut your galbi along the bones to make it bite-sized. Second, with the oil rendered from the galbi, saute some onion to soak in all that remaining flavor in the pan. On your plate, make a bed of onion and place the galbi on top of each other covering the bones. The meat will be the highlight of the dish! Garnish with some scallions and sesame seeds. Who says you can’t have restaurant-quality food at home??
Serve as a main dish with any side dish you prefer. I personally like pairing this with rice, kimchi, lettuce, and ssamjang. Make some galbi ssam in your KBBQ at home, nah mean?? Make sure to finish everything right to the bones because that is the best part!
Other popular Korean dishes you may like:
- Kimchi Fried Rice
- Korean Dumplings
- Korean Braised Short Ribs
- Yangnyeom Chicken
- Spicy Garlic Fried Chicken
Make sure to leave a rating, a comment, or tag me on Facebook, Instagram, or Tiktok when you chop them up! Yeobosayo!
LA Galbi (Korean BBQ Short Ribs)
Equipment
- Blender
Ingredients
- 2 lbs LA Galbi or Korean Beef Short Ribs
- 2 tbsp Oil
Galbi Marinade
- 1/2 cup Soy Sauce
- 3 tbsp Sugar
- 2 tbsp Sesame Oil
- 1 tbsp Sesame Seeds
- Black Pepper To taste
- 100 grams Korean Pear Peeled
- 1/2 tbsp Garlic
- 75 grams Onion
- 1 3/4 cup Water
- 2 tbsp Sake
Garnish
- Onion Julienned
- Scallions Chopped
- Sesame Seeds
Instructions
- Mix soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, black pepper, and sesame seeds. Set aside.
- Blend garlic, onion, pear, and water, then add to the soy sauce mixture. Then add sake.
- Marinate galbi in the soy sauce-pear mixture for 12 hours minimum.
- Heat your pan with oil. Once heated, place the meat in the pan and let galbi sear for 3-4 minutes on each side. Before flipping, check if the desired color for one side has been reached.
- Once both sides have been seared, cut the ribs along the bones to check if it has been cooked through. Cook the meat until it is well done.
- Remove the meat from the pan, and saute onion in meat drippings.
- On a plate, make a bed of onions and place the cut galbi on top of each other covering the bones and exposing the meat.
- Garnish with scallions and sesame seeds. Serve with any side dish preferred and enjoy!
Howzit brah. I love your videos. I tried the Kal bi marinade recipe. The meat was bland. Too much water. I’m a former chef. Born and raised in Hawaii. My step mother is Korean. She makes da best Kal bi and Kim cheee. I have Korean friends. Just constructive critisim. I get that a lot myslfe.
Aloha.
Hey bro! Appreciate the feedback! It worked well for me but will test the recipe again soon to see if it needs modification 🙂