These Korean Beef Short Ribs will transport you straight to your favorite Korean BBQ restaurant. They're sweet, sticky, and perfectly charred. Made with a very simple marinade, you can have these on the table in no time. I love serving them with freshly steamed rice and either coleslaw or macaroni salad.
Looking for more beef recipes? Try my grilled beef skewers next!
About This Recipe
Short ribs are one of my favorite cuts of meat, but they are a tad expensive. I usually wait for a good price before I buy them. This week, they were on sale for $8.99 so I bought about four pounds to eat throughout the week. I knew right away that I wanted to grill them like Korean BBQ short ribs!
The marinade is the most important part of this recipe. I highly recommend allowing the short ribs to sit in the marinade for at least one hour, but ideally overnight. The meat will be much more flavorful.
The marinade is made by pureeing Asian pear, onion, garlic, and ginger, and then mixing it with soy sauce and honey. After you puree the vegetables, there will be a lot of leftover pulp. I prefer to strain out the pulp and discard it. The reason is that it tends to burn in the pan while you're grilling the short ribs.
Key Ingredients
Beef short ribs: You want to buy the short ribs that have been sliced into about ¾-inch thick pieces. These are meant to be grilled quickly. They can be eaten medium rare so I like to cook them for no longer than 1-2 minutes per side (closer to 1 minute).
Asian pear: You can also just use a regular pear or apple, but I prefer the Asian pear because they are juicier, and the juice is what we're after.
Aromatics: You'll need onions, garlic, and ginger. No need to mince these as we will be pureeing them in a food processor.
Soy sauce: This is the base of the marinade. We will need ½ a cup.
Honey: I like using honey because it tastes better than sugar in this recipe. Feel free to use sugar if that's all you have.
Toasted sesame oil: Just a little bit adds a nice aroma to the short ribs.
Black pepper: I've noticed Korean people love adding black pepper to their food. It's not very common in Chinese food, but Koreans love it.
Instructions
STEP 1: In a food processor, puree the pear, onions, garlic, and ginger. It should look like the picture above. Notice how there is a ton of pulp. I strain the pulp through a fine-meshed sieve to get only the juice. Transfer to a medium bowl.
STEP 2: Add soy sauce, honey, toasted sesame oil, and black pepper.
STEP 3: Add the beef and marinade to a plastic bag. Try to get out as much air as possible then refrigerate for at least one hour, ideally overnight.
STEP 4: Heat a pan over medium-high heat. Grill each side for 1-2 minutes until charred.
Korean Beef Short Ribs
Ingredients
- 1 medium Asian pear (or apple; peeled and cored)
- 1 medium onion (quartered)
- 6-8 cloves garlic
- 1 inch ginger (peeled)
- ½ cup soy sauce
- ⅓ cup honey
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 3 pounds beef short ribs
Instructions
- In a food processor, puree the pear, onions, garlic, and ginger. Transfer to a medium bowl.
- Optional: For a smoother texture, you can strain the pear mixture through a fine-mesh sieve or cheesecloth to remove the pulp.
- Stir in the soy sauce, honey, toasted sesame oil, and ground black pepper.
- Add the beef short ribs and marinade to a large Ziplock bag. Try to remove as much air from the bag as possible, then transfer to the fridge to marinate. I recommend marinating for at least one hour but overnight is the best.
- Heat a greased skillet over medium-high heat. Cook each side for 1-2 minutes until brown and charred on the outside.
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