Korean Short Ribs with Cucumber Kimchee

This recipe comes from the Food Network, Get Grilling book.


Ribs 4-6 people

6# beef short ribs, cut crosswise into twelve 2 ½” squares. Mine were approximately this size in the store

Remove any silver skin from the top of the meat. Butterfly the short ribs so they open like books with the meat about 1/3 to ½ inch think and still attached to the bone. Place the ribs in a glass baking dish and pour the Korean BBQ marinade over them. Turn to coat the ribs. Cover and refrigerate from 2 to 8 hours. Mine marinated for about 7 hours. The cookbook says over 8 they will become too salty.

Prepare the outdoor grill with high-heat fire. Remove the ribs from the marinade. Brush the grill grate lightly with oil. Place the ribs meaty side down and cook, turning as needed until well browned but still pink inside, 10 -12 minutes. Rest for 5 minutes. I cut this recipe in half. Jim definitely would have liked more ribs. They look meaty, but there is a lot of gristle.

Korean BBQ Marinade 1 1/2C

1 C Dark Japanese or Korean soy sauce (Sometimes labeled thick)
4 large cloves garlic peeled and chopped, 2T
2T finely grated peeled fresh ginger
4 scallions green and white, thinly sliced
2T dark sesame oil
Freshly ground black pepper
Whisk all ingredients in a bowl.

Cucumber Kimchee

4 Kirby cucumbers
4 scallions
5 cloves garlic
3T grated peeled fresh ginger
3T sugar
1 ½ t kosher salt
1 ½ t crushed red pepper, ground

The book says the day before serving to make the Kimchee Cucumbers. I did not know a day ahead I was going to make this dinner. I started them early in the day and we ate late. As I did not like this dish, I do not believe overnight would have made a difference. Jim said this was no less weird than any other dish I have served him. The recipe also gives instructions for individually chopping all the ingredients that you stuff in the cucumber. I have a mini chopper. The picture in the book shows this stuffing very finely chopped. I put all ingredients in the chopper, except the cucumbers, and turned it on, scraping down the sides a couple of times. Halve the cucumbers. Set them upright on the cut end with the end of the cucumber upright. Slice from the end down the cucumber to about ½ inch from the cut end dividing the cucumber in quarters. Stuff the cucumber with the Kimchee mixture. Cover and refrigerate until ready to eat. It looks very pretty on the plate.

I also served Red Quinoa that I cooked according to the package directions. Basically boiled like rice. I added salt, pepper and orange olive oil to the mixture.  Jim served a western Australia Shiraz called Palandri.  The label is really great.