the little stone

Something my brother and I have always appreciated about my mom’s soups and broths is that they’re always clean. By that, I mean she takes extra care to clear her broth of any debris, for lack of a better word, from the ingredients. For example, she washes the short ribs in this soup two times: once before she lets the blood soak out and a second time after it’s boiled.

This soup should be eaten with a spoonful of chopped scallion, a half spoonful of garlic, a dash of crushed red pepper, and a pinch of salt and black pepper.

It’s best with some hot, fresh rice or barley and side of kimchi.

Ingredients for at least 10 servings:

• 4-5 pounds of galbi, or short rib (we used 4.59 pounds)
• 1 large white onion
• Dashida
• Salt
• Pepper
• Crushed red pepper
• 5 scallions, including the roots
• Garlic
• Guk ganjang (soy sauce for soup)

Some cookware you should have ready to go:

• Stock pot (we used a 10 qt. one)
• Another stock pot (this one can be the same size as the first or a little smaller; it should still be large enough to hold the initial amount of broth you’re going to make)
• Strainer
• Bowl large enough to hold short ribs

Directions:

• Cut and then rinse the short ribs under cold water. My mom usually wears those quintessential pink rubber gloves when she cleans the meat, just giving each piece of meat and bone a gentle rinse and rub.
• Keep in mind your short ribs might already come precut. Each piece should be the length of the short rib bone. Make sure to keep the meat intact with the bone!
• Cut a slit into each piece of short rib. This ensures that it cooks evenly in the broth. If the meat is thicker than 1 inch, consider cutting an X instead of a slit.
• Soak the raw meat in a large pot with cold water for 2-3 hours to drain out the blood.

• Once the blood has been drained, get your stock pot ready.
• Fill the stock pot with 5 quarts of water. Remember, we used 4.59 pounds of short rib. So if you’re only using about 2.5 pounds, fill your stock pot with about 3 quarts of water.
• Do not put in the meat yet! Just let this water come to a boil.
• Meanwhile, rinse and cut the roots from the 5 scallions.
• Once the water starts boiling, add the short rib and scallion roots. Close the lid, lower the heat to medium and let it cook for 30-40 minutes.

• After 30-40 minutes, turn off the heat, uncover the pot, and let everything cool for a bit.
• Once the initial broth is warm and you think you can handle the meat, take out the meat and place it in an empty bowl.
• Discard the scallion roots
• Give the meat and bone another gentle yet thorough rinse under cold water.
• Then, put the meat back in the bowl, or just in another place that isn’t the broth! Again, do not put the meat back in the broth right now!

• Then, place a strainer over an empty pot, one that’s large enough to hold all the broth without overflowing.
• Line the strainer with a paper towel.
• Pour the soup through the paper towel-lined strainer.

• Then, before adding everything back to the initial stock pot, give the pot a quick rinse.
• Pour the strained broth back in the pot and add in the meat!
• Then, add more water to cover the meat, or until the water line comes up to about 80% of the pot’s height.
• Then, peel and cut an onion in half. Drop it in to the broth!

• Cook for 45 minutes – 1 hour on medium heat with the cover on
• Then, give the soup a quick taste and add guk ganjang (soy sauce for soup) and a dash of dashida.
  • My mom recommends adding 2 spoons of guk ganjang at most since you don’t want the color of the soup to become too dark.
  • She also recommends only adding a half spoonful of dashida because adding too much can give the soup an artificial beef flavor.

• Cook for another 20 minutes with the top closed
• Meanwhile, chop the scallions into small pieces and mince the garlic. Place these in separate glass containers, or place them in the same one and just try to keep them separated! I recommend storing them in a glass container because the garlic can leave your plastic Tupperware smelling forever.
• After about 20 minutes, turn off the heat and open the pot! All done!
• Pour yourself a hearty bowl immediately after, sprinkling in some scallions, garlic, crushed red pepper, salt, and black pepper.
• Or store the soup in an open glass jar, and once it’s cooled, close it tightly and store it in the fridge to enjoy later! You should keep the scallions and garlic refrigerated, too.

Have you ever tried galbi guk, or short rib soup before? What was your impression? If you eat it regularly, when’s your favorite time of the year to enjoy a hot bowl? Have you made galbi guk before? If so, how does this process compare to that of your own or your family’s? Let me know in the comments below or on Instagram @thelittlestoneblog! As always, thanks for reading 🙂