Galbitang is a well known traditional soup from Korea made from beef ribs and vegetables. The soup’s rich flavor matches it’s rich history. This soup’s popularity started around 800 years ago and was even served to the Korean Kings and Queens from the Dynasty era!
What is galbitang?
Galbitang is traditionally made from boiling/simmering beef ribs and vegetables for a prolonged time. You should be able to taste the deep, clean flavor from the broth. The meat should be tender, moist and easily fall off the bone. This is definitely a dish you want to try making at home for yourself and your family! Great for sharing too!
what kind of meat do i need?
You want to look for a meat called Chuck short ribs in the Korean Market. The bone is attached to the meat and you will see some marbling. Koreans call this type of meat Chuck Galbi. I used this whole pack for my soup.
Tips & Tricks in making a clean & tasty galbitang broth:
You can’t really tell from the final photo, but there are many steps that goes into making Galbitang. But think about the final result, it will be worth it!!
- Soak the meat. At least 1 hours and longer for frozen ribs. This ensures that the blood is drawn from the meat and the bone. You can see from the discoloration of the water so you want to switch to new water once or twice.
- Parboil the meat. This step is very important as well. It will draw out all the impurities from the meat and the bone and you will be left with a clean slate. Trust me, when you dump this boiled water, you will see what I am talking about!
- Boil for the time advised. This step will help in producting that deep flavor from the bone as well as helping the meat to be tender.
- Use Guk Soy Sauce. There are many types of Korean soy sauce. You want to use the one that says it for soups, also known as Guk Ganjang. It’s less salty than the regular soy sauce and adds a deeper flavor in soups.
did you enjoy this recipe?
Did you enjoy this Korean Galbitang recipe? Don’t forget to check out more recipes below!!
Korean Short Rib Soup, Galbitang
Ingredients
- 2.4 lbs chuck short ribs
- 1.5 lbs Korean radish chopped in big chunks
- 1 medium onion with peel
- 6 cloves garlic
- 1 1"x4" ginger root slice 1/2" thickness
- 3 bunch scallion
- 5 cups water to boil and discard
- 13 cups water to boil for soup
- 1½ tbsp guk soy sauce
- 2 tsp sea salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Soak the meat in cold water for 1 hour, making sure it is completly submerged. Change to clean water a few times. If the meat is frozen, add an additional hour to the soaking time.
- Bring 8 cups of water to boil and add the ribs. Boil for 5 minutes without the lid. When time is up, discard the boiled water and wash the meat throughly in cold water.
- Into a big stock pot, add 13 cups of water, meat, radish, ginger, garlic, onion and scallion. Bring to boil. Boil on high with lid for 30 min.
- Bring the heat to med/low and simmer for 40 min or until the meat is tender.
- Discard ginger, garlic, onion and scallion. Take away scum as needed and remove fat from soup.
- Add soy sauce, salt and pepper. Stir and simmer 2-3 min and turn off heat. (If you prefer, you can also add soaked sweet potato noodles at this point) Adjust the salt level to your liking.
- Sprinkle with pepper and chopped scallions when serving.
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Audrey
This is the third recipe I tried from Jin’s website and I have to say It did not disappoint. Of course I’ve already made kalbitang – it’s one I make every month or so, but as with the other two recipes I’ve tried here, the technique and a few ingredients were different in a way that made it taste so much better than how I usually made it. I followed Jin’s recipe “to a T” and glad I did because the kalbitang was a hit! The broth turned out so clean and delicious. When I make it the broth usually turns out a little too thick and beefy. Another one in the books 🙂
seasonedbyjin
That’s wonderful to hear, thanks for sharing! I can eat Galbitang anyday!! You are going to love the ox tail soup recipe coming up!!
Helen
Looks yummy!!
seasonedbyjin
Thank you! Hope you enjoyed it!