Galbi-jjim (Braised Beef Short Ribs)

Galbi means ribs, and galbi-jjim is short ribs cut into pieces and braised. The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture notes that beef ribs were also called gari, so the dish is sometimes named garijjim, and that both beef and pork ribs are used. Because ribs cost more than other cuts, it describes galbi-jjim as a distinctly luxurious dish, prized for the tender meat between the bones.

It has a place in the holiday calendar: for Chuseok, the harvest festival, families made braised chicken, and the encyclopedia notes that galbi-jjim was sometimes served instead. It was traditionally presented in a deep lidded bowl (hap) to keep it hot, with small plates for each diner to help themselves. See seasonal foods and life-ritual foods.

The encyclopedia's method reads like a set of cook's secrets. Choose flat, meaty ribs from a young cow and use the bony ends for stock; score the meat to the bone; trim or skim away excess fat, which makes the dish greasy; add only half the seasoning at first and the rest partway through so the flavor penetrates evenly; add peeled chestnuts and ginkgo nuts during cooking but mushrooms and jujubes near the end so they keep their shape; and finish over slightly higher heat with a little extra soy sauce, oil and sugar to glaze. A well-made galbi-jjim, it says, is dark and glossy, falls easily from the bone, keeps a little sauce, and tastes mildly salty and sweet. Pressure cookers are faster, it allows, but cannot match the depth of a slow braise. See steaming jjim.

• Protein and minerals: short ribs are a source of protein, zinc and vitamin B12.
• Root vegetables and fruit: radish, carrot, chestnuts and jujubes add fiber, and carrot contributes vitamin A (as beta-carotene).
• Fat can be lifted off: because it is braised, much of the rendered fat can be skimmed — especially if the dish is chilled and the solid fat removed before reheating.

• Seoul and court style: soy-sauce braise with chestnuts, jujubes, ginkgo nuts, pine nuts and mushrooms, garnished with egg-strip and water-dropwort garnishes.
• Daegu Dongin-dong jjimgalbi (Gyeongsang): a fiery version braised with plenty of chili powder, garlic and ginger and served in a battered aluminum pot. The Korean Food Promotion Institute dates it to small eateries of the early 1970s and notes that diners wrap it in lettuce, perilla or white kimchi.
• Dwaeji-galbi-jjim: pork ribs braised in a similar soy or chili sauce, a more everyday version.
• Pressure-cooker galbi-jjim: a quick modern shortcut for weeknights.