So-galbi-gui (Grilled Beef Short Ribs)

Galbi-gui is beef short rib, cut into pieces, seasoned and grilled. The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture describes the classic method in detail. Tender ribs from a young cow are trimmed of heavy fat and cut about 7 cm long, then scored deeply on both sides at roughly 1 cm intervals right down to the bone, so the seasoning soaks in and the meat cooks evenly. The marinade is green onion, garlic, sesame oil, soy sauce, sesame salt, sugar and black pepper. The ribs go on a gridiron over glowing charcoal and are grilled fast, turned once when one side is nearly done and brushed with the marinade for gloss.

The encyclopedia also sets out what good galbi looks like: dark reddish-brown, glistening with fat, faintly sweet, with meat that comes cleanly away from the bone — undercooked ribs, it warns, cling and taste flat. It is best grilled at the table and eaten at once, each diner taking a piece onto a small plate; ribs kept warm under a lid, as cooks once did for guests, steam in their own moisture and lose their texture. See grilling gui and Korean BBQ culture.

Korea's most famous galbi town is Suwon. According to the Encyclopedia of Korean Culture, Suwon galbi began at Hwachunok, opened in December 1945 by Lee Gwi-seong on the rice-sellers' street of Yeongdong Market. It first drew customers with hangover soup containing a piece of rib, and in 1956 began grilling seasoned ribs over charcoal. Under the founder's son the restaurant became nationally known, helped by famous political patrons; it closed in 1979, and cooks trained in its style then spread the dish through the galbi houses of east Suwon in the 1980s. The encyclopedia credits Suwon's cattle market — famous since late Joseon and among the country's three largest under Japanese rule — with making beef ribs easy to come by.

• Protein and iron: beef short rib is a rich source of protein and heme iron, the form the body absorbs most readily.
• Served with greens: the Korean habit of wrapping galbi in lettuce with garlic and seasoned green onion adds vegetables to a rich meal. See ssam culture.
• Salt-seasoned option: the Suwon style uses no soy marinade, letting the meat carry the flavor.

• Soy-marinated galbi: the classic method above and the usual home version; grated pear or onion is often added to tenderize and sweeten.
• Suwon galbi (Suwon, Gyeonggi): long ribs of 10–13 cm, seasoned with refined salt instead of soy sauce, at about six parts salt to one of sugar, with sesame oil, green onion, garlic, pepper and sesame; the salt keeps the meat's natural color. The founder's grandson described resting the seasoned ribs in the freezer at least a day before grilling.
• Other galbi dishes: the same cut is braised as galbi-jjim and simmered into galbitang.