Braising With Special Rice Wine Was Really Spectacular
![Korean braised beef short ribs](https://undumbing.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Korean_braised_beef_short_ribs.jpg)
By braising ribs with some Shaohsing (Shaoxing) rice wine along with cooking michiu (rice wine), I discovered that the dish had a more complex aroma and taste. It certainly livened up the plate!
Below are some links to more details, including photos:
My Story
I was planning to buy beef short ribs at a nearby supermarket because it was on sale, but didn’t want to default to the recipe from Lisa eats’ website, Galbitang Korean Beef Short Ribs Soup. This time, I wanted to try something new, so I browsed the internet.
Inspiring Recipe
What I found during my quest was Korean Braised Beef Short Ribs, a recipe that was described as “easy” on Seonkyoung Longest’s website. With that assurance, how could I resist?
First Try
With the purchase of ribs and some onions, I was ready to combine them with what I already had at home to make galbijjim for the first time!
Ingredients to Use
I had 3.59 pounds of ribs to work with, so I changed the amount of the other items and used the following:
- 2/3 cup of soy sauce
- 1/2 cup of honey
- 1/3 cup of rice wine
- 3/4 teaspoon of black pepper
- 2 cups of water
- 10 cloves of garlic
- 1 1/2 large onions
For the ingredients with options, I chose honey over sugar and rice wine over red wine. I picked honey for the taste and health benefits. As for rice wine, that’s what I had on hand.
![Black pepper, sesame seeds, rice wine, soy sauce, honey, onion, beef short ribs, and garlic](https://undumbing.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Korean_braised_beef_short_ribs_ingredients.jpg)
Steps to Prepare
Of the two steps in the instructions, I only modified the first one.
First, I used a pot instead of a Dutch oven because I haven’t invested in the latter one yet.
As for skimming the scum, I got as much as I could with a serving spoon since I didn’t have a fine skimmer at the time. (However, as I’m writing this post, there’s now one in the kitchen ready for the next recipe!)
Next, since I bought the thin version of the ribs, I boiled and simmered them for half the time, i.e., over high heat with no cover for 10 minutes and medium heat with the lid for 30 minutes, respectively.
Lastly, I left the oil in the sauce unskimmed since I wasn’t planning to serve the ribs with much of it. Instead, I was hoping that the extra oil would be transferred to the side dish of steamed rice, while I saved time from not having to skim the oil.
![Plate of sliced onions and chopped garlic](https://undumbing.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Garlic_Onion.jpg)
![Ingredients in a pot](https://undumbing.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Ingredients_in_pot.jpg)
![Mixed ingredients in a pot](https://undumbing.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Ingredients_mixed.jpg)
![Scum in a pot](https://undumbing.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Scum_in_Pot.jpg)
![Some scum skimmed from pot](https://undumbing.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Skimmed_Some_Scum_in_Pot.jpg)
![Pot of braised Korean beef short ribs](https://undumbing.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Korean_braised_beef_short_ribs_done.jpg)
![Pot of braised Korean beef short ribs with sesame seeds](https://undumbing.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Korean_braised_beef_short_ribs_sesame_seeds.jpg)
Time to Eat
Here’s the plate of Korean braised beef short ribs (galbijjim) topped off with additional sesame seeds and ready to be eaten:
![Plate of Korean braised beef short ribs](https://undumbing.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Korean_braised_beef_short_ribs_plated.jpg)
Recipe Rating
Below were the results of the recipe after the first try:
Number of Ingredients | Effort (Low🤏, Medium🤏🤏, High🤏🤏🤏) | Cost per Serving (<$2💰, $2-5💰💰, >$5💰💰💰) | Taste (Not for me🤔, Trying Again🙂, Eating Regularly😋) |
---|---|---|---|
9️⃣ | 🤏 | 💰💰 | 🙂 |
The meat was oily as expected because the oil in the sauce wasn’t skimmed. Also, the meat was a little grainy.
Second Try
For the next attempt, I wanted to cook up some ribs with smoother meat.
Ingredients to Use
For round two, I used 3.54 pounds of ribs and kept the measurements for the rest of the ingredients the same as before. However, I added some Shaohsing rice wine to the cooking michiu (rice wine), since I didn’t have enough of the latter one. In addition, I used a different brand of soy sauce to replace the one that I ran out of and changed the honey to try another one that I had in the cabinet.
![New bottles of rice wine, soy sauce, and honey](https://undumbing.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Korean_braised_beef_short_ribs_ingredient_changes.jpg)
Steps to Prepare
For the process, I made one change in the first step and another in the second step.
For step 1, I simmered the ribs with the cover for 30 minutes on low instead of medium heat, hoping to improve the texture of the meat.
For step 2, I changed the heat back to medium after I added the garlic and onion to coincide with the instructions.
![Pot of braised Korean beef short ribs (Try 2)](https://undumbing.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Korean_braised_beef_short_ribs_done2.jpg)
Time to Eat
After enjoying the smell from the pot while the sauce was boiling, the dish was finally ready for another evaluation:
![Plate of Korean braised beef short ribs (Try 2)](https://undumbing.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Korean_braised_beef_short_ribs_plated2.jpg)
Recipe Rating
Below are the results of the recipe from the second round:
Number of Ingredients | Effort (Low🤏, Medium🤏🤏, High🤏🤏🤏) | Cost per Serving (<$2💰, $2-5💰💰, >$5💰💰💰) | Taste (Not for me🤔, Trying Again🙂, Eating Regularly😋) |
---|---|---|---|
9️⃣ | 🤏 | 💰💰 | 😋 |
The meat was softer so it looked like simmering the ribs at low heat helped. Also, it had a nice light sweetness with an oomph to it, which I can only attribute to the change in rice wine.
Although I enjoyed the taste of the short ribs, I think revisiting one part of the instructions would make it even better. Below is what I would do next time:
Continuous Improvement
- Skim some oil from the sauce to make it less greasy.
Because I noticed the oiliness of the sauce during the first tasting of this dish, I should’ve taken that as a clue to do something about it during the second try. Instead, I now have a lesson to share with my previous self.
Lesson for Dumber Self
- Don’t be lazy!
What will you do now?
Next Step for You
- Try the Korean Braised Beef Short Ribs recipe from Seonkyoung Longest’s website?
- Learn more about rice wine starting with the websites The Woks of Life and Egg Wan’s Food Odyssey?
- Read another post on this site? (Go to the menu at the top of the page.)