Korean Short Ribs

Made these last week with some sesame noodles I'll write about later. These are great for summer because they're really, really quick on the grill, and it's kinda hard to mess up short ribs. Oh, and cause they're freaking delicious.

sweet soy-grilled short ribs

Steven Raichlen, via epicurious. photo from bon appetit

Prep: At least 1 hour for marinating the ribs

Servings: Theoretically, this makes 4 servings, but when I sent S. to the butcher, apparently he was feeling really hungry cause he came back with twice as many ribs as I needed, so I doubled the marinade, and I think then it actually was 4 servings. 3 pounds of short ribs is mostly bone.

Ribbing: This calls for cross cut flanken short ribs, which means they're cut um, across the bone, not parallel to them. I get mine from Peoria Packing Company.*

Grilling: I put WAY too many coals on the fire, so my grill was blazing hot, which meant I really had to move these around a lot so they didn't burn, but the marinade really does turn into a tasty, charry crust.

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup Chinese oyster sauce

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup sake, Chinese rice wine, or dry sherry (i used sake cause I had some that someone had given me as a gift. )

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 piece (1 inch) peeled fresh ginger, minced (is it just me, or is ginger the most annoying thing EVER to grate or mince? There must be a trick I'm missing, or nobody would ever use the stuff)

2 scallions, white parts minced, green parts thinly sliced

About 3 pounds bone-in individual beef short ribs, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-wide pieces (I think you could have them cut much thicker. I had mine cross cut to this size and they were kinda wimpy)

1. Place the sugar, oyster sauce, soy sauce, sake, garlic, ginger, and scallion whites in a large, nonreactive mixing bowl and whisk to mix. Stir in the short ribs. Cover the bowl and let the ribs marinate in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 hours.

2. Set up the grill for direct grilling and preheat to high.

3. When ready to cook, brush and oil the grill grate. (yeah, naturally, i forgot this step) Place the short ribs on the grate and grill until sizzling and darkly browned on the outside and cooked to taste, 3 to 4 minutes per side for medium. Be careful, because the sugary glaze is gonna make the fire flare up, so you really want to watch them.

4. Transfer the ribs to a platter or plates, sprinkle the scallion greens on top, and enjoy your meat-ing.

*Totally random tangent: This place is so awesome. First of all, it's basically a giant meat locker. You walk in and there's just huge metal tables full of meat. Their quality is great, and the prices are unreal. I got 16 pounds (!) of short ribs for a New Years feast with 13 people, and I think it cost me, like, $15. You can get a ribeye for like, $3. Oh, and if you happen to be looking for a 3 foot square sheet of tripe or half a pigs head, they have that too. Make sure you wear a coat, cause it's freezing in there. It's at 1300 W. Lake, at Lake and Elizabeth.

Korean Short Ribs