This recipe was originally posted on November 9, 2012 and it has been updated. When I first posted this Gluten-Free Korean Short Ribs recipe, I was severely allergic to wheat. But now I’m better and can eat wheat so it has opened up my palate a lot.
If you like kalbi or beef short ribs at Korean restaurants, you’ll love this recipes. I’ve searched high and low for an authentic tasting recipe, even desperately asking the owner of a Korean grocery store for her recipe.
But also, if you’re lazy, Trader Joe’s has a decent frozen Korean short ribs that is pre-marinated. Sometimes, I will buy that when I don’t want to do the marinating prep work.
In order to make it gluten-free, you can use gluten-free soy sauce or tamari sauce. Other than that, these ribs are super amazing and enjoyable!
When I was allergic to wheat, I missed Korean food a lot. I was determined to figure out how to create a gluten-free version at home. I used this recipe and the first time I tried it, but it wasn’t quite what I wanted.
I figured out that it was the meat. I bought short ribs from a Chinese supermarket, Ranch 99, here in the SF Bay Area. There was something about the meat that wasn’t right because some parts of the beef tasted fine while the other parts tasted off. Kinda weird, right?
So I did what any person who’s desperate for good short ribs does, I went straight to the source – a Korean grocery store. There’s only one here in town and it’s tiny!
The short ribs that they sold were frozen and only in 5 lb packages! And it was $8+ per pound (in 2012)! It was such a gamble to buy 5 pounds of raw meat without knowing how it will taste, but remember, I was desperate for good kalbi.
There’s something about the short ribs from the Korean grocery store that’s special. The meat is cut a certain way and the grade of beef is superior, which makes all the difference.
While there, I asked the Korean lady, owner of the store, what her recipe was for kalbi. She wrote down all of the ingredients, but didn’t include measurements! She does own a Korean restaurant next door to the grocery store so I trust her.
I reworked the recipe, using pretty much the same ingredients as the first time but I took out the red pepper flakes and added black pepper and mirin (rice cooking wine). The first time I made this we cooked it in a cast iron pan, but several people have told me to grill it.
Since it’s super cold outside and my grill is packed away in the garage, my husband suggested that I just broil it in the oven, which worked great. You can always grill it instead.
I used Tamari soy sauce in place of regular soy sauce. You can find it at Safeway, Whole Foods, or Sprouts.
I found that 5 lbs of short ribs is a lot of beef! I used 2 – 3 lbs of meat to marinate and only cooked half of that, about a pound or pound and a half. That was plenty of kalbi for 2 people or 2 servings (lunch and dinner) for 1 person.
I froze the portion that I couldn’t cook or eat. It’s good for later when I can just defrost and cook. I think next time I’ll scale down this recipe to use less Tamari sauce.
Scale down the recipe if you’ll be cooking less meat.
How much meat should you get? Factor in about a half a pound of meat per person.
Gluten-Free Korean BBQ Short Ribs
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup gluten-free soy sauce or liquid aminos
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup sesame oil
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 3 green onions sliced
- 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
- 1 tablespoon black pepper
- 1/4 cup mirin (cooking wine)
- 2 pounds Korean short ribs make sure it's from a Korean grocery store
Instructions
- Combine all of the marinade ingredients together in a bowl. Mix for 1 minute. Place the meat in a ziplock bag and pour marinade over it. Refrigerate overnight or 24 hours, if you can. Flip the bag every few hours to make sure all the meat is evenly marinaded.
- Preheat broiler. Arrange meat on a roasting pan with vents or a metal rack on top so juices can drip into the pan below. Broil for 3-4 minutes each side. (4 minutes will be well done, depending on the thickness of the short ribs.) You want the ribs to be a little burned on the edges.
This post contains affiliate links. When you make a qualifying purchase, I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.
More:
The Original Sushi Bake Recipe
Thai Iced Tea Without Artificial Food Coloring
Dalgona Coffee Whipped Coffee Drink
Make Mocha at Home without a Machine