Roy Choi’s Braised Short-Rib Stew Recipe (2024)

This is my go-to recipe when I have company.
I always brown the meat beforehand with onion, garlic, ginger and scallion.
No need for the sugar. I use 1 cup of orange juice instead of the two different types. I use 2/3 cup of soy sauce.
The dish is rather greasy because short rib is tasty but contains a lot of fat.
I keep the dish in the fridge for one night so that the fat separates to the top and separate it out.
Then I add in all the fresh veggies and cook for another hour the second day.

I've done short ribs in the slow cooker. After 7-8 hours they came out deliciously tender. So tender, The connective grisly part is deliciously edible.
I left out the canned water chestnuts. If you can't get fresh, use jicama instead. Once you taste a fresh water chestnut, you'll never settle for those awful canned ones. Instead of the OJ and apple juice, l use grated Asian pear and a squeeze of lime juice. I agree there's too much sugar. Cut back. substitute the vegetables for any you like.

What if I wanted to make this in a slow cooker? Any suggestions on the best way to adapt the recipe?

The half cup of sugar can be left out entirely.

modified for instant pot & WOW people went crazy. we're foodies & take korean fusion seriously. modifications - steps 1 & 2, then browned ribs on sautee in a little oil (in batches). stack meat side out in circles, pour sauce in. cook HIGH for 45 m & release naturally. (if you want them falling off the bone & insanely good - listen to me on time.) cooled pot, rfoiled & left in frige over night - de-fatted & finished off veggies for 30 min on sautee next day.

recipe says chestnuts. Not water-chestnuts. Totally different.

We used a bunch of turnips instead of taro & butternut squash. The turnips soak up all the juices and are great for breaking down.

I left out the sugar and chestnuts entirely, cut the soy sauce to one cup, and substituted sweet potato for the taro. I'll use more ginger next time--there will be a next time. I added the veg two hours in; the meat was plenty done by then.

This version of galbi jjim veers away from traditional home recipes. You can boil the short ribs in plain water for about 10 minutes to remove some fat ant particles. Then rinse in cold water. Clean the pot and start the recipe. Most recipes use way less sugar, soy sauce. The sauce ingredients are not puréed. A little corn syrup is added at the end and the liquid is boiled down to a glaze. Add shiitake, Asian radish instead of taro. Peeled chestnuts are traditional but optional.

Excellent flavor, though I followed the advice of others and cut back the sugar (I used honey and only half a cup of it), swapped lime juice for orange and cut out the apple juice, and also added a tablespoon of Korean chili paste (gojuchang) for some kick. It still needed some lime juice and additional grated ginger to cut through the fat but it was well worth it - will absolutely make again.

Too salty and too sweet for my taste. Depth of flavor was also missing...just tasted like a hot marinade. Might be better to brown the ribs, caramelize the aromatics then add the liquid with vegetables and cook low and slow until tender.

Don't get the rinsing part. Why?

Delicious but insanely sweet and swimming in fat. Some notes:1) I believe the recipe calls for chestnuts, not water chestnuts. The flavor and heartiness of the two are not the same2) Following others' notes, omitted sugar4) Subbed some short ribs with chuck steak-- less grease and more tender5) omitted shiitake (I believe dried+ reconstituted here) as that's more a Chinese thing, and completely muddles the flavorsEnd result-- a very "Korean-restaurant" tasting recipe!

I used yams instead of taro. I also used a little less than a cup of soy sauce. Next time I will cut down the sugar since there is a lot of sugar in the mirin and juices. I may even cut down the soy sauce a little more, too. I served it over Korean rice.

You don't need the sugar. OJ has plenty. Gochujang is nice - don't need much. Squash is great - it too is a sweetener. 1-1/2 cups of soy is too much and too salty;maybe 1/4 of a cup. We added 1/4 of a cup of White Wine vinegar and a splash of Raspberry vinegar. Mirin is too sweet for us, given the other sweet ingredients. Taro, carrots, and chestnuts are fine. We broiled our flanken Short Ribs for a nice crust, and cut them into pieces; worked well for the long stew. Well received at home.

Tasty. A bit too sweet. Try to reduce sugar or add spice next time.Cook at least a day ahead to remove the copious amounts of rendered fat.

Followed notes for browning the meat, leaving out the sugar, and subbing grated apple and fresh OJ in place of the 1 cup of juice. The finished product was much saltier than expected; added more water and additional carrots, onion, and potatoes. The next day the fat that separated out on top was removed, the flavors were delicious but still quite salty. Would strongly recommend reducing the soy sauce, but otherwise a lovely adaptation and quicker to make version of the Korean stew I love.

Followed recommendations on sugar (none), cooking ribs for 2 hours then cooling and skimming before cooking veg in skimmed broth next day. Worked very well to de-fat a still unctuous broth. Found it a tad salty (and I am a saltaholic) so would consider low sodium soy next time given amount used.

Thanks to the reviewer who first described the pressure cooker approach which worked wonderfully. After browning the meat I separated it from the sauce, refrigerated both, and the next day lifted a solid layer of the most flavorful fat off the sauce. Put meat and defatted sauce back into the pressure cooker, added turnips, carrots, and squash and 30 minutes on sauté later had the most delicious results. Definitely worth a reprise with the cold weather coming.

I was short on time, so used the instant pot. Turned out great. Did 45 mins on high and 15 min natural release

A Great “plan ahead” recipe for the InstaPot. But, IMHO. browning first is essential. Easiest method: salt meat - 1 teaspoon per pound - a day or two ahead and refrigerate uncovered on a rack in a sheet pan. This allows meat to brown quickly before stewing. I always make fatty meat a day ahead so fat can easily be removed. Sugar unnecessary!

This stew is absolutely delicious! It's going to be one of my dinner staples, for sure. An additional benefit is that there is a bunch of juice (korean au jus?) left over, which you can save and have with any beef and even chicken. Like other reviewers, I brown the meat ahead of time. I use an instant pot and cook the meat by itself for 45 min, remove it and then cook the veggies. I like root vegs for this stew -- so carrots, parsnips, turnips, etc. Only cook for 5 min in the IP.

I used coconut amino acids instead of soy sauce and it was quite sweet. Also had to substitute sweet potatoes for taro. I also salted the short ribs at the end of the rinsing. Next time I plan to double the ginger and garlic and add gochuchang to give it a bit more depth of flavor.

Such a savory and deep flavored stew! Quick notes - I agree with many other comments about the sugar being needless. In fact, it makes it too sweet. I added three Thai chili peppers to spice it up and substituted half an apple instead of apple juice. Serve it over rice and amazing!

Like the PS notes, the short ribs are crazy fatty. I might mix different similar cuts/preps next time to thin it out a bit. I also added some Fly by Jing Zhong sauce and Mala spice mix to the broth mixture which cranked it up to 11. Super savory and flavorful. If anything, would add some gochujang or something to bring a little more heat.

Delicious, although a little on the sweet side. I will cut the sugar in half the next go around. I did not eat the same day and reheated it the following day and am glad I did. I was able to scrape off the extra fat and the warm up really allowed the meat to reach the fall apart stage.

I used the flanken style short ribs that I usually use to make Choi's Korean BBQ, browned first, and in the sauce they cooked in about 90 min. Definitely need to make ahead, refrigerate, and skim the fat (I actually stored the sauce separately, was a little easier to de-fat). I did add a little flour/sauce slurry to thicken it slightly when reheating. Served with a sprinkle of gochugaru red pepper flakes to add a little heat. Might try a leaner cut of beef next time and save the ribs for BBQ.

Followed the advice on using instant pot and separating the grease with a twist. Instant pot: 45min on manual, 20min natural release. Perfectly cooked, falling off the bone! Grease: removed meat & bones from the liquid, used a fat separator (needed to serve immediately). Able to capture almost 8oz of renders fat for another time. Veggies: subbed parsnip for chestnuts, sweet potato for taro, tossed the mushrooms in for the last 5 min of the simmer. Served with rice and baby boc Choy.

Made this yesterday for Christmas. I chopped up an apple instead of apple juice just bc that’s what I had and it was perfect. I’m Korean and have had multiple versions of this dish. This was one of my absolute favorite versions! Was a huge hit!! Not for ppl who fear flavor.