This Is David Chang's Secret To The Perfect Short Ribs

Chef David Chang, founder of the Momofuku Noodle chain and the star of his own Netflix show Ugly Delicious (via Delish) is of Korean descent (via Defining Cultures), with his father hailing from North Korea and his mother from South Korea. He's long been interested in promoting Korean food in the United States so it checks out that his proposal for how to best enjoy ribs over the summer is to eschew the traditional route and to give Korean barbecue ribs or "kalbi" a shot instead (via GQ).

Instead of the beef or pork ribs that you know and love, with a long skinny bone, kalbi are beef short ribs typically with three or four individual tear-shaped bones throughout the length of the cut of meat (via Taste Atlas). They're cut across the bone, typically into thin slices about a half-inch long.

That's not the only difference though. To potentially prepare people for disappointment, Chang notes that kalbi ribs aren't the type of "fall-off-the-bone tender" that some people anticipate. Instead, kalbi requires a little work getting the meat off the bone. They're fattier and often chewier than the traditional rib.

Though they're typically prepared with Korean sauces and marinades and served with Korean sides such as kimchi and rice, they don't have to be. Chang says that they work just as well with corn on the cob, potato salad or pasta salad, and coleslaw.

His recipe for kalbi calls for a meat marinade made with soy sauce, brown sugar, apple juice, sesame oil, pepper, scallion, onion, garlic, and ginger. The meat should marinate for at least three hours, or you can leave them in the refrigerator overnight. Once you're ready to cook, they don't need much time. Just a few minutes per side should do the trick.

If you're trying to have a slightly classier evening or you aren't a fan of gnawing rib meat off the bone, Chang notes that you can also use flank steak or hanger steak as a substitute for kalbi.