Han Oak Galbijjim

Han Oak Galbijjim
Paola & Murray for The New York Times. Food stylist: Maggie Ruggiero. Prop stylist: Rebecca Bartoshesky.
Total Time
2 hours
Rating
4(978)
Comments
Read comments

This is a home cook’s take on the short-rib stew the chef Peter Cho serves at Han Oak, the beautiful homestyle Korean restaurant in Portland, Ore., that he runs with his wife, Sun Young Park. It is fragrant and sweet, with deep caramelized flavors that come in part from roasting the meat and vegetables separately before combining them in the braising liquid. Cho fries rice cakes before adding them to the stew, but you can just slide them in plain, if you prefer. Either way, the addition of greens at the end gives the dish an exciting brightness, a zip that many galbijjims lack. —Sam Sifton

Featured in: A Secret Ingredient Makes This Chef’s Galbijjim Perfect. Just Don’t Tell Mom.

  • or to save this recipe.

  • Subscriber benefit: give recipes to anyone
    As a subscriber, you have 10 gift recipes to give each month. Anyone can view them - even nonsubscribers. Learn more.
    Subscribe
  • Print Options


Advertisement


Ingredients

Yield:6 servings
  • 3pounds mixed root vegetables, such as carrots, parsnips, onions and sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 5tablespoons neutral oil, like canola or vegetable oil
  • Kosher salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • 4pounds bone-in short ribs, cut by a butcher into 2-inch pieces
  • 2medium-size Asian pears, peeled, cored and diced
  • 1large red onion, peeled and diced
  • 12cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
  • 2tablespoons roughly chopped ginger
  • 3cups chicken stock
  • 112-ounce can Coca-Cola
  • ¼cup honey
  • ½cup soy sauce
  • ¼cup rice-wine vinegar
  • 2tablespoons gochugaru (Korean chile flakes), or to taste
  • 4cups roughly chopped kale, optional
  • 1pound Korean rice cakes, optional
  • 1tablespoon toasted sesame oil
  • 3scallions, trimmed and both white and green parts thinly sliced
  • 3radishes, trimmed and thinly sliced
  • Sesame seeds, to taste
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)

1985 calories; 128 grams fat; 50 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 61 grams monounsaturated fat; 8 grams polyunsaturated fat; 148 grams carbohydrates; 15 grams dietary fiber; 36 grams sugars; 60 grams protein; 2234 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

Powered by
Cooking Newsletter illustration

Opt out or contact us anytime. See our Privacy Policy.

Opt out or contact us anytime. See our Privacy Policy.

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat oven to 425. Toss the root vegetables in a large bowl with 2 tablespoons of oil, and season with an aggressive amount of salt and pepper. Turn the vegetables onto a sheet pan. Put the short ribs in the same bowl, and toss with 1 tablespoon of oil and a lot of salt and pepper, then put the ribs on another sheet pan, bone sides down. Place both pans in the oven and roast, turning the pans once or twice, until the vegetables are soft and caramelized and the ribs are well browned, approximately 40 minutes. Set the pans aside until ready to use.

  2. Step 2

    While the vegetables and ribs cook, place a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat, and swirl into it the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil. When it shimmers, add the pears, onion, garlic and ginger and cook, stirring occasionally, until they are softened and browning, approximately 15 minutes.

  3. Step 3

    Turn heat to high, add the stock, Coca-Cola, honey, soy sauce, rice-wine vinegar and gochugaru, and bring the mixture to a lively simmer. Cook until pears are tender, approximately 20 minutes. Transfer to a blender or food processor, and purée the sauce until smooth, then return it to the pot.

  4. Step 4

    Add the cooked short ribs and whatever fat has rendered from them to the pot, cover it and cook over medium-low heat for approximately 90 minutes, or until very tender.

  5. Step 5

    When the meat can be flaked from the bone, add the roasted vegetables to the pot, along with the rice cakes. Cook until the vegetables are hot and the rice cakes (if using) are sticky, then add the greens, and stir them around until they have just started to turn tender.

  6. Step 6

    Drizzle with the sesame oil, top with the scallions, radishes and sesame seeds to taste. Serve immediately.

Ratings

4 out of 5
978 user ratings
Your rating

or to rate this recipe.

Have you cooked this?

or to mark this recipe as cooked.

Private Notes

Leave a Private Comment on this recipe and see it here.

Comments

I plan to eat this WITH a Coke. Seriously folks. It’s 12oz of Coke against 4lbs of fatty meet, a whole ton of salt (including half a cup of soy sauce!), and you’re worried about the Coke? Sure. Substitute away. Or, better yet, skip the whole recipe and make some dry Salmon and steamed broccoli. Enjoy life a little. Or not.

To all those who are aghast and offended at the idea of cooking with Coke...a very well respected professional chef incorporated this as an ingredient to rave reviews-get over yourselves. And all the questions about substitutions...try the recipe as written first.

A good coca-cola substitute would be Pepsi. Uncanny resemblance, really

Josh misses the point: is it good? Worth making again? Every single Korean cook makes it differently. And it’s almost impossible to find authentic ethnic food in American restaurants. Chinese is a prime example. Ours bears little resemblance to food in China, but can be absolutely delicious, which is the point! I ordered sweet sour pork in Shanghai and was told “that not Chinese. That American.”

I wish I could attach my photos- I've made this at least 5 times since I first read it in the paper and it is always beautiful and eaten quickly even though I rarely have more than 4 people around to consume it. I have used regular coke, Mexican coke and all natural cola - always turns out tasty. I have switched up the fall veggies between Asian pumpkin and sweet potatoes or conventional western. The only change that I didn't like was switching the pears to European ones.

Absurdly delicious. I used bison short ribs, which don't ever get to the shredding stage but do get tender. Cooked for a long time and the sauce became very thick (by the way, use an immersion blender to puree the sauce) so I added more chicken stock when I reheated(it had sat overnight) before adding cooked Thai white rice noodles and kale. Flavor was fantastic; sliced rainbow radish and scallions made it a gorgeous mess. Be it the coke, the pear, whatever, that sauce was to die for.

Private comments are only visible to you.

Credits

Adapted from Peter Cho, Han Oak, Portland, Ore.

Advertisement

or to save this recipe.