Korean Style Slow Cooker Short Ribs

In San Francisco, it's easy to spend a lot on food. There's new restaurants popping up all the time in addition to the hundreds (I'm estimating) already in existence. Of course, the taquerias are an excellent place to get cheap food most times of the day, from breakfast to 2:30 a.m. munchies.

But let's not forget about cooking. With fresh produce within reach at local markets and farmer's markets, a variety of international ingredients and whatever your neighborhood's Whole Foods store may be, there's endless opportunities to try cooking something new or even an old favorite using fresh, authentic ingredients.

I was recently inspired by an episode of My Grandmother's Ravioli, which featured Ki Sook Yoo, a Korean mother (and grandmother) who's lived in Pennsylvania and California. I have to admit, I've never watched one episode of the show, but this one was adorably heartwarming and authentically heartbreaking. They make "galbi", which is as traditional Korean BBQ short rib dish.

Slow cooker meals are a fantastic solution for dinner on a busy day (especially in the summer). They need little attention and they don't heat up your kitchen like the oven does. If you're like me, your kitchen is almost half of your apartment, so the entire place will get warmer very quickly.

I picked up about 1 3/4 lbs. of sliced short ribs from the store, along with a few other items I would need. I always like my short ribs sliced thin, BBQ style. Typically, Koreans will grill their short ribs (or "galbi"), which is why they're sliced thin. The cut can be tough if you don't marinate it before grilling (or use a slow cooking method). Luckily, this lady saw me coming and automatically inquired if I was going to need them "Sliced for BBQ?", a three-word question any Korean should know the answer to.

What's in this pot?

1 3/4 lb. thin-sliced short ribs (you could use 2-3 lbs.)

1 C soy sauce

1 C Sprite (or 7-Up)

1/8 - 1/4 C sesame oil

1/2 yellow onion - sliced or chopped

1 shallot - chopped

1 kiwi - slightly mashed (you can also substitute this for Asian pear)

2 inches fresh ginger - peeled and chopped roughly

3 garlic cloves - minced (use a little more if you really like garlic!)

2 dried chili peppers

red pepper flakes ("gochugaru", in Korean) - to taste

Cilantro leaves

I cooked it for about 7 hours, until the meat separated off the bones easily - about 5-6 hours on high, at the least.

Stella supervised the entire thing from her perch above the cabinets.

I also made 2 scallion pancakes because I wanted to try out my scallion shredder I bought at Daiso Japan, which is like the Japanese dollar store. 

The scallion pancakes were made of:

2 C of AP flour

1 C chicken broth

pinch of salt

2 eggs

2 shredded green onions

I whisk all the ingredients (except for the green onion) together in a bowl. Heat a pan on medium heat and coat the pan in vegetable oil (like for typical pancakes). Then, I pour about half the batter into the pan and lay the green onions into the batter. I've also seen the reverse done - laying the green onion and then the batter. Once the one side cooks, you just flip and cook the other side. I like a little browning on each side.

I remove them and place them on a paper towel to soak up some extra oil.

Then, I carefully cut them with a sharp knife or pizza cutter. They are typically cut into triangles (like a pizza) or into squares. Cutting on the green onion side of the pancake helps to ensure that you cut through all the onion.

After the short ribs are ready, I spoon out the meat (the bones should fall off the meat) and serve it on a bed of rice and garnish with chopped cilantro, green onion and sesame seeds.

I served the short ribs and rice with a side of kimchi and ginger pickles. If you aren't familiar with kimchi, it is a spicy fermented cabbage traditionally served with every Korean meal (breakfast, too). It is often made with cabbage, but it's also made with daikon or green onion. This type was made with all three (winner!).

If you want to learn a little more about kimchi, check out this video. Warning: video is about 10 minutes in length, but Kun Umma is both traditional Korean mom and adorably hilarious. 

Ta-da! 

Things to think about: 

• If you haven't eaten kimchi: Would you try it?
• If you have eaten kimchi: Aren't you hungry for kimchi now?

Crock Pot Meal for One - Ribs and Baked Potato

The easiest thing I made last week was beef short ribs and a baked potato. It doesn't exactly scream Skinny Girl anything, but it was delicious, and sometimes that's all that really matters.

I marinated the short ribs in a premade (gasp!) Korean BBQ sauce. I used the Bibigo brand that I bought at Target. This is the only place I know you can buy the stuff other than going to the actual "fast food" chain. You could use whatever sauce you want though. I use about 3/4-1 cup of sauce, just for the ribs to sit in, not drown in. This is personal preference because I like the meat to have crunchy bits. I just put the ribs and sauce in a Slow Cooker bag (in the Crock Pot dish) and stored it in the fridge for a day. If you aren't using Slow Cooker bags, you're spending too much time cleaning up after you use the Crock Pot. Trust me, and use them.

In the morning, I put the dish in the base. By base, I mean the metal part. So, whatever you want to call it. Then I take a potato, wrap it in foil, and place it between the bag and the dish (not in the bag with the sauce). Lid goes on. Crock Pot cooks on low all day. I go to work (then the gym) and come home.

By the time I get home, the meal has been cooking (turned on) for about 10 or 11 hours, and my apartment smells great! Dinner is ready and cleanup couldn't be easier. Voila.

Kimchi Experiment

If you're familiar with Korean food, you're well aware of the ever-popular staple food kimchi. Consider it the Korean french fries - a side of it comes with everything. Plus it's used as a main ingredient in a number of dishes like bibimbap and kimchichigae.

Yes, I do have a Hello Kitty toaster.

Kimchi tastes different depending on who made it (how it was prepared) and how old it is. You can eat it the day you make it (I don't think many people do) or a year later! It's designed to ferment, so it has a pretty good shelf life as long as you take care with storing it.

Most often it is made with cabbage, but you can make it with moo (Korean version of daikon) or even spring onion. Although cabbage kimchi is the most popular and widely used version. Even Korean schools serve it for lunch to kids of all ages. It can be made spicy or mild, and the recipe changes depending on who makes it. I've seen recipes made a number of different ways - from boiling the "sauce", to using seafood, blending your ingredients, etc.

As a fan of kimchi and a Korean woman, I decided it was time I give making it on my own a try. I read through no less than ten to twenty different recipes, trying to decide which would work best for me. I was looking for something fairly simple and one that used ingredients I would be able to find here in my hometown - land of the Pennsylvania Dutch, Amish, and pot roast. I decided upon a no- boil recipe I could make in my blender. All the ingredients could be blended and poured over the prepared cabbage.

After I had the batch completed, I felt pretty darn proud of myself. I had two mason jars full of cabbage and daikon kimchi. It smelled about right. I sealed the lids tightly, wrapped them in plastic wrap, and rubbernanded the plastic wrap around the kids (just in case). If you've never experienced kimchi, one thing you should know is that it has its own distinct smell. That smell will escape and take over your refrigerator if you aren't careful. I live in a one bedroom apartment with a small refrigerator, so I wanted to be very careful.

So here it sits. My kimchi. My first attempt at what is one of the cornerstones of Korean cuisine. I'm scared to open the jars. I can't work up the courage to even give it a whiff. What if it's terrible? What if I make absolutely horrible kimchi? This is what I fear, even more than the smell taking over my fridge. It has been at least six or seven weeks now, and I look at it every day. My boyfriend, who is currently away with the Army, will come home next Friday. He is quite excited to eat Asian food again and even more excited that one of those items will be kimchi. I'm hoping together we can give it a try! He is convinced it will be good. Until then, it seems like it's mocking me from its metal shelf in the middle of the refrigerator. "Hey, don't you want to try me?"