Instant Pot Korean Braised Short Ribs (galbi jjim)

PICTURE TO COME. DAMMIT, I FORGOT TO TAKE A PICTURE.

I love my instant pot. It is groundbreaking, even more so than the microwave–because instead of reheating things, it MAKES things. I love braised meats, but don’t often make it, because WHO NEEDS TO WAIT 4 HOURS FOR FOOD? The instant pot is a game changer–braised meats are ready in about an hour. BOOM.

So with that–I’m going to share the Instant Pot version of my galbi jjim with you.

I’ve made it several times–twice with Whole30 adjustments (coconut aminos instead of soy sauce, and minced apples instead of sugar) and twice the way I always do. Both delicious. It comes out a bit soupy–but you can easily remedy that by adding corn starch or potato starch at the end, and letting it sit for awhile.

Serve over rice (of course–unless you’re WHOLE30’ing it, in which case…just eat it).

Recipes follows after the jump…

INSTANT POT: KOREAN BRAISED SHORT RIBS (GALBI JJIM)

INGREDIENTS:
* 1-3 pounds of english cut short ribs (have the ribs cut into 3-5 inch long pieces)–bone in is best. I often supplement the bone-in short ribs with boneless short ribs, too.
* vegetable oil
* sesame oil (about 1-2 tablespoons)
* sweet dessert wine or vermouth (about 1/2 cup to 1 cup or to taste)…or white wine as substitute (but then you will need more sugar). If you’re Whole 30’ing it, you can use a splash of vinegar instead of wine.
* soy sauce (about 1/2 cup to 1 cup or to taste)–about an equal amount to the wine. If you’re Whole 30’ing it, use coconut aminos (and use TRIPLE the amount, bc coconut aminos is not as densely flavored as soy sauce–and then add salt to taste)
* black pepper (to taste)
* sugar (about a handful or two, to taste). If you’re Whole30’ing it, substitute sugar with a minced apple or apple-pear.
* several cloves garlic, chopped or minced
* two medium onions, chopped
* several carrots, chopped
* several potatoes, chopped
* optional: a big handful or two of brussel sprouts (whole)

DIRECTIONS:
Take short ribs and cross cut them (basically make cuts into the beef so they look like “fingers”). Turn on Instant Pot and set to saute on high. Add oil. Add short ribs saute until short ribs are browned. Add onions until they turn golden. Add garlic at the end.

Add wine/vermouth/vinegar.

Add the soy sauce (or coconut aminos) and sugar (or minced apple). Then add sesame oil. Add black pepper.

Taste the broth, it should not be TOO salty or TOO sweet, but a combination of both, with a healthy dose of sesame taste.

Set Instant Pot to MEAT/STEW and custom set it to 45 minutes on high (longer, if you like your meat super tender).

Add potatoes and carrots (and other veggies such as brussel sprouts and turnips if you so desire). Set Instant Pot to MEAT/STEW on high for 15 more minutes.

*If you don’t want this extra step and don’t care if your potatoes are super mushy, add them before you set the Instant Pot to STEW (and add 15 minutes to the time).

Wait for Instant Pot to de-pressurize. Get ready to eat…

If broth is too watery, mix a tablespoon of potato starch with about two tablespoons of water in a cup and add to the braised short ribs (while broth is still hot). It will thicken the broth.

Serve with rice.