It’s the start of summer, which means al fresco dining, barbecues, and enjoying the warm weather with friends and family. This past weekend, I hosted a Korean Barbecue get-together. I am amazed at how many non-Korean people love my birth country’s food!
I thought I’d share the dishes I made to give you some inspiration for entertaining, or to simply make a meal for your family this week.
I made 3 meat dishes: Korean Style Braised Short Ribs, Korean Style Braised Chicken, and LA Kalbi.
Korean Style Braised Short Ribs and Chicken
The braised beef is my younger son’s favorite dish. After serving some last week to one of my jewelry coworkers and having her flip out at its deliciousness, I put it on the menu for my guests. It’s a great dish to make one day before, which frees up time for other day-of prep work. About 30 minutes before serving, put the pot on simmer until it heats and then serve!
While I usually make just beef, I prepared boneless chicken thighs using this recipe to give my guests a variety in meat choice. Since the marinade in the recipe is plentiful, I simply halved and split it between the 2 pots (beef and chicken.) I chose chicken thighs because it is a more tender cut.
This dish tastes like it took a whole day to make, but it’s quite simple! Serve it with rice and veggies, or potatoes, whatever you want!
LA Style Galbi
For Korean Barbecue on the grill, I used the Maangchi recipe . The key ingredient to make delicious Korean Barbecue? Asian pears. Using blended asian pear in the marinade creates a depth of flavor in the meat that does not hold a candle to Korean Barbecue using only honey/sugar.
Asian Cucumbers
This cucumber dish is refreshing for summer and serves as a nice compliment to the spicy kimchi side most people eat with Kalbi.
These 3 dishes and kimchi are all you need to create a successful Korean themed dinner. These days, every grocery store carries kimchi. For rice, I recommend you make short grain vs long grain. It’s “stickier” and more traditional to Korean food than the longer grains.
If you want to add spicy sauce, the red pepper Korean paste is easy to order online. Add some of the paste with red leaf lettuce to make “galbi wraps,” and you’re set!
Finally, what would a Korean dinner with guests be without a little Karaoke? I purchased this Karaoke Microphone on Amazon for $31 and it was a big hit.
I wish I had taken some pictures of my Memorial weekend barbecue but I was enjoying it so much, I forgot to document it!
Tips:
The hardest part of preparing these dishes was the cutting of the garlic and onions. Korean food staples = garlic, onion, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar/honey, sesame oil, salt, red pepper paste. If you have these ingredients, you can make 75% of the Korean dishes out there!
I hope you’ll try these recipes. Let me know how it goes!
