My all-time favorite food is kalbi, or Korean style marinated beef short ribs. There’s just something about the combination of tender beef with soy sauce, garlic, sesame oil, and sugar that makes my mouth water. And although my mom gave me a recipe for her own delicious marinade, I have yet to try it out to see if it will actually turn out just like hers. Upon my request, she even went through the trouble of measuring everything out in teaspoons and tablespoons, which is nearly impossible to get a Korean mom to do. So one day, I will gladly try it out for sure and let you know how it goes.
In the meantime, if you have ever been inside of a Korean grocery store, you’ve probably seen those bottles of pre-made kalbi marinade sauces. Have you ever been curious to see if they actually taste good? I have. I’ve been through several different brands, but none of them really hit the mark in my opinion. But one day, I saw this bag of Sempio kalbi sauce sitting next to a sale sign and thought, what the heck… it’s on sale, it couldn’t hurt.
It came home with me, and I used it to marinate thinly sliced boneless beef short rib meat I got at Costco. All I did was add some sauce and sliced onions. And I did something you can choose to do or not, but I added a little water, to make sure the meat was covered, and to ensure that the sauce wouldn’t make the thin cuts of beef too salty. I let the whole thing marinate for a couple hours in the fridge. It came out pretty good and similar to my mom’s recipe!
And I like the nifty little spout. Makes pouring a breeze without messy drips.
You can even follow their directions in English if you’re not too sure how much sauce you should use for your meat. They even give you suggestions on how to use it.
It also helps to just taste the sauce on it’s own to check how salty it is. Then you’ll be able to use your judgement to see if you want to add water like me, to slightly dilute it.
I ended up having some sauce leftover, so it stayed in the corner of my fridge where I nearly forgot about it. One day, I was rummaging through my freezer and fridge for inspiration when I came across some ground beef and veggies. That’s when I remembered my trusty kalbi sauce.
Long story short, into the pan everything went. I sauteed the ground beef and drained out some of the fat. Carrots and sugar snaps joined the meat. The kalbi sauce, diluted with water, was next and dinner was done. You can add salt and pepper to taste if you want to, but the sauce should be plenty of seasoning. Served over rice, we had a great meal in no time flat.
The sauce is made with all natural ingredients and no MSG. I think it will become a regular staple in my house for whenever I need a little help for a meal on the fly. I love that it’s so versatile and that you can use it for both a marinade and a quick pan sauce. I’m going to have to steal a tip from my friend Christina and try to use it to make burgers. Mmm… kalbi burgers would be so good!
If you like time-savers, then this is a good sauce to know. I guess it’s the same concept as either buying all the separate ingredients you need to bake biscuits, or simply buying Bisquick mix. In my book, there’s no shame or blame in cutting corners, as long as the end result is truly tasty.
