Spicy galbijjim (braised beef short ribs) cooked in the pressure cooker! Enjoy tender ribs that are spicy, sweet and savory in a fraction of the time.
Galbijjim (갈비찜, braised beef short ribs) is something I cook over and over simply because everyone loves the sweet and savory taste of the delectably tender ribs. Lately, I’ve been making this spicy version with excellent results! It’s becoming a new favorite.
Until I bought an Instant Pot, I mostly used my slow cooker for braising tough meat because of its easy, hands-free cooking. The Instant Pot pressure cooking offers the same benefit but in a fraction of the time! If you don’t have a pressure cooker, you can always turn to my recipe for traditional stove top galbijjim or slow cooker galbijjim. Simply adjust the seasonings to make this spicy version.
How to prepare the short ribs:
First off, look for short ribs with the most meat and less fat. I almost always use bone-in short ribs for braising simply because meat cooked on the bone tastes better. However, use boneless if that’s all you can find. Even high quality short ribs will have some fat, which is not a bad thing. Trim off any thick layers of fat from the short ribs without removing the thin, tough skin that holds the rib together.
Korean cooks soak the ribs in water and parboil to remove the blood and fat for a cleaner taste. Here, I skipped parboiling and simply presoaked the ribs in cold water to draw out the blood. Adding a couple of tablespoons of sugar to the water helps expedite the process.
How to prepare the braising liquid for spicy galbijjim
For this spicy version, I adjusted the braising liquid used for my slow cooker galbijjim to incorporate gochugaru (Korean red chili pepper flakes) and gochujang (Korean red chili pepper paste). If you like it really spicy, add more gochugaru, some dried whole red chili peppers, or fresh chili peppers. I also grated all the aromatic vegetables for the flavors to penetrate the meat faster because the cooking time here is much shorter.
How to braise the short ribs in the Instant Pot
Traditionally, Korean braising does not involve searing the ribs, although more people do it in modern days. I didn’t sear the ribs in this recipe, but you know it’s easy with the “Sauté” function of the Instant Pot (see my Instant Pot braised oxtail), if you like that rich browned meat flavor.
You can do all the prep work the night before, and turn on the Instant Pot when you’re ready to cook. This, of course, marinates the ribs, which is a flavor contribution as well. You can also cook the ribs ahead of time. The flavor of short ribs improves over the next day or two.
All you need is about 35 minutes pressure cooking time, depending on how thick your meat is and how tender you want your meat. To let the meat rest and further tenderize, I usually wait 10 to 15 minutes for a natural pressure release before releasing the remaining pressure.
More Instant Pot recipes
Instant Pot kkorijjim (oxtail)
Instant Pot Dak Bokkeumtang (spicy chicken stew)
Instant Pot Nureungji Baeksuk (boiled chicken and rice)
Instant Pot kimchi jjigae (stew)
Have you tried this Instant Pot galibijjim recipe? Please rate the recipe below by either clicking the stars or leaving a comment! And make sure to share your creations by tagging me on Instagram! Stay in touch by following me onPinterest, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Ingredients
- 3.5 to 4 pounds English cut beef short ribs, galbi (갈비)
- 8 ounces Korean radish, mu (무) cut into large chunks
- 1 medium carrot cut into large chunks
- 3 to 4 dried shiitake mushrooms briefly soaked and quartered
Braising liquid:
- 1/2 medium Korean/Asian pear
- 1/2 medium onion
- 8 plump garlic cloves
- 1 inch long ginger piece
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 4 tablespoons rice wine (or mirin or dry white wine)
- 3 to 4 tablespoons gochugaru (고추가루)
- 2 tablespoons gochujang (고추장)
- 3 tablespoons honey (or sugar)
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- pepper to taste
Other additions and garnishes:
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 2 scallions roughly chopped (and some finely sliced for optional garnish)
- sesame seeds - optional
Instructions
- Trim off any thick layer of surface fat. Place the ribs in a large bowl with enough water to cover all the ribs. Add a couple of tablespoons of sugar and stir until dissolved. Let the ribs soak for about 30 minutes. Drain and rinse the ribs. Drain well while preparing the other ingredients.
- In a small blender, blend the pear, onion, garlic, and ginger well. You can separately grate them if you want. Transfer to a bowl. Mix it with the remaining braising liquid ingredients.
- Place the short ribs in the pot, and add the vegetables.
- Pour the braising liquid over. Toss everything well to coat the ribs evenly. Close the lid tightly. Press the “Meat” function, and using the “+” button, set the time to 35 minutes. Make sure the pressure switch is turned to “sealing”. When finished, the Instant Pot will automatically turn to the “Keep Warm” mode. Leave the pressure cooker alone for 10 to 15 minutes before releasing the remaining pressure and opening the lid. You can leave it longer if you want.
- Stir in the scallion and the sesame oil. Remove the meat and vegetables from the pressure cooker. Spoon off the fat. Pour the sauce over the ribs to serve. You can also cool it in the fridge or freezer until the fat solidifies to spoon off, and then reheat the sauce. Garnish with the optional scallions and sesame seeds.
I just left a review about your tteokbokki recipe and regaled a story about how I came about trying it out. I talked about going to Sun Dong Nan in Rowland Heights and trying their amazing galbi jjim and how my wife asked that I recreate it.
After searching far and wide at recipes, I came across yours and tried it out. Needless to say, the recipe is AMAZING and my wife was making num-num noises (a good sign). She absolutely devoured it.
This recipe, much like your tteokbokki recipe, will be a stable in my rotation.
One huge recommendation for those who want to cook this recipe. Do not use the America cut of short ribs. If you have a Korean market nearby, go there. They have a cut where the meat is nearly a 2in by 2in block that sites atop the rib bone.
I also par-boiled the ribs versus just letting them sit in water. This helped tremendously in removing the scrum from the ribs as well as at lot of the extemporaneous fat. The resulting sauce did not need to have the fat skimmed from it.
I never leave recipe reviews and you are two for two. I am definitely a fan. I need to see if you have Dak Galbi recipe!
this looks amazing! i do have a question. I see that you are using the larger short ribs for the stew. I currently have a hefty amount of thin-sliced short ribs, like the ones serve at korean bbq places. would there be a difference in cooking time? or any other recipe changes?
Yes, they will take much less time to cook. Depending on the amount of ribs you’re using, you might have to adjust the amount of seasonings, proportionately. Hope this helps.
I tried this recipe today! The flavor is very good! Only exception, the radish is very bitter. Do you know why every time I put radish in pressure cooker, it came out bitter?
Can you make the braising liquid the night before, perhaps? Would it keep alright in the fridge for one night?
Of course! Very good idea.
The recipe is okay, like the comment above how it taste like sun dong Nan… It does not. Not even close. It’s pretty good though.
Can you take out the gochujang and gochugaru if you want just a normal galbijjim?
Yes! You can a little more soy sauce to supplement the salt level gochujang provides or simply use the braising liquid in the slower cooker galbijjim recipe.
Thank you for posting this recipe! I was wondering if I wanted to double the recipe, would I double the ingredients or should I cook it twice? I have a 6 qt. instant pot.
I’d suggest you do it in two separate batches. You can use a little more meat to this recipe, but doubling the recipe in 6 qt would be too much to cook at once.
Just tried your recipe and it was absolutely delicious. I used Bartlet pear and regular beef ribs since it’s what I had on hand. The spice level was perfect for me!
Thank you Hyosun!
That’s great to hear, Daniel! Love to hear you made it work with whatever ingredients you had on hand. Thank you so much for the great review!
What kind of instant pot do you use? 🙂
Instant Pot 6 Qt
Thank you for sharing your beautiful recipes.
Looking at a photo of your Instant Pot, I noticed the Max line is quite close to the edge. It is unlike my newly bought Instant Pot (6 in 1 pressure cooker), where the max line stops at 2/3 of the pot.
Can you please let me know the size of your pot (3, 6 or 8 quarts) and its model.
Thank you.
Mine is 6 qt. It could be due to the camera angle.