As with kimchi, every Korean family has its own kalbi marinade. “Some will throw something extra in there but they won’t tell anyone else about it,” says MacKenzie. There’s—wait for it—“a secret ingredient”. But she does share that her mother’s marinade, which was passed on from her grandmother, includes grated ginger.
“You want to marinate the meat for 24 hours,” says Cho in a phone interview. “If you want the meat to be very soft, add some puréed kiwi, apple, or Asian pear.”
These days, you can buy ready-made barbecue marinades at any of the Korean grocery stores, but you’ve got all the basic ingredients now. As Cho says, “If you want to learn how to make Korean barbecue—if you want something authentic—you want to do it from scratch.”
Butter flavoured with spice and citrus nicely compliments the corn’s sweet flavour. You could serve the corn on its own as a summer first course, or as side dish for such things as ribs, burgers, steaks or salmon.
Preheat oven to 350°. Spread onion slices evenly on a rimmed baking sheet, and place ribs, bone side down, on top. Pour beer over ribs, sprinkle ribs with rib rub. Cover pan tightly with foil. Bake 3 hours or until tender.
Cut ribs into serving pieces. Place pork ribs in heavy-duty ziplock plastic bags. Stir together orange juice concentrate and next 6 ingredients. Reserve ¾ cup sauce for dipping. Pour remaining sauce evenly over ribs; seal. Chill 8 hours, turning occasionally.