Sous Vide Kalbi Baby Backs with Kimchi Mashed Potatoes
Speed - 95%
Simplicity - 95%
Tastiness - 100%
97%
Delicious!
Tender, succulent, and very flavorful. These ribs are uniquely superb. The Kimchi mashed potatoes. . . irresistible.
Ingredients
For the Kalbi Ribs
- 500 Grams Pork Baby Back Ribs
- 1 Cup Kalbi Marinade
For the Kimchi Mashed Potatoes
- 2 Large Potatoes
- 1 Cup Milk
- 1/2 Stick Butter
- 1/2 Cup Kimchi chopped
- 1/2 Cup Cheddar Cheese shredded
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Put the baby back ribs and marinade in a sous vide bag. Cook for 12 hours at 165F.
- Boil the potatoes until fork tender.
- Peel and mash the potatoes.
- Sautee the kimchi in a pan. Set aside.
- In the same pan, roast the potatoes for about 5 minutes at low heat.
- Add the milk and cook to desired consistency.
- Fold in the butter, kimchi, and cheese.
- Season with salt if needed.
This is an excellent dish (and is one of many amazing Asian sous vide meals). It's clear proof too that there's more to Korean food than just Kimchi and Bulgogi.
Inspired by the flavors from having recently dined at a Korean restaurant, I thought of pulling off my own Kalbi masterpiece at home.
A typical Korean bbq, Kalbi is usually done with a special cut of beef short rib. This traditional dish does come in pork too and is called Dwaeji Galbi.
I really enjoy eating pork ribs. In fact, it may well be my favorite cut of pork, and I'm definitely going for a good slab of baby backs for this recipe.
Be sure to peel off that thin membrane on the bone side of your pork ribs. They'll keep your marinade from working all the way through and will also be tough and chewy as it cooks.
Here's a good recipe for a Kalbi marinade:
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup mirin
2 tablespoons sesame oil
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
1 thumb-sized piece ginger
1 Asian pear
1 small onion
1/4 cup Gochujang(optional)
Combine all ingredients in a blender and it's good to go. . . that's if you're doing everything from scratch. I've done this marinade on countless occasions without failing to impress my guests.
But, ready-to-use Kalbi marinades can also be easily found in Korean specialty shops. I honestly prefer using them over making my own marinade from scratch for a few reasons:
- Obviously, convenience in a bottle. No peeling, chopping, measuring of ingredients. No dirty utensils to wash either. Just pour away.
- If working in small batches, say for a kilogram's worth of meat, this is a cheaper option. Buying a whole bottle of soy sauce, sesame oil, and a full tub of Gochujang may prove to be more economical only if they are staple ingredients in your kitchen.
- Honestly, these ready-to-use sauces taste better. So much better. I'm suspecting that the depth of flavor in these bottles may be due to some fermentation process. I'm really not sure, that's just how I perceive its unique flavor.
Put the pork ribs and marinade into a sous vide bag, and ideally, leave in the fridge overnight to marinate. If you don't have that much more time, it's fine. We'll be cooking these ribs for 12 hours so that may be marinating and cooking at the same time. No worries. That's how I did mine.
12 hours at 165F would be enough for these ribs to come out perfectly moist and tender while still having a bit of substantial chew – I never enjoy eating meat that is cooked too tender to the point of losing its structure. Ribs taste delicious with sous vide. Haven't tried it? Get your own immersion circulator and start cooking sous vide at home. It's easy, cheap, and fun!
There'll be lots of cooking juices left inside the sous vide bag which you wouldn't want to put to waste. Let it reduce into a glaze in a pot over the stove.
That flavor reduction would serve as the perfect basting glaze as we finish these ribs on the grill or under the broiler.
Keeping my Korean inspiration all the way to my choice of side, I opted for some Kimchi mashed potatoes.
Much like your well-trusted recipe, this one starts with boiling, then mashing those potatoes.
Here's where it gets that Korean twist – sautee some chopped Kimchi(yes, those that come in bottles) in a pan.
Set the Kimchi aside to keep them from wilting too much, and in the same pan, roast your mashed potatoes.
What we want to do is to dehydrate those potatoes as much as we could without scorching them. Getting as much of their natural moisture out would make them ready to absorb much more cream or milk, making them richer as a result.
Get the milk in, as much as your potatoes can absorb without getting too runny.
Turn off the heat, then fold in the sauteed Kimchi, some grated cheddar, some butter, and a dash of salt and pepper.
The cheddar cheese, on top of its sharp flavor, would give this mash a more vibrant orange hue that goes really well with it being Kimchi-flavored.
Ingredients
For the Kalbi Ribs
- 500 Grams Pork Baby Back Ribs
- 1 Cup Kalbi Marinade
For the Kimchi Mashed Potatoes
- 2 Large Potatoes
- 1 Cup Milk
- 1/2 Stick Butter
- 1/2 Cup Kimchi chopped
- 1/2 Cup Cheddar Cheese shredded
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Put the baby back ribs and marinade in a sous vide bag. Cook for 12 hours at 165F.
- Boil the potatoes until fork tender.
- Peel and mash the potatoes.
- Sautee the kimchi in a pan. Set aside.
- In the same pan, roast the potatoes for about 5 minutes at low heat.
- Add the milk and cook to desired consistency.
- Fold in the butter, kimchi, and cheese.
- Season with salt if needed.
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