Galbi marinade is damn delicious whether it’s on short ribs or not.

Korean food is one of my later obsessions in Asian cuisine. In a lot of ways, Korean food offers the most simple but classic “Asian” flavor combination: garlic, onion, ginger, soy sauce.

That’s not to say that Korean food isn’t complicated. They do use a plethora of ingredients that don’t normally grace an American dinner table, like gojuchang and fish cake.

The galbi (or kalbi) marinade, however, is the basic flavor palate. It does, however, include a grated Asian pear. You can find one at most grocery stores these days. They don’t provide much for flavor but Asian pears work as a meat tenderizer. A couple of fresh or even dried figs minced up and thrown in the mix would work as well, or any other meat tenderizer. In a pinch, tenderize the meat yourself with a hammer or rolling pin.

Onto the dish – galbi is typically made with beef short ribs that are cut across the bone. If you’ve never had it before, it’s kind of like a flank-steak with small bones in it. You could certainly use this marinade with any cut of venison, be it tenderloin or round steak. We just happen to have a lot of hog in the freezer, so hog it is.

As for the cut of meat… it doesn’t really matter. I think this bag of meat was labeled “hog chunks.” Otherwise known as stew meat I was too lazy to chop up before vac sealing and freezing. The marinade will tenderize just about anything, but do be aware of the thickness of the meat; you don’t want something the size of a big roast that’s gonna burn on the grill before it’s cooked through.