4th of July 2010 BBQ: Kal Bi

It's the 4th of July and what's better than making some delicious BBQ!  One of my favorites for bbq'g is Korean Kal Bi.  While living in Hawaii it was easily accessible for purchasing at any grocery store and I had my favorites from Azeka's in Kihei and Takamiya's in Wailuku.  I grew up eating the kal bi from Takamiya only because my dad was one of the butchers there for many years. I grew accustomed to the sweeter taste of kal bi and that's how I prefer it. 

After moving to the mainland finding kal bi wasn't easy, in fact we couldn't find it anywhere and had to resort to making our own.  For awhile my husband was the one in charge of marinating the kal bi meat and he likes it on the shoyu/spicy side.  I couldn't ever figure out how to duplicate the taste of the kal bi that I'm so used to eating.  Even after asking my dad for the Takamiya recipe which you'd figure he would know right off the bat, but I was wrong.  So I was set on trying to make my own version of a kal bi sauce that was cheaper and in bigger quantities than the ones that came in small jars at the Asian stores. 

I had always bought a big jar of Yoshida sauce from Costco and mainly used it for cooking stir fry but for some reason never really thought of using it as a marinade.  It already has a sweet flavor, so I figured if I added some of the basic components of a kal bi marinade it just might work.  Going by smell  and adding a little bit of this and a little bit of that, marinating the kal bi meat for a few hours, and grilling.  EUREKA!! I have found my kal bi marinade! 

So for this past 4th of July bbq at a friend's home I made a batch of kal bi and got some good reviews on it.  Also...shhhh....I was told it was preferred over my husband's version hehe.

KOREAN KAL BI
Ingredients:
3-4 lbs. kal bi meat (on the mainland it's called FLANKEN SHORT RIBS)
4-6 cups Yoshida Sauce
1 big bunch green onions, chopped
3-4 tbsp. garlic, minced
2-3 tbsp. garlic chili sauce
1/2 cup sesame seed oil
3-4 tbsp. sesame seeds

Directions:
In a big bowl or container that you'll be using for marinating add all ingredients except the meat.  Mix well.  Add the meat and coat well.  Cover and let marinate for 2-3 hours. Cook over grill till meat is done, medium well and well done works best. 

**The measurements are just general amounts. You are more than welcome to add as much or as little as you want especially for the chili garlic sauce.**

Here are the pics of the meat marinating and the final outcome.