Tteokgalbi Recipe - Beef Short Ribs With Chestnut Filling

Tteokgalbi has to be one of our favourite beef dishes and recipes. It may require some effort to pull it off but when you do, it is so worth it.

Make the mother sauce first by blending 1 yellow pear, 1 medium onion, 40g peeled garlic, 2 stalks leek, 180ml light soy sauce, 1/4 honey and 1 tsp black pepper into a saucy paste. Store in a glass jar and refrigerate for 1 day.

Steam 16 peeled chestnuts for around 45 minutes until they are soft enough to be mashed. Use a spoon to mash the chestnuts into a sieve to get chestnut powder. 

Add 1 tbsp maple syrup or honey and 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder to the chestnut powder and mix well. Use your hands to shape the mixture into a chestnut paste. Make 20g portions of the chestnut paste.

Marinate 300g of minced beef with 4 tbsp of the mother sauce and mix well. Refrigerate for at least an hour for the best results. After which, make 80g portions of the beef mixture.

Flatten each beef patty and place a chestnut paste in the centre and fold the beef over to make a rice cake shape. Then toss the beef patty quickly between each palm for around a minute to seal in the exterior and remove air within so that the beef won’t break when it is roasted. You should be able to make at least 4 tteokgalbi.

Slice thinly 6 slices of lotus root. Deep fry the lotus slices in rice bran oil until they turn golden. Remove and strain the excess oil. Crush 8 pine nuts into powder form.

Make a geotjeori by julienning a handful of Korean spring chives and 3 slices of beetroot. Add 1/2 tsp doenjang, 1.5 tsp mirin, 1/2 tsp honey, 1/2 tsp sesame oil and a handful of sesame seeds. Mix well with your hands and set aside. 

Preheat oven to 180 Celsius no fan mode for 5 minutes. On a baking tray, apply some oil to prevent sticking and place the tteokgalbi on the tray whilst ensuring they are not too close to each other. 

Roast the tteokgalbi for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, use a pair of tongs to turn over each tteokgalbi and roast for another 12 minutes. 

After which, remove the tteokgalbi and grill them on a cast iron pan with some oil for a few minutes on each side until there is a slight crust on the beef patties. Remove and set aside.

On the same cast iron pan, grill 6 cut garatteok on each side in the beef fat from the tteokgalbi until they turn soft and golden brown. Remove and set aside.

Plate up the tteokgalbi on a white flat plate. Apply a brush of maple syrup or honey on the beef. Sprinkle some crushed pine nuts on top of the tteokgalbi.

Place some geotjeori by the side before placing the garatteok next to the beef. Lastly, place a few pieces of lotus root chips on the geotjeori and it is done.

Tteokgalbi, literally translated from Korean means rice cake (tteok) galbi (beef short ribs). But in actuality, there is no rice cake involved apart from using it as a side pairing. 

The reason it is called a tteok is because the beef ribs are minced and hand shaped into the shape of a cylindrical rice cake. And it is known to have originated from the royal courts of Joseon many centuries ago.

Legend has it that because short ribs are difficult to eat with the bone in, the royal chefs devised a way to remove the beef meat from the bones and ground and mould them into beef patties so that the king can eat the ribs easily. 

These days, it is commonly seen as part of a hangeongsik meal, or what is known as a full course meal. It’s usually grilled but tteokgalbi can also be oven roasted. Nowadays, tteokgalbi is often seen as part of a Korean bbq menu too.

For our version, we have followed the version as seen in #younstay by stuffing a freshly made chestnut paste inside the shaped galbi before twice cooked in the oven and on the cast iron pan for the extra caramelisation.

It is simply one of the best, unique and refined beef dishes that we have ever made and tasted. We hope you will enjoy it just as much.

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