Salt-Grilled Bone-In Short Ribs with Sesame Salt Dip

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

Korean barbecue's showpiece cut, stripped back to its best form: thin butterflied bone-in short rib seasoned with nothing but salt, seared hard on cast iron or a screaming grill until the fat crackles and the edges lace with char. A toasted sesame salt dip and a bowl of ssamjang do the rest. Ask the butcher to butterfly flanken-style short ribs to a scant 1/4 inch — that single request is what makes this work at home.

Ingredients

• 3 lb bone-in beef short ribs, cut flanken-style and butterflied to 1/4 inch thick
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp neutral oil, for the pan or grates

• 3 tbsp toasted sesame oil
• 1 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
• 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds, lightly crushed
• 1/2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper

• 6 scallions, slivered lengthwise
• 2 tsp gochugaru (Korean chili flakes)
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil

• 1 head red leaf lettuce or butter lettuce, leaves separated
• 12 perilla leaves (optional)
• 1/4 cup ssamjang or doenjang thinned with a little sesame oil
• 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 4 cups hot cooked short-grain rice
• 1 cup kimchi

Instructions

1. Order the beef ahead: ask the butcher for flanken-style bone-in short ribs (cut across the bones, about 1/2 inch thick) and request that each piece be butterflied — sliced open along the bone and pressed out to a scant 1/4 inch. If you get untrimmed 1/2-inch flanken, lay each piece flat and, holding a sharp knife parallel to the board, split it open like a book, then flatten gently with the heel of your hand.
2. Unwrap the beef, blot both sides thoroughly dry with paper towels, and lay the pieces on a rack or plate. Season with the 2 teaspoons kosher salt from about 10 inches above, dividing evenly across both sides. Let sit uncovered at room temperature for 30 minutes — the surface should look tacky and dry, not wet. That dryness is what gives you char instead of steam.
3. Make the sesame salt dip: stir the sesame oil, sea salt, crushed sesame seeds, and black pepper together in a small bowl. Divide among four small dishes so each person has their own; the salt stays slightly undissolved, which is correct.
4. Make the scallion salad: soak the slivered scallions in cold water for 5 minutes to take off the raw bite, then drain and spin dry in a towel. Toss with the gochugaru, rice vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, and sesame oil. Set aside — it should sit no longer than 20 minutes before serving.
5. Arrange the lettuce, perilla, ssamjang, sliced garlic, rice, and kimchi on the table before you cook. This meat goes from raw to done in under three minutes and should be eaten straight off the heat.
6. Heat your cooking surface hard. On a charcoal grill, bank the coals for a direct zone hot enough that you can hold your hand 4 inches above for only 2 seconds. On gas, preheat on high with the lid down for 10 minutes. Indoors, set a 12-inch cast-iron skillet or grill pan over medium-high for 5 to 6 minutes until a drop of water skitters and evaporates instantly. Wipe the surface with oil on a folded paper towel.
7. Grill the ribs in a single uncrowded layer, 2 to 3 pieces at a time. Cook 60 to 90 seconds on the first side without moving them, until the edges curl and the underside is deeply browned with charred spots, then flip and cook 45 to 60 seconds more. The meat should be just past pink at the center — thin galbi is best cooked through but pulled the moment the fat starts to crisp. If flare-ups get aggressive on the grill, slide the pieces to a cooler zone for a few seconds rather than closing the lid.
8. Move each batch to a warm platter or cutting board as it comes off. Using kitchen shears, snip the meat away from the bone and cut it into bite-size strips, 1 to 1 1/2 inches. Keep the bones on the platter — they carry a lot of the best gnawing. Wipe the pan or scrape the grates between batches to clear burnt fat, re-oil, and continue with the remaining beef.
9. Serve immediately: a strip of beef dipped in sesame salt, laid on a lettuce leaf with a smear of ssamjang, a slice of raw garlic, a pinch of scallion salad, and a small spoonful of rice, then folded into one bite. Keep grilling in batches as people eat rather than cooking everything at once.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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