Tasty Korean Winter Short Ribs Soup Recipe
This hearty Korean Winter Soup features tender beef short ribs simmered for hours with aromatic vegetables and spices, creating a clear, flavorful broth perfect for warming up cold days. Enhanced with radish and seasoned with traditional Korean soy sauce, this comforting soup is ideal served with rice for a satisfying meal.
- Prep Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours 45 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: Soup
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Korean
- Diet: Halal
Ingredients
Scale
Meat
- 1.5 lbs beef short ribs
Broth Ingredients
- 10 cups water
- 1 whole yellow onion, with skin (if organic)
- 2 green onions or 1 Korean leek (for broth)
- 2 thick ginger slices
- 3–4 dried or fresh green onion roots (optional)
Additional Ingredients
- 1/2 medium radish, quartered into thin slices
- 2 tablespoons chopped garlic or 5–6 whole cloves
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce for soup (guk ganjang)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
- 2 green onions or 1 Korean leek, sliced for topping
Instructions
- Prepare and Soak the Short Ribs: Soak the beef short ribs in cold water for 1 hour to draw out any blood. Alternatively, you can flash boil the ribs, discard the water, and then boil them again with fresh water. While soaking, prepare the aromatics including the whole yellow onion with skin, ginger slices, chopped garlic, green onions, and optionally green onion roots.
- Start the Broth: In a large stock pot, combine the soaked short ribs, ginger slices, green onions, whole onion, green onion roots, and 10 cups of water. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat. Once boiling, reduce to medium heat and skim off any brownish foam that appears to keep the broth clear and remove excess fat.
- Simmer the Broth: Lower the heat to medium-low and let the broth simmer uncovered for 1 hour to meld flavors. Continue skimming foam as necessary to maintain a clean broth.
- Add Radish and Continue Cooking: After the hour, add the quartered radish slices to the pot and simmer for an additional 20 minutes until the radish is soft and infused with broth flavors.
- Finalize and Season the Soup: Remove all aromatics from the pot leaving only ribs and broth. Season the soup with guk ganjang (Korean soy sauce), sea salt, and additional chopped garlic. Simmer for another 10 minutes to fully integrate the seasoning.
- Serve the Soup: Garnish each serving with freshly sliced green onions and a sprinkle of black pepper for extra flavor. Serve hot with a bowl of rice for a complete and comforting meal.
Notes
- Soaking or flash boiling the ribs helps remove impurities resulting in a clearer broth.
- Skimming foam during boiling is essential for a clean, light soup.
- If green onion roots are unavailable, simply omit them without impacting the broth greatly.
- Use guk ganjang for authentic Korean soy sauce flavor; regular soy sauce can be a substitute but will alter taste.
- This soup can be made ahead and reheated; flavors often develop more deeply the next day.
- Pair with steamed rice and kimchi for a traditional Korean meal experience.
Keywords: Korean beef soup, winter soup, beef short ribs soup, guk, Korean broth, comforting soup, traditional Korean recipe
