What to Cook This August — The Galbi That Smells Like Seattle Summer Now

Negative pregnancy test. The third one. I know — I know — that three months is nothing, that statistics say six to twelve months is normal, that I am twenty-nine and healthy and there is no medical reason to worry. I know all of this the way I know distributed systems architecture: thoroughly, intellectually, with complete confidence in the theory and complete inability to apply it to the present moment. The test was negative. I sat on the bathroom floor. James sat on the bathroom floor beside me. He said, "It's early." I said, "I know." He said, "We have time." I said, "I know." He said, "Do you want to talk about it?" I said, "No." He said, "Do you want me to stay?" I said, "Yes." We sat on the bathroom floor for fifteen minutes. Then I got up and made breakfast.

Dr. Yoon said, on Monday, that the grief of a negative test is real grief, even when it's early, even when it's expected, even when you know that three months is nothing. She said, "You are grieving a possibility. That is allowed." I said, "I feel like I'm overreacting." She said, "You are not overreacting. You are feeling. Feeling is not overreacting. Feeling is the whole point." I wrote that down. I have a collection of Dr. Yoon sentences on my desk now. They are becoming a kind of scripture. I do not say this to Dr. Yoon because she would find it embarrassing, but she has saved my life more times than she knows, in small ways, with small sentences, over five years of Monday mornings.

Banchan Labs: Box Four shipped this week. "Summer Grill" — bulgogi marinade, galbi marinade, ssam-jang, and a grilling guide. 1,500 boxes. The largest shipment yet. Grace packed the ssam-jang herself because she said my measurement was "approximate" and ssam-jang requires precision. I did not argue. Grace is right about paste measurement the way she is right about spinach squeezing and bellflower root soaking and every other thing she corrects me on. I have stopped arguing with Grace. Arguing with Grace is like arguing with physics.

Karen called Wednesday to tell me about her book club meeting. They are reading a novel about a woman who loses her memory. Karen said, "I told the group I was reading this book with personal interest." Everyone laughed. Karen is making Parkinson's jokes now, which is either a sign of acceptance or a sign of defiance, and with Karen it is always defiance. She also told me she had tried to make one of my kimchi jjigae recipe cards and "it came out fine, Stephanie, it came out fine, stop worrying." She is cooking Korean food now. My mother — my white, Bellevue, pot-roast mother — is cooking Korean food from my recipe cards. The world is strange and beautiful and I did not see this coming and it is one of the best things that has happened this year.

Jisoo sent a care package: dried anchovies for stock, her homemade gochujang (aged six months), a small bag of Korean sea salt, and a handwritten letter that said, "For your company. For your kitchen. For Dahee." The gochujang is extraordinary — deeper and more complex than anything I can buy in Seattle. I am going to use it in next month's recipe development. I am also going to eat some of it with rice for dinner tonight because sometimes the best thing to do with a masterwork is to eat it plainly, with gratitude, standing at the counter.

The recipe this week is my galbi marinade from the Box Four card. Short ribs, LA-style cut (flanken, across the bone). Marinade: soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil, minced garlic, minced ginger, grated Asian pear (the pear is essential — it tenderizes and sweetens), rice wine, black pepper. Marinate for at least four hours. Grill over high heat, three minutes per side. The char is the point. The sweetness of the pear against the salt of the soy against the smoke of the grill — this is Korean summer. This is what backyards in Seoul smell like on Saturday nights. This is what my backyard smells like now, in Seattle, because I made it so.

I wrote this marinade into the Box Four grilling guide weeks ago, tested it until Grace stopped correcting me, and shipped 1,500 of them — and still, the week that needed it most was this one. There is something clarifying about standing over a hot grill, watching the sugar from the pear catch and blacken at the edges, smelling the sesame smoke rise. It doesn’t fix anything. It doesn’t have to. It just makes the backyard smell like a Saturday night in Seoul, and right now, that is exactly enough.

What to Cook This August: Galbi (Korean Grilled Short Ribs)

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 10 minutes | Total Time: 30 minutes (plus at least 4 hours marinating) | Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 3 lbs beef short ribs, LA-style flanken cut (sliced 1/3-inch thick across the bone)
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 1 Asian pear, peeled and grated (about 1/2 cup) — do not substitute
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
• 2 tablespoons rice wine (mirin or cheongju)
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 scallions, thinly sliced, for serving
• Toasted sesame seeds, for serving
• Ssam-jang and steamed rice, for serving

Instructions

1. Make the marinade. In a large bowl, whisk together soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil, grated Asian pear (with its juice), garlic, ginger, rice wine, and black pepper until the sugar is fully dissolved. The pear is non-negotiable — its enzymes tenderize the meat and its sweetness is the whole point.
2. Score and marinate. Pat the flanken-cut ribs dry. Score lightly between the bones if your butcher hasn’t. Add ribs to the marinade and toss to coat thoroughly. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, and up to 24. The longer, the better.
3. Prepare your grill. Heat a gas or charcoal grill to high — you want real heat. Clean the grates and oil them lightly. The grill should be hot enough that you can hold your hand 3 inches above the grate for no more than 2 seconds.
4. Grill the ribs. Remove ribs from marinade and let any excess drip off. Grill over direct high heat for 3 minutes per side. Do not move them around — let the char develop. The caramelized edges where the pear sugar catches the flame are not optional. They are the recipe.
5. Rest and serve. Transfer to a platter and rest for 2 minutes. Scatter sliced scallions and sesame seeds over the top. Serve with steamed rice and ssam-jang for wrapping. Eat immediately, ideally outside.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 520 | Protein: 38g | Fat: 32g | Carbs: 18g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 1,140mg