Kalbi Short Ribs Go Beyond The Korean BBQ Grill

It's amazing the difference a slice can make.

Just consider the disparity between English-style and Korean kalbi (also known as flanken) short ribs. In the former, the ribs are cut between each bone, while kalbi are sliced lengthwise through the bone.

The more familiar style of ribs have long dominated the culinary scene, undergoing long braises and sitting on thrones of whipped potatoes.

But lately chefs are turning to their thinner, bonier cousins–in applications that extend well beyond the Korean preparation.

On the opening menu of Chicago's posh Balena, chef Chris Pandel offered slabs of the ribs dressed in a Sicilian-style bitter orange glaze.

At Ox, the exemplary new restaurant in Portland, Oregon, guests can pick a small or large order of ribs, which have been seared on the wood-fire grill and dressed in bracing chimichurri.

And in Venice, California's Sunny Spot, the ribs receive a Caribbean treatment when marinated with Scotch Bonnet peppers and brown sugar (see the recipe here).

The kalbi-cut is ideal for grilling and cooks much faster than their counterparts. If you're not ready to commit to a long, slow braise, consider these short ribs your shoulder-season solution.