Korean BBQ Pork Ribs - Korean Bapsang

Ingredients

2 slabs baby back ribs (5 to 7 pounds)

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup rice wine (or mirin or white wine)

2 tablespoons sesame oil

4 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons brown sugar (use regular sugar if unavailable )

3 tablespoons minced garlic (8 or 9 plump cloves) (See note 1)

2 tablespoons finely grated ginger (See note 1)

1/2 medium onion, grated (See note 1)

1/2 medium sweet apple, grated (See note 1)

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

2/3 cup Korean red pepper paste (gochujang, 고추장)

1 to 3 teaspoons Korean red chili pepper flakes (gochugaru, 고추가루)

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup rice wine (or mirin or white wine)

2 tablespoons sesame oil

4 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons brown sugar (Use regular sugar if unavailable )

3 tablespoons minced garlic (See note 1)

2 tablespoons grated ginger (See note 1)

1/2 medium onion, grated (See note 1)

1/2 medium sweet apple, grated (See note 1)

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Tender, moist and flavorful Korean BBQ pork ribs! Choose from two different marinades –sweet and savory or spicy.

These Korean marinated baby back ribs are tender, moist, and flavorful! You can choose from two different marinades – sweet and savory or spicy.

The ribs are first slow cooked in the oven and finished off under the broiler or on the grill until lightly caramelized and charred. If you love tender, delicious pork ribs, you’ll love this recipe! It’ll certainly be a nice change from the usual fare — with a dry rub and BBQ sauce.

In Korea, grilled pork ribs are very popular at restaurants where the ribs are partially grilled in the kitchen and finished off at the table on a wood charcoal (sootbul, 숯불) grill. At home, I like this easy oven method and then either broil or grill to give them a nice char and delicious smoky flavor.

How to prepare baby back ribs

I love to cook with back baby back ribs (aka pork loin ribs or back ribs). They are tender, lean, and meaty. I usually buy mine at Costco. Their ribs are well trimmed with the membrane (thin tough white/silver skin on the bone side) already removed. So not much prep work on my part.

If the ribs still have the membranes, you will need to remove them for the marinade to penetrate better. Insert a paring knife under the membrane to carefully loosen it, then slowly pull it by hand away from the bones.

Korean marinades

Each marinade is for 2 whole slabs (about 5 to 7 pounds total), which can easily be halved or doubled.

Sweet and savory: This marinade is similar to the beef galbi marinade. However, for pork ribs, I use much more ginger than that of the galbi marinade.

Spicy: The spicy version is the classic spicy pork marinade similar to that used in jeyuk bokkeum. It is slightly sweet with a lot of kick. You can increase the heat level by adding more gochugaru without altering the other ingredients.

In either case, the secret to tasty Korean pork ribs is to use lots of fresh garlic and ginger.

For best results, marinate the ribs overnight or longer (24 to 48 hours if you have time).

How to cook the baby back ribs

Slow cook the ribs in the oven, covered, at a low temperature with some marinade in the baking sheet/dish. This method gives the ribs a steaming effect, keeping the ribs moist while being cooked.

1. Preheat the oven to 325. 2. Line a baking sheet/dish with aluminum foil. Arrange the ribs, meat side down, on a baking sheet/dish. 3. Cover the baking sheet/dish tightly with aluminum foil. Bake them for 1.5 hours (2 hours if you want to fall off the bones tenderness). Remove the foil cover. 4. For the mild version, you will end up with a lot of liquid after slow cooking the ribs. You can pour it out into a sauce pan, reduce it to a thicker sauce on the stove top, and use it to baste the ribs. 5. Finish off under the broiler or on the grill until they are slightly charred and caramelized.

If you have a favorite way to cook the baby back ribs, feel free to use it with these marinated ribs.

You can bake the ribs up to a day before and keep them refrigerated. Bring refrigerated ribs to room temperature about 1 hour before you either broil or grill them.

What to serve with the Korean ribs

For an easy side dish, I like to throw in some sliced zucchini and/or eggplants and some chili peppers to the baking sheet/dish during the final step of broiling or on the grill. You can also serve any Korean vegetable side dishes with these ribs, such as spicy cucumber salad and baby bok choy kimchi salad. Some fresh vegetables with ssamjang will be great as well.

See my 15 Korean vegetable side dishes for more.

This recipe was originally posted in July 2011. Here, I have updated it with new photos, more information and improvements to the recipe.