Galbitang (Korean Short Rib Soup) cooked in Instant Pot in just 30 minutes!
Korean Galbitang soup usually takes hours to boil on a regular stove top and I sometimes end up cooking too much because I get distracted and forget. Sad… But, wait, did I say you can make that same soup in just 30 minutes after you start cooking??!! (Disclaimer – This is in addition to soaking ribs in water for 30 min so total actual cooking time is about 1 hour.) Now, usually, when the word ‘Instant’ is said with food, to me, it basically means ‘not-so-yummy’ food but probably really convenient and quick to make food. But this Instant Pot Galbitang is really amazing!! My husband liked it so much that we made it twice in one week. And normally, I would not like making the same thing that often but because I liked making the Galbitang in the Instant Pot so much (OMG, it’s SO EASY!!) I did not mind at all!
Now, if we were 20 years younger and we didn’t have to worry about things like cholesterol and gaining weight, we probably would be making this and eating it all the time. Because, you see… my dear husband… he NEVER gets tired of something that he really likes. For example, we have a favorite Soft Tofu Stew restaurant in our area (Sogondong Tofu House) and I think we have been going there since my daughter was in elementary school so… it has been over 20 years! Until about 5 years ago, we must have gone at least once a week and every time we go, my husband orders EXACTLY the same soft tofu stew – Kimchi Beef – Regular Spicy. He ordered it so much that he even learned the hidden code the waitresses used to write down the dish – “김소보 (김치 소고기 보통 맵게)”. HAHAHA 😂😂
As for me, I am totally the opposite. I ALWAYS have to order something different. I bounce around between different soft tofu stews, different BBQ meats, cold noodle soup, never settling on just one…because you never know what may be even more delicious. But with my husband, once he gets hooked on something, it’s always THE USUAL.
In terms of ingredients, it is almost the same as my traditional Galbitang recipe that I posted last year – so go ahead and please try that if you don’t have an Instant Pot. What’s different is that I reduced the water amount by 2 cups since Instant Pot will NOT be reducing the amount of liquid like hours of regular cooking will do. I also did not have any organic onion or green onion roots at home so I did not add the skin or the roots but if you have them, please do!
I waited to share this Instant Pot Galbitang Recipe with you all because I wanted to post some regular recipes in between. As I was posting my Kkakdugi post recently, I thought how absolutely delicious it would be to eat Galbitang and Kkakdugi together. And then it came to me that I had not posted this yet.
So without further delay, here it is –
Instant Pot Galbitang – Korean Short Rib Soup Recipe
Prep Time: 35 min Cook Time: 30 min Total time: 65 min Difficulty: EASY
Ingredients appear in the RECIPE CARD after my directions –
Step-by-Step Directions
- Trim off any excess fat from ribs.
- Soak ribs in cold water for 30 minutes to hour to draw out excess blood.
- While the ribs are soaking, clean green onions and slice or chop 2 of them and just cut the remaining 2 in 1/2 lengths for the soup.
- Peel and cut 2 thick slices of ginger, peel Korean radish and cut into big chunks. You can use Daikon radish if Korean radish is not easily available. Peel onion or leave skin on if using organic yellow onion.
- In your Instant Pot, add ribs, radish, green onions, whole onion, ginger and water.
Galbitang Instant Pot ingredients - Close and set your Instant Pot to SOUP function and set your timer to 30 min.
Instant Pot Galbitang Cooked in 30 minutes! - When it’s done, do a Natural Release (just leave it alone until the pressure knob goes down and you can easily open it). If you are in a hurry, let it sit for 5 min then do a Manual Quick Release.
- Skim off fat from soup. If you trimmed a lot of the fat before cooking, you should not have a lot of oil on top. In this case, just using 1-2 sheets of oil absorbing paper should work well.
Oil absorbing paper for stocks I have added some links to my store under cooking tools. This is one of my most FAVORITE items to use for skimming fat from soups. You can also search for “food oil absorbing paper” or here’s a direct link.
- Season soup by adding guk ganjang, salt and garlic.
- Serve with some chopped green onions, salt and black pepper so people can and season to their own taste. And some vinegar soy dipping sauce for the rib meats.
Easy Instant Pot Galbitang (Short Rib Soup)
Ingredients
- 1.5 lb beef short ribs
- 8 cups water
- 1 yellow onion with skin on if possible
- 2 green onions for cooking broth
- 2 green onions (chopped or sliced for garnish)
- 2 thick slices of ginger
- 1/2 Korean radish (cut into big chunks, 2 in x 2 in)
- 2 Tbsp garlic (chopped)
- 2 tsp guk ganjang (Korean soy sauce for soup)
- 1 tsp Korean Cheonilyeom Sea salt (less if using regular Table salt)
Instructions
- Trim off any excess fat from ribs.
- Soak ribs in cold water for 30 minutes to hour to draw out excess blood.
- While the ribs are soaking, clean green onions and slice or chop 2 of them and just cut the remaining 2 in 1/2 lengths for the soup.
- Peel and cut 2 thick slices of ginger, peel Korean radish and cut into big chunks. You can use Daikon radish if Korean radish is not easily available.
- In your Instant Pot, add ribs, whole yellow onion, radish, green onions, ginger and water.
- Close and set your Instant Pot to SOUP function. Set it for 30 minutes. If you have time, just let it Naturally Release. If you are in a hurry, leave it for 5 min. and then do a Manual Quick Release. But be ready for some splatter - I usually cover the vent with some kitchen towel so it doesn't go all over the place. It will pressure cook your Galbitang perfectly!
- Skim off fat from soup.
- Season soup by adding guk ganjang, salt and garlic.
Tips & Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Tips
- I still had some extra stock leftover after eating the soup for 2+ meals. I used the leftover short rib stock to make Tteokguk and it was amazing!! Follow my Tteokguk recipe but just use this leftover soup instead of making anchovy stock.
- Rice and kimchi like Kkakdugi, Chongak Kimchi and of course Baechu Kimchi will all go wonderfully well with this rich and hearty soup.
-
How to make very clear broth with no debris
If you want your broth to be clear without any dark bits, you can cook the ribs for just few minutes, discard the liquid and then cook again with fresh water. Taste wise, I don’t taste a huge difference so I opted not to add this step to my recipe but if you are used to the traditional way of boiling the ribs twice, you can do that here too.
Well, I hope you will try making some soon – whether it’s the Instant Pot version or regular.
XOXO ❤
JinJoo
Hi my friend recommended me galbitang and I’d like to try it. However, I don’t have Korean soy sauce. Just normal Chinese one. How much would I add in this case? Thank you!
Korean Galbitang is really best made with Korean soup soy sauce (which you can buy online – or from my Amazon store) but if you really can’t get one, you can try just a little bit of regular soy sauce but mostly salt. Hope you still like it!
This was my first time using the Instant Pot and I used this recipe. It came out really nicely, but I didn’t have the guk jang. I bet it would have made the seasoning taste more authentic like my favorite restaurant version. Instead I used some liquid noodle base and dark soy sauce to sub. Next time, I think I will boil the ribs first for a few min to get the scum out and then rinse and add to the Instant Pot. But overall, great taste and I look forward to trying more of your recipes!
Yes, the Guk Ganjang makes a huge difference – without it, it’s hard to get the Korean flavor. Sure, you can totally boil the ribs first, discard the liquid and boil again if you’d like. I just decided to skip it because many may find it too much work.. since the whole point of using Instant Pot is to make things simple. Thank you for your feedback!
I’m looking forward to making the kalbitang! Thank you.
By the way, where did you find that adorable salt & pepper holder?
You are very welcome. Enjoy!!
I’m assuming Korean soy sauce for soup is labeled as soup base? I will be making this tonite!
Are you asking if ‘korean soy sauce for soup’ = ‘soup base’? If that’s the question, it’s not. They are not the same thing. There’s a separate Korean soy sauce called ‘guk ganjang’ or ‘chosun ganjang’ that’s used to flavor soups. Even though you add a little, Guk Ganjang adds entirely a different flavor to Galbitang. Not something you can achieve with just regular common soy sauce. HOpe that helps. You can read more about it here – https://kimchimari.com/korean-soy-sauce-a-buying-guide/
Do I cook for 30 minutes exactly or just set instant pot to 30. Instant pot set to soup takes about 30 minutes to just preheat, and then the timer starts counting down from 30
Just set Instant Pot to 30 min on Soup function which will take some time to heat up. Good luck!