Galbitang갈비탕

Galbitang (갈비탕) is a soup of beef short ribs cut into chunks and simmered for a long time, once also called garitang. The first records of it appear in royal banquet menus from the 1890s, though Koreans are thought to have been eating short ribs since the late Goryeo period. The ribs were simmered in plain water until the meat fell off the bone, then seasoned with soy sauce, or ladled out with the broth and finished with chopped green onion and salt. Its prized quality is a broth that carries the full flavor of the bones yet stays clear, setting it apart from other clear soups.

Many Koreans associate galbitang with wedding receptions, but it used to be quite a luxury, because short ribs were, and still are, hard to come by and expensive. When a family managed to get a few ribs, they would carefully cook galbitang for elderly parents or for a son home on leave from military service, and on a special night out it was the dish that let you gnaw on meat and leave truly full. At some point it became an affordable everyday lunch for office workers, and today there are many variations, from ugeoji galbitang with dried cabbage leaves to galnaktang, which adds octopus.