It’s not quite Seollal yet (lunar new year) but if you wanted to turn it into an occasion how about making this?
These braised short ribs are in a deliciously savoury, sweet, soy sauce, with tons of garlic and traditionally serves on special occasions such as new year or autumn festival (chuseok).
It is super simple to make and if you get your hands on some short ribs, I’d highly recommend making this as it turns the meat into a tender, flavourful mouthful that will slightly coat your lips with fat, the feeling I hope you love as much as me 😂
The co-star of this dish is the potato, it soaks up the delicious sauce and breaks apart like the most intense mashed potato ever. It really does feel like an occasion when you eat it.

Serve it with some fluffy rice and kimchi to give your palette a little cleanse between mouthfuls and celebrate lunar new year in style!
Recipe for 4:
1kg short ribs
Sauce:
1 large onion cut into quarters
6 cloves of garlic
1 tsp minced ginger
60ml soju, mirin or vodka
120ml soy sauce
120ml water
50g sugar
1 tbs sesame oil
Sprinkle of sesame seeds
Pinch of pepper
3 shiitake mushrooms sliced
2 large carrots cut into chunks
4 potatoes cut into halves
Remove excess fat from the short ribs and boil in water for 10 mins. Drain the short ribs and clean with water. This gets rid of things like blood and bone fragments. Set aside.
Blend onion, garlic and apple until smooth, add a bit of water to get it going. Mix this with soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil and mirin, add some pepper.
Add clean short ribs and marinade for 20 mins.
Prep your veg. It’s traditional to cut the carrot chunks into roundish balls for this dish but it’s optional!
Now add the meat and sauce and shiitake mushrooms in a clean pot and bring to boil. Simmer on low for an hour.
I tend to skim off fat while it’s cooking, making it less fatty but that’s optional.
After an hour you can remove the bones and cut the meat into bite sized chunks and return to the pot. Add the carrots and potatoes to the pot and cook for another hour, until the meat is super tender but the potatoes aren’t falling apart. Sprinkle with some sesame seeds and serve with sticky rice.