Korean beef stew, or galbi jjim, is made with beef and vegetables cooked in a savory-sweet sauce.
Using an Instant Pot or electric pressure cooker makes it much easier and faster.
Serve it with rice so you can spoon the sauce over everything.
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Ingredients You'll Need
Notes and Substitutions
- Beef: I used a combination of bone-in short ribs and chuck roast. You can also use boneless beef shank or brisket.
- Rice wine: I used Shaoxing wine, but other rice wines, dry sherry, or red or white wine also work. It adds more flavor to the sauce, but you can skip it if you prefer not to use alcohol.
- Gochujang: A Korean red chili paste made with red chilies and fermented soybeans. It adds a slightly sweet and mildly spicy flavor to the sauce. Sriracha can be used as a substitute.
- Asian pear: Often used in Korean marinades, Asian pear helps tenderize the beef and adds natural sweetness. Apple works as a substitute.
How to Make Korean Beef Stew (Step-by-Step)
Step 1: Prepare the beef
Trim excess fat from 2 pounds short ribs and 3 pounds chuck roast.
Cut the chuck into large chunks so it cooks around the same time as the short ribs.
Season with salt and pepper, then lightly coat with flour.
Step 2: Sear the beef
Set the Instant Pot to Sauté.
Add a little oil and sear the beef in batches until browned. Transfer to a plate.
Step 3: Make the sauce
Sauté a 1-inch piece of ginger (minced), 1 onion (chopped), and 1 head garlic (minced) for about a minute, until softened.
Add ½ cup rice wine, ½ cup soy sauce, 1 pear (grated), 2 tablespoons gochujang, ¼ cup sugar, and 1 cup water.
Stir everything together and bring it to a boil.
Step 4: Pressure cook the beef
Add the beef back to the Instant Pot.
Cover and cook on High Pressure for 30 minutes.
Once cooked, skim off the fat that floats on top.
Taste the sauce and add more soy sauce or sugar, if needed.
Some soy sauce brands are saltier than others.
Step 5: Add the vegetables
Add:
- 8-10 shiitake mushrooms (soaked)
- 1 medium carrot (cut into chunks)
- 1 medium daikon radish (cut into chunks)
- 3 stalks scallions (cut into sections)
Cover and cook on High Pressure for 5 minutes.
If you want the vegetables firmer, you can also use the Sauté function instead for 10 to 15 minutes.
Add ground pepper and sesame seeds, if you like. Turn off the heat.
Optional: You can add cheese before serving, if you like.
Cooking Tips
- Cut the chuck roast into large chunks so it cooks evenly with the short ribs.
- Sear the beef in batches so it browns properly.
- Skim excess fat after pressure cooking for a cleaner sauce.
- Cut the carrots and radish into large pieces so they don't get too soft.
- Taste the sauce since some soy sauces are saltier than others.
Recipe FAQs
Korean beef stew is a dish made with beef and vegetables cooked in a savory-sweet sauce with soy sauce, garlic, ginger, and pear.
This recipe is inspired by galbi-jjim, a Korean braised short rib dish traditionally cooked low and slow until tender.
Short ribs, chuck roast, beef shank, or brisket work well.
Apple works well as a substitute for Asian pear.
More Filipino Braises and Stews
- Caldereta: Beef or chicken stew with liver spread in tomato sauce.
- Kare-kare: Peanut stew with beef or oxtail, served with bagoong.
- Asado: Pork or beef braised in a sweet-savory sauce with star anise.
- Menudo: Pork and liver stew with vegetables in tomato sauce.
- Picadillo: Ground beef or pork with potatoes and carrots in tomato sauce.
- Guisantes: Pork and green peas cooked in tomato sauce.
- Pork adobo: Pork braised in soy sauce, vinegar, and garlic.
Beef Recipes You May Like
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📖 Recipe
Instant Pot Korean Beef Stew
Equipment
- Instant Pot or electric pressure cooker
Ingredients
- 2 pounds bone-in beef short ribs
- 3 pounds beef chuck cut into large chunks
- ⅓ cup flour
- 1-inch piece ginger minced
- 1 onion chopped
- 1 head garlic minced
- ½ cup rice wine
- ½ cup soy sauce
- 1 Asian pear (or apple) grated
- 2 tablespoons gochujang
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 8 to 10 dried shiitake mushrooms (soaked in water) cut in half, if big
- 1 medium carrot cut into chunks
- 1 medium daikon radish cut into chunks
- 3 scallions cut into sections
- Sesame seeds (optional)
- Cheese (e.g., cheddar, raclette, or gruyere) (optional)
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Trim excess fat from the beef. Season with salt and pepper, then lightly coat with flour.
- Using the Sauté function, heat oil and sear the beef in batches until browned. Transfer to a plate.
- Sauté the ginger, onion, and garlic. Add the rice wine, soy sauce, pear, gochujang, sugar, and water. Stir to combine.
- Add the beef back in. Cover and pressure cook on High for 30 minutes. Skim off excess fat, if needed.
- Add the mushrooms, carrots, daikon radish, and scallions. Cover and pressure cook on High for 5 minutes.
- Add ground pepper, sesame seeds, and cheese (if desired). Serve with rice.
Notes
- Beef: I used bone-in short ribs and chuck roast. You can also use beef shank or brisket.
- Rice wine: I used Shaoxing wine, but other rice wines, dry sherry, or wine also work. You can skip it if needed.
- Gochujang: A Korean red chili paste made with red chilies and fermented soybeans. It adds a slightly sweet and mildly spicy flavor. Sriracha can be used as a substitute.
- Asian pear: Helps tenderize the beef and adds natural sweetness. Apple works as a substitute.
- Cut the chuck into large chunks so it cooks evenly with the short ribs.
- Sear the beef in batches so it browns well.
- Cut the carrots and radish into large pieces so they don't get mushy.
- Skim off excess fat after pressure cooking.
- Taste before serving; some soy sauces are saltier than others.
Cara says
Hi, I have a question about the alcohol in this recipe. When you mean rice wine, do you mean it should be sweet like mirin or more like sake?
Nora Reyes says
Hi Cara, I specifically used Shaoxing wine, a type of Chinese cooking wine. You can use sake as an alternative; just note that it has a higher alcohol content. I didn't use mirin because it's much sweeter and has a lower alcohol content. If you decide to use mirin, you may want to reduce the sugar in the recipe. Hope this clarifies your question! Thanks!😊
Gina says
I'm always so busy so I love meals I can just throw in the pressure cooker and it does all the work while i get to do other things. This will definitely be one of my family's weekly staples, they loved it! The beef was so tender and packed full of rich flavor!
Nora Reyes says
Hi Gina, That's amazing! Thank you for trying it out and so glad you liked it!
Norma says
Omg! This looks so delish! And easy! It’s time to put my pressure cooker to test. Haha. Thank you for the recipe and looking forward to making this!
Nora Rey says
Hello!!! Yes to both delish and easy! It's great that you are using your pressure cooker, as it will cut down on cooking time by a whole lot. I hope you enjoy it!
Ria McConnell says
hi, just want you to know a friend of mine sent me a link to your korean beef stew and it was a total hit. wanted to thank you for that, i think it's been more than a year already but i forgot to write a review about it here. i didnt have gojuchang so i just used Sriracha but it went well anyways. I was wondering if this recipe will also taste as good with Pork ?
Nora Rey says
Hello Ria, I appreciate you taking the time to send me a message. I am happy you enjoyed the stew. =) Pork has a milder flavor than beef, but with so much flavor going on in the stew, I imagine it would work just as well. It will also take less time to cook than beef. You can use pork spareribs which are usually fattier and juicier than other pork ribs.
Jomelyn says
Wow, it looks very delicious. I am a fan of Korean foods and beef stew so this will be on my menu this week. I appreciate your easy-to-make and tasty recipes, Nora.
Nora Rey says
Thank YOU, Jomelyn. I hope you like it. =)