Galbi (), kalbi, galbi-gui The dish may be marinated in a sweet and savory sauce usually containing soy sauce, garlic, and sugar. Both non-marinated and marinated galbi are often featured in Korean barbecue. In Japan, this and many other dishes in Korean barbecue influenced yakiniku, a fusion cuisine that often makes use of galbi (glossed as karubi).
Preparation
Cuts
thumb|LA galbi
thumb|Unmarinated saeng-galbi and marinated yangnyeom-galbi made of [[hanu (Korean native cattle) beef]]
Traditionally, galbi is cut to expose one smooth bone along the short edge with the meat uniformly filleted in flat layers.
LA galbi
Galbi can be made using a flanken cut, which features cut bones peeking out along the long edge. This style is called "LA galbi". The method accommodates thinner rib-eye cuts from whole rack ribs preferred by American butchers.
The specific style of cut emerged some time in the late 20th century. It is widely believed to have been innovated by the Koreans who immigrated to the US during the 1960s–1980s, a period of mass migration of Korean immigrants into Koreatown, Los Angeles, hence the name of the dish, LA Galbi. The flanken cut is not the traditional style in Korea; and the difficulty in attaining the traditional cut of meat meant the immigrants who owned Korean supermarkets and restaurants had to work with the whole rack ribs the American butchers preferred. The Korean butchers began to cut the whole rack into thin vertical strips, as the traditional galbi is also thinly sliced to allow the marinade to penetrate the meat. The popularity spread through church gatherings, restaurants and into the wider Los Angeles area, and today is a popular cut most commonly available in Korean supermarkets across the US.
One theory, evaluated in an article in the Encyclopedia of Korean Culture as the most plausible, is that the cut was invented by Korean Americans in Los Angeles in the late 20th century. Meat cut in this fashion was considered affordable and allowed for quicker penetration of the marinade. Hence the cut was then imported back to South Korea. Today they enjoy two distinct cuts of Galbi. As pork ribs are smaller, marinated dwaeji-galbi often consists of pork ribs mixed with shoulder meats.
Beef
Softer cuts of beef, such as from a cow or heifer, are preferred when grilling galbi. Properly grilled, the dish is a glossy, dark-reddish brown with a smoky, sweet taste. Cheongju (rice wine) is usually used in both types of marinade to remove any undesired porky smell.
If used, pork shoulder meat is carved into thicker slices of around in width. Deeper cuts are made when scoring the surface to allow the marinade to penetrate the meat. then wrapped inside lettuce leaves, kkaennip (perilla frutescens), or other leafy vegetables. These made-on-the-spot leaf wraps, called ssam, usually include a piece of grilled meat, ssamjang, raw or grilled garlic, and a sauce made of doenjang (soybean paste) and gochujang (chili paste).