I’m really into soups… I find soups light and filling at the same time (Well, my kind of soups are always filling). Originally, I wanted to just make fuzzy squash “mo qua” soup with the ginormous fuzzy squash my parents gave me, that they grew from their backyard. But knowing me, I know that only fuzzy squash soup alone will definitely not fill me up. I had beef short ribs at home, so I re-created my very own Galbitang, by replacing the Korean radish or “daikon” with fuzzy squash. It was delicious! I actually enjoy it more with the fuzzy squash than with the Korean radish.

Ingredients: [4-6 servings]

•  1 pack beef short ribs
• 1 large fuzzy squash or wintermelon or Korean radish “daikon”
• 1 onion
• 12 cups water
• 4 cloves minced garlic
• 4 green onions, chopped
• salt and black pepper to taste
• 3 egg yolks (optional for gyerannoreunjajidan)
• chili pepper (optional)

Instructions:

1. Blanch the beef short ribs in a large pot of boiling water for 10 minutes then rinse the ribs in cold water.

2. Place the clean ribs back into a clean large pot and add the onion and 12 cups of water. Bring to a boil over medium heat for 1 hour, then lower the heat to low and cook for another hour.

3. Peel and chop the fuzzy squash into cubes.

4. After 2 hours, add the chopped fuzzy squash and minced garlic and cook for another 10 minutes. Add salt and black pepper to taste.

5. Separate the egg yolks from the whites by pouring each yolk from one shell to the other over a bowl and slowly allowing the white to slip to the bowl. Add a pinch of salt to the yolks and mix.

6. Add 1 teaspoon of olive oil to a heated nonstick pan and swirl the oil all around so the entire pan is covered in oil and then wipe the oil off with paper towel so that only a thin layer remains on the pan.

7. On low heat, pour the egg yolk mixture onto the pan and tilt it so it spreads thinly. Turn off the heat and let it cook for 1 minute then flip it over and let it sit on the pan for 1 more minute.

8. Slice it into thin strips and set aside.

That’s it! Scoop some beef ribs, fuzzy squash, and soup onto a bowl and garnish the egg strips on top. You can even add starch noodles to this recipe as well or some chili peppers if you like spicy. I was too lazy and wanted to dig it so I passed.

I really hope you give my recreation of the Galbitang recipe a try and let me know how it goes! The beef short ribs are super tender and falls off the bones since its been cooked for 2 hours! The beef just goes amazingly well with the fuzzy squash.