The Chef Show Season 1, Episode 5: David Chang Review

Roy’s Kalbi

Next up is Kalbi, the Korean barbecue beef short-ribs. Choi’s marinade includes a lot of delicious ingredients—mirin, garlic, orange juice, green onion, among others—and tastes brilliant. Chang is surprised by the addition of the orange juice—the fruit juices used by most Koreans he knows are kiwi, pineapple, or the traditional Asian pear. But Choi was inspired by the Mexican influence in his hometown of Los Angeles, and that’s really where the orange juice came from. The resulting kalbi is tender, cooks beautifully, and tastes delicious.

Braised Kalbi Stew

With the kalbi done, Choi turns to making another marinade, using apple and orange juice, in which he adds gorgeous pieces of short rib. It boils for two hours and tastes absolutely wonderful. This is the kind of stew that you have on special occasions because beef is considered expensive by most Koreans. In fact, most Korean food doesn’t have beef, explain Chang and Choi. The country is very mountainous so cattle is scarce.

A few more vegetables are added to the stew and once it is completed, it is ready to be served with rice. Three very happy cooks tuck in.

Tips for Home Cooks:

• To decrease the intensity of the spice levels of jalapenos, remove the seeds entirely.
• The major difference between home cooking and professional cooking is that chefs season the ingredients every step of the way. That’s a lot of salt for a home cook, though!
• To get a good crust on your pork, you need to roast it at a low heat until the last 20 minutes of cooking time, at which point, you turn the heat up very high.
• Steep your meat overnight in plain water to clean it of all impurities.

Final Thoughts

This was one of the most meaningful episodes of The Chef Show yet. As Favreau astutely mentions, culture lives through food and seeing the chefs make dishes that they loved, or disliked, in their childhood was fascinating.

Food is a communal thing—it’s best enjoyed with friends and family, and this episode highlights why that can be so special, and alienating, especially for immigrants who often struggle to find their place in the countries they inhabit. A fantastic watch and a great way to kick off the second half of the season.

The Chef Show is streaming on Netflix internationally.