cheeky recipe: korean tacos

what if bulgogi and pot roast got married and had a baby? i'm pretty sure that marriage would result in these fantastic korean tacos. thanks to pinterest and josie at pink parsley, this will be going into heavy rotation chez cheeky. if tacos aren't your thing, just serve on some sushi rice and soak up every drop of the perfectly sweet and savory sauce!

p.s. did i mention that this recipe is super easy? 


korean beef short rib tacos (recipe adapted from pink parsley)

• 6 1/2 pounds beef short ribs 
• 1 1/2 cups low sodium soy sauce
• 1 1/3 cups packed brown sugar
• 10 cloves garlic
• 2-3 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled
• 6 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons dark sesame oil
• 1-2 teaspoons chili garlic 

cucumber slaw:

• 1 hot house cucumber
• 4 teaspoons rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 pinches of salt
• crushed red pepper flakes to taste

to serve:

• 6-inch flour tortillas (i used egg roll wrappers) 
• fresh cilantro or scallions (i opted for scallions) 
• extra chili garlic or sriracha 

in the bowl of a small food processor, pulse the garlic and ginger until finely chopped (you can do this with a knife or on a microplane as well, but it was really fast and easy in my mini food processor).

add the ribs to the crock pot.  in a medium bowl, whisk together all the ingredients for the cooking liquid. pour over the ribs. 

set the crockpot to low and cook about 8 hours. when ready to serve, remove the bones from the ribs, and shred into bite-sized pieces.

skim the fat off the top of the liquid and add to a small saucepan.  simmer over medium-low heat until thickened and reduced.  pour over the shredded meat and serve.

for the cucumber slaw, slice the cucumber as thinly as possible, using a mandoline if you have one.  in a medium bowl, whisk together the vinegar, sugar, salt, and red pepper flakes.  toss the cucumbers in the mixture and refrigerate until ready to use.

to serve, warm the tortillas and fill with the shredded meat, and top with cucumbers, cilantro or scallions, and sriracha to taste.