Summertime does not make me long for hot dogs and hamburgers and all those emblematic Americana summertime foods. It's not that I don't like them or can't eat my weight in them. It's just that, growing up, that's not what my backyard-grilling experience included. My mom always—always—grilled marinated short ribs, known as kalbi. She cooked them at home on the old gas grill and on those gnarly public-use charcoal grills at the park when we were having a family picnic.

The whole process couldn't be simpler or more delicious. Marinate, grill, serve. I eat my kalbi with kimchi and rice, but they pair with all summer sides: corn on the cob, potato or pasta salad, coleslaw. Maybe they're even better with those sides than burgers and dogs are, because they're sweet and salty and aggressively good, and the bland fattiness of the average American side dish provides a little respite from all the ﬂavor.

Note, however, that these are not fall-off-the-bone tender like some American-style barbecued pork ribs; they are charred hard and fast and have chew and texture. This is why you ask for very thin cross sections of short ribs. Eat them with your hands and gnaw away, appreciating that you've cooked something that doesn't need a bunch of condiments and carbs to make it appealing, something that goes perfectly with ice-cold shitty beer and hot sunny days and the smell of sunscreen—but isn't dogs and burgers again.

So, for what's left of summer, expand your repertoire. Acknowledge that you are now winning at grilling, and try to keep your friends from ﬁnishing the kalbi before you get your ﬁll.

Grilled Korean Short Ribs

Serves 6 to 10

3 to 5 lb. short ribs, cut across the bone into ½-inch slices (easy to find at Asian supermarkets), or substitute hanger steak or flank steak

½ cup soy sauce

¼ cup water

¹/³ cup brown sugar

½ cup apple juice

1 tsp. sesame oil

1 tsp. coarse black pepper

1 medium onion, peeled and thinly sliced

1 bunch scallions, roughly chopped

6 garlic cloves, peeled and minced

1 small chunk of ginger, peeled and minced

A minimum of 3 hours before grilling, combine the marinade ingredients. Pour over the short ribs and mix well. Cover and refrigerate, mixing again halfway through. Without wiping off the marinade, place the meat on a hot grill. Cook 2 minutes per side or until charred and well browned. Stack on a platter and serve immediately.