Sticky Asian Short Ribs
SMLXL
Sticky. Ribs. There are few other two word phrases that can evoke a mouth watering response. Ribs= delicious. Sweet, salty and sticky ribs= phenomenal. These sticky Asian ribs are deceptively simple. They are slow cooked and more or less involve combining soy, ginger, lemongrass, brown sugar and garlic in a bowl. Simple and flavorful, isn't that what we want in a week night dish? I know I do! Layers of flavor simply by combing minimal ingredients? Sign me up! I wish you could have smelled my house while I was cooking these! My friend stopped by to grab something and commented on how good my house smelled. I gave her a bite which was met with "Oh my gawd. That is so good. It is like fall off the bone tender." In fact, all of my meat had separated from the bone by the time I tried to take this picture. SO it quite literally was falling off the bone. Tender and flavorful and simply amazing. And honestly, there is not much prep work or culinary skill needed to make this dish. It is practically perfect. Kinda like Marry Poppins. But tastier. Truth be told, I don't know that for fact. I have never tried to consume Marry Poppins. I am running purely off an assumption here. But I am guessing it is a pretty safe one.
You could serve these with a variety of accompaniments. Here they are pictures with white rice that has been seasoned with rice wine vinegar, salt and sugar. I also sauteed some baby bok choy (not pictured) and it was a great pairing. Pickled cucumbers with add a great freshness. It is up to you. I am going to help you out with the short rib recipe here. But the rest is up to you. You are a strong, confident adult, Believe in your ability to make these decisions. Okay, moving on...
Also, I used my Dutch Oven, because well, I love it. It gives me the ability to have the direct sear on the meat (which gives it that beautiful brown caramelization). But I can also put it in my oven and cook low and slow for hours. If you do not have a Dutch Oven, you could use a crock pot. But I seriously would get one. It is one of the most used and most versatile items in my kitchen. You know, besides the wine opener.
Ingredients/Instructions:
4 lbs Flanken Style Beef Short Ribs (These are cut across the bone. You can get English Style Beef Short Ribs, but I would add an hour or so to your cook time.)
1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil
1/4-1/2 cup flour for dusting
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
3/4 cup soy sauce
2 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp ginger paste
2 tbsp garlic paste
1 tbsp lemongrass paste
1-2 tsp red pepper flakes
white sesame seeds, garnish
cilantro, garnish
1. Lightly dust your short ribs with flour on both sides.
2. Cut each piece in between the bones (3-4 pieces per strip)
3. Heat up the bottom of the Dutch Oven on your stove top and add the oil, it should sizzle a little.
4. Add the pieces of coated short ribs to the Dutch Oven and brown on both sides (3-4 minutes per side). You do not need to worry about cooking them all the way, we will do that later. But meat just tastes better when it is browned. I had to do this in batches since all of them do not fit in there at one time.
5. As you are searing your meat, whisk the other ingredients together in a bowl.
6. Once everything is mixed together make sure that you return all of the short ribs to the Dutch Oven and give it a good stir so that everything is coated.
7. Cover with the lid and bake in the oven at 275 for 5-6 hours.
8. The bone in ribs are more tender and tastier. They also have more fat. When they are done cooking you may have to skim some of the fat off. I typically use a Pho spoon (but you can really use whatever. The fat will rise to the top which will make it easy to spot. Skim as much as you can off. There was still a little left in mine, so don't worry if you don't get it all.
9. My sauce was pretty much at the sticky point, but I wanted to burn a little bit more moisture out of it. If this is the case for you, return it to the stove top and cook and cook it on a medium-low heat with the lid off. This will cook out some of the moisture. Be careful not to burn it with high heat, sugar burns easily. So stir it and keep an eye on it.
Serve with the side of your choice and as always...
...Enjoy
