Red-Cooked Beef Short Ribs
Published May 16, 2021
- Total Time
- 4½ hours
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
Advertisement
Ingredients
- 2tablespoons neutral oil, like canola
- 5pounds bone-in short ribs, at least 1½ inches thick
- 1(3-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and cut into thick slices
- 2cinnamon sticks
- 8dried Chinese chiles
- 4pieces dried orange peel (or fresh orange peel with no pith, well toasted)
- 3tablespoons Sichuan peppercorns, toasted, then crushed or ground (about 2 tablespoons)
- 2tablespoons whole black peppercorns
- 2whole star anise
- 1cup Shaoxing rice wine
- 1½cups low-sodium soy sauce
- ½cup dark soy sauce
- 1packed cup light or dark brown sugar
- 1tablespoon molasses
- 3cups chicken stock
- 3cups braising liquid from the ribs
- 2medium white onions, peeled and thinly sliced
- ¼cup tomato paste
- ¼cup doubanjiang
- ⅓cup low-sodium soy sauce
- ½cup Shaoxing rice wine
- 1(1-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and cut into thick slices
- 5garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- 1teaspoon five-spice powder
- 3tablespoons cornstarch
- Bibb lettuce leaves
- Thai basil, chopped cilantro and sliced scallions
- Sliced cucumbers
- Cooked white rice
For the Ribs
For the Sauce
For Serving
Opt out or contact us anytime. See our Privacy Policy.
Opt out or contact us anytime. See our Privacy Policy.
Preparation
- Step 1
Heat oven to 300 degrees. Prepare the ribs: Heat oil in a large lidded Dutch oven over medium-high. Working in batches, sear short ribs on all sides until deeply and evenly browned, about 10 minutes per batch. Transfer browned short ribs to a large plate, and continue with remaining ribs.
- Step 2
Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of remaining fat, leaving the good browned bits behind. Reduce heat to medium. Add ginger, cinnamon, chiles, orange peel, Sichuan peppercorns, black peppercorns and star anise, and stir to get them coated in the fat. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the ginger has started to soften.
- Step 3
Add the rice wine, soy sauces, sugar and molasses, then the chicken stock, and stir to combine. Using tongs, return short ribs to the pot, along with any juices that have accumulated, nestling them into the braising liquid bone-side up, so the meat is submerged. Bring to a simmer, then cover and transfer to oven.
- Step 4
Cook, undisturbed, until short ribs are meltingly tender and falling off the bone (you should be able to shred the meat with a fork), 3½ to 4 hours.
- Step 5
Using tongs, remove the ribs from the pot and put them on a warm platter. Wrap tightly with aluminum foil and a couple of dish towels to keep them warm while you make the sauce.
- Step 6
Prepare the sauce: Strain 3 cups of the braising liquid from the Dutch oven into another pot, discarding remaining braising liquid and solids. Set it over medium-high heat, and add the onions, tomato paste, doubanjiang, soy sauce, rice wine, ginger, garlic and five-spice powder; stir to combine. Bring to a boil, then cook, undisturbed, for 15 minutes, until reduced and thickened.
- Step 7
Strain the sauce through a colander back into the Dutch oven you used to cook the ribs, and place the pot over medium-high heat. Make a slurry of the cornstarch and 3 tablespoons water, then whisk it into the sauce to thicken, 1 to 2 minutes. You’re looking for something thick and glossy, like a demi-glace.
- Step 8
Unwrap the ribs, daub them liberally with the sauce and serve with Bibb lettuce leaves, Thai basil, cilantro, scallions, cucumbers, rice and the remaining sauce.
Private Notes
Comments
Can you do this in an InstantPot? I use mine for other short rib dishes.
What do you folks think about doing this with a chuck roast, or maybe pork ribs? Beef short ribs are both hard to find and very expensive in our area.
The picture shows five short ribs. Since the recipe says to buy five pounds, are those ribs a pound each? If so, should I assume, then, that the ribs I buy will shrink to that size? (They usually come at least twice that long.) Or should I have the butcher cut the ribs to, say, two-inch sizes?
This was delicious. I made a couple of substitutions, but stayed as close to the recipe as I could. For one, I used ground cinnamon and I don't recommend that. It was still good, but a little too strong on the cinnamon vs. using cinnamon sticks. I also used shallots instead of white onion, which I highly recommend. I ended up straining them from the sauce and saving them to put into fried rice with the leftover short ribs. So good!
We refer to this dish as “the best thing we’ve ever made.” For us, it requires a special trip to the Asian market but it’s well worth it. We have made it with short ribs and modified to make it with a chuck roast as well. We like it over noodles with steamed bok choy and rice vinegar over cucumbers.
@Rebecca—yum! What size roast, how long did you cook it? That sounds better than short ribs to me!
How does it work making these ahead? Do you reheat the short ribs in the braising liquid then strain the liquid for the sauce?
Advertisement