Sticky Asian Style Short Ribs

It started out to be such a simple recipe when my wife spotted in a magazine.  It sounded tasty enough so we clipped the article and kept it for reference.  Oddly when I went to actually make it I discovered it called for an ingredient I have never ever seen...pre-cooked beef short ribs.  WTH...with gas over $4/gallon and rising I wasn't about to take off chasing down that ingredient when I had a nice package of Costco boneless beef short ribs ready to go at the house.

So...I next took a look at the "sticky glaze" recipe, saw where it could be improved and used that as the basis for the braise for the short ribs.  Same flavor profile as the glaze was put into the braising liquid and voila...I had my own "pre-cooked" ribs all set to go for the rest of the recipe.

The sticky glazed ribs I also changed up the recipe enough to call it my own.  Let's face it garlic is usually a key component in Asian style cooking and just couldn't make this without adding that wonderful garlicky heat to the glaze and braising liquid.

Speaking of the braise a little tip for you when it comes to the zest of the orange.  Use a vegetable peeler to avoid getting any of the pith in the braise.  It will keep that bitter element out and make it possible to pull out the ribs when done without any extra zest sticking to the ribs making it too "orangey".

Party planning. Yup this would be great for a party.  Cook through the braising and simply put them on a sheet pan until you are ready to glaze and bake off to warm them.  Saves you kitchen time when you should be entertaining your guests.

These are really, really tasty ribs once you are done.  Serve over rice cooked in broth for a bit more flavor, add in some steamed snow peas and you have a meal!

Sticky Asian Style Short Ribs
4 lbs boneless beef short ribs
pepper to taste
2 T vegetable oil
1 T sesame oil
1 onion sliced.
Braising liquid
4 c water
4 t better than bouillon beef flavor
6 cloves garlic
zest of one orange
juice of two oranges.
1/4 c soy sauce
1 T fish sauce
Sticky Glaze
1/3 c orange marmalade
1/3 c hoisson sauce
1 glove garlic minced on microplane
1 1/2 t fresh ginger minced on microplane
1 T soy sauce


Preheat oven to 325F.
In large braising pan heat oils over medium high heat.  Pepper the beef to taste.  Sear all sides until deep golden brown.  Remove beef and add onion cooking until translucent.  Add water and deglaze bottom of pan.  Add braising liquid ingredients.  Return beef to pan.  Cover and bake 1 1/2 hours until fork tender.


Prepare glaze by adding all ingredients to a small bowl and whisk until well blended.


Remove short ribs from braising liquid, discard the liquid.  Place ribs on sheet pan.  Increase oven to 350F.
Brush on glaze to the short ribs.  Bake in oven 15 minutes.  Serve hot with Rice.

Beer Braised Beef Short Ribs

Meat eaters have their place in the food chain too. I love my red meat in moderation. The other morning when asked what to make for dinner that night the overwhelming response was meat. So I grabbed a pack of boneless short ribs I had in the freezer and proceeded to thaw for use that night.

Beer Braised Short Ribs is stupid easy with barely a hand full of ingredients and a couple of easy steps to get dinner going. Braising is the secret to getting an inexpensive and tough cut of beef "fork tender"by cooking it long, low and slow. The added bonus is when you braise is that there is enough liquid that stirring and scorching isn't much of a concern so its low maintenance once its in the oven.

Beer Braised Beef Short Ribs

4-5 lbs boneless beef short ribs

1 bottle beer

1 can beef broth

3 bay leaves.

1 c flour

4T Montreal Steak Seasoning blend

4 strips bacon.

1 large onion

2 medium carrots sliced

2 T garlic minced (or less to taste)

EVOO

In large dutch oven of similar cooking pot add just enough EVOO to cover the bottom of the pan and add the bacon strips. Cook until crispy. Remove bacon and set aside.

Mix flour and steak seasoning blend. Increase heat in dutch oven to medium-high. Dredge short ribs in flour and add to hot pan. Sear all sides, 3-5 minutes per side. Cook in batches so you do not crowd pan.

When short ribs are all browned let them rest on a platter and add onions and carrots to the pan. Stir constantly and scrape up browned bits from the bottom of the pan. When onions are translucent and starting to caramelize add garlic and cook 1 minute longer, stir constantly so as to not burn the garlic. Add bottle of beer and scrape up all remaining bits from bottom of pan.

Arrange short ribs over the browned vegies. Wedge bay leaves in between the short ribs. Add enough beef broth to bring the liquid to just below the top of the meat. (See photo).

Cover and bake in 325F oven for 2 hours. Serve hot with mashed potato or similar on the side using the braising liquid as a "gravy".

The liquid in a braise should just come to the top of the meat. Covering the meat with the liquid would be stewing and yields a similar but not the same result as a braise.
Cooking the short ribs in batches ensures a good sear to the meat. Overcrowding a pan winds up "steaming" the meat in its own juices and does not yield good color. To quote Tyler Florence, "color is flavor and you don't want to lose it".