My dad and I prefer to collaborate over truffles and trifles than roast or risotto. That’s why our little blog is called Baking Genes:) Quality control is so much more fun when lots of butter and sugar are involved… not to mention chocolate!
But from time to time, I get the urge to experiment with savory dishes. This particular recipe has been well-received on multiple (exactly 3) occasions and I am proud to share it with you. Here, I present my Korean braised short ribs.
Preparing meat is intimidating to me. While I can always tell when a cake is ready to come out of the oven, I worry if my chicken will be raw in the middle or if my steak will end up chewy. Luckily, these short ribs are almost impossible to mess up.
Your braising pot/Dutch oven and oven do all of the work for you! After a three hour slow cooking process, your short ribs will be perfectly buttery and falling-off-the-bone tender every time. And, as if it couldn’t get any easier, short ribs taste even better the next day. You can make them in advance and reheat or just enjoy some scrumptious leftovers!
The first time I made this dish, I had never tasted a short rib. I don’t even think I knew what animal they came from. (It turns out short ribs are beef and spare ribs are pork. Who knew?) This is probably because I’m far from a carnivore. I was a vegetarian for 8 years and only started eating meat a few years ago while studying abroad in China. Since then, I’ve been a very sporadic meat eater and an even more sporadic meat cooker.
I honestly can’t tell you what compelled me to prepare a spicy meat lover’s dream dish. Well, actually, I can. Let’s just say it was Valentine’s Day, and my ex-boyfriend happened to be one of those spicy meat lovers. But as they say, everything happens for a reason – this recipe turned me into a short rib super fan.
The second time around, I made these short ribs for my anatomy lab mates. Anatomy lab was by far my favorite part of the first year of med school, and I was lucky to be placed with 3 wonderful classmates. Without going into too much detail on a food blog, I found anatomy lab to be challenging, meaningful, and incredible.
It was quite the bonding experience, and dinner with these short ribs helped us to bond even more. Over a year later, my friends still rave about them. That’s because these short ribs are pretty darn tasty. (Or maybe we’re just silly med students deprived of delicious food.)
Last week, my short ribs made their third appearance at an apartment potluck. Once again, they were a hit! It’s seriously so hard to mess these guys up, and they are always a crowd pleaser.
I adore eating and making all varieties of Asian food. And while I have more practice cooking with Chinese flavors, the Korean hot pepper paste called gochujang is one of my absolute favorite ingredients. I know everyone is on the Sriracha train, but gochujang can definitely give the rooster sauce a run for its money.
After being covered with a nice sear to lock in the flavor and braising in the dutch oven for 3 hours, these babies are so incredibly tender and juicy. I also add in quite a bit of the gochujang because I like them spicy!
Korean Braised Short Ribs
- 4 pounds bone-in beef short ribs
- 1 medium white onion, roughly diced
- 2 scallions, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1.5 inch knob of garlic, minced
- 3 celery stalks, diced
- 3 carrots, diced
- 2-3 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar
- 3-4 Tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 Tablespoon sesame oil
- 3 hearty scoops of Gochujang (amount is up to your personal preference)
- 4 cups beef broth
Heat a large Dutch oven over high heat for 3 minutes. Pour in a couple tablespoons of olive olive, and place the short ribs in the pan. Sear them until they are nicely browned on all of the meaty sides. You’ll probably have to sear your meat in batches; make sure you don’t overcrowd the pan. After they’ve developed some nice color, transfer them to a plate to rest. Preheat your oven to 425 F.
Turn the heat down to medium. Add the onion, scallion, ginger, and garlic; saute until the onion starts to turn translucent. Add a pinch of salt to season as you go. Next, add in the carrot and celery. Put the lid on the Dutch oven to allow the vegetables to sweat for about 12 minutes, stirring every 4 minutes or so. Add in the rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, and gochujang.
Arrange ribs in the pot. It’s easiest to fit them all in there if you place the ribs with the bones standing up and push the veggies off to the sides. Pour in enough stock to almost cover the ribs. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and cover with the lid. Braise in the oven for about 3 hours.
Finally, they are ready for you to enjoy:)
If you would like to make these a day ahead, you can let them cool on the counter and place in the fridge. The next day, you can easily remove the fat from the pot, as it will have solidified on top. Reheat on the stove or in an oven, and you’re all set!