I love ordering braised short ribs at restaurants. And luckily for me, many of the top restaurants around San Diego have short ribs on the menu:
Cucina Urbana – Short rib pappardelle
Banker’s Hill Bar & Restaurant – Braised all natural beef short ribs
Burlap – Local beer braised short ribs, crispy sweet onion & jager reduction
Nine-Ten – Port wine braised beef short ribs
Bo-Beau – Braised short ribs with horseradish smashed potatoes and chives
Several weeks ago I found myself wondering why I had not yet tried to make short ribs at home. The process of braising is easy enough. Simply put, braising is when you cook food in liquid low and slow (low temperature, slow cooking time). After seeing this recipe for Ginger Glazed Short Ribs in the Times, I knew I had to make it. First, I heart ginger (uhhh, obvay). Second, I thought it would be fun to try to recreate a restaurant experience that I love at home. Braised in a mixture of red wine, red wine vinegar and chicken stock, these short ribs are flavored with a tantalizing array of ingredients including garlic, shiitakes, ginger, allspice, cinnamon and konbu. Major depth of flavor. Umami to the max. This dish may not come together in a snap, but its preparations and process couldn’t be easier. Continue reading for the recipe.
Fork tender and packed with flavor. Braised short ribs are certainly delicious to order at a restaurant but you can just as easily make them at home.
PS. This was one of the four recipes featured at my recent west elm demonstration.
Ginger Glazed Short Ribs
Ingredients
- 3 cups dry red wine (like cab or merlot)
- 7 to 8 pounds bone-in beef short ribs, cut into individual ribs
- Kosher salt
- 2 whole heads garlic, excess outer paper removed, cut in half horizontally
- 5 large fresh shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and halved
- 2 medium yellow onions, peeled and quartered
- 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
- 1 celery stalk, chopped
- 1 (4 inch) knob fresh ginger, peeled and sliced into thin coins
- 12 allspice berries, lightly crushed
- 1 cinnamon stick, snapped in half
- 12 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 sheet konbu*
- 6 cups low-sodium chicken stock
- 6 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Instructions
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Preheat an oven to 325°F.
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In a medium saucepan, bring red wine to a boil over high heat. Cook until reduced to 1/2 cup of liquid. Transfer to a large bowl and set aside to cool.
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Season short ribs liberally with kosher salt on all sides. Place seasoned ribs in a large roasting pan (mine was a 15" pan), bone facing up. Scatter the halved garlic, shiitakes, onions, carrots, celery, ginger, crushed allspice, snapped cinnamon, and thyme sprigs over the ribs. Snap the konbu into smaller pieces and add to the pan.
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To the cooled, reduced red wine, add chicken stock and red wine vinegar, stirring to combine. Pour mixture over the the ribs. The liquid should come about 2/3 - 3/4 of the way up the sides of the meat. Cover the pan tightly with several layers of foil. Transfer to the oven and cook until the meat is fork tender (can easily be broken apart by a fork, 3 1/2 to 4 hours).
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Take the ribs from the oven and carefully remove the foil. Let cool for several minutes. Using tongs, pull the ribs from the liquid and place in a separate bowl. Pour liquid through a fine mesh basket strainer into a large bowl. Discard solids.
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Let the liquid settle then skim the fat off the top. To make this task easier, I let the liquid cool a bit then placed it in the freezer. The fat quickly congealed on top and I skimmed off with a spoon. You should have about a quart of liquid remaining.
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To glaze the ribs, preheat an oven to 375°F. While the oven is preheating, bring the strained liquid to a boil in a medium saucepan. Place the ribs in a roasting pan in an even layer. Pour the hot liquid over the ribs then transfer to the oven. Cook until the ribs are well glazed, basting frequently (spoon the liquid from the bottom of the pan over the ribs). The glaze should be shiny and thick (but not sticky). This should take 20 - 30 minutes. Season to taste with additional kosher salt.
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Serve ribs hot with extra sauce on the side.
Recipe Notes
* Konbu (or kombu) is dried, edible kelp. You can find konbu online or at an Asian market. Konbu comes in many shapes and sizes. I would recommend getting the large sheets (about 6" by 6").
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Ann P says
I agree, ginger makes everything better! We always have a little root stub lying around the kitchen 🙂 So Brandon, when you choose your cuts of short ribs, what do you look for (like high fat content etc)? I am more of a baker, so I’m not used to choosing meat at the grocery store, hehe.
Brandon Matzek says
That is a great question. For this recipe, make sure you get bone-in ribs. This will add more flavor and help keep things tender. Also, look for ribs with lower fat content. Avoid ribs that have a large fat vein running through them.
Averie @ Love Veggies and Yoga says
Now that’s some meat!
I bet the people who went to your West Elm demo were super impressed with them!
Brandon Matzek says
HA! Thanks Averie 🙂 The slow cooker filled with short ribs was wiped CLEAN by the end of the night.
Michelle Lacayo says
I really love short ribs as well. I have made them once but I can never seem to find them in my grocery store. Ginger glazed sounds like a great way to make them, I’ll have to try this recipe out.
Brandon Matzek says
I found a good selection of short ribs at my local asian market. Try there if you have one around!
Eliot says
I have a couple of packages short ribs in the freezer that I think are calling to be used in this recipe.
Brandon Matzek says
Yes!! I wish I had some more short ribs in my freezer 🙂
Deanna says
I love short ribs. I’m making some right now for Christmas. I’m also making oxtails because they are the short ribs’ grown up and much hotter older brother. If I wasn’t already doing the recipe from Sunday Suppers at Lucques I would make these in a heartbeat.
Brandon Matzek says
I’ve never prepared oxtails! How do you do it?!
RoChele says
I will have you know that this recipe nearly made me give up vegan for a night. My manfriend’s going to love you for it though.