I’ve made this New York Times Cooking version of Roy Choi’s braised short-rib stew many times but with significant substitutions, mostly aimed at knocking back the sweet and salt. It’s a unique flavor/texture treat and improves with refrigeration and reheat. There’s nothing quite like beef short ribs.
Substitutions in order of ingredient list: 2/3 cup soy sauce for 1 1/2 cups, sugar eliminated, dry sherry for mirin, fresh asian /anjou pear chunks and lime juice for the orange and apple juice, crimini mushrooms for shitake, jicama (20 ounces dices) for water chestnut, taro eliminated, butternut squash dices (23 ounces).
Also, skip the silly water soak of the ribs but perform the diagonal scoring. Braise 2 1/2 hours.
Great with a side of jasmine rice!
Mark Fickes
Recipe from Roy ChoiAdapted by Sam Sifton
- YIELD4 to 6 servings
- TIME3 1/2 hours
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David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews
Here is an adaptation of the Korean braised-short-rib stew known as galbijjim, a staple of neighborhood potlucks and church suppers and, in the words of the Los Angeles chef Roy Choi, “that meal from home that every Korean kid says his or her mom does best.” His recipe (well, my version of his recipe, which is his version of his mom’s) is rich and deeply flavored, thickly sauced and pungent with sugar, spice, soy and garlic. It is the sort of meal you could put together on a weekend afternoon and serve for nights to come. It is the best sort of family food.
INGREDIENTS
- 4 pounds bone-in short ribs
- 1 small bunch scallions, trimmed and roughly chopped
- 1 ½ cups soy sauce
- ¼ cup chopped fresh ginger
- 1 small yellow onion, roughly chopped
- ½ cup garlic cloves, peeled (about 2 heads)
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup mirin
- ½ cup fresh orange juice
- ½ cup apple juice
- ½ pound shiitake mushrooms, stems reserved for another use, halved or quartered if large
- 1 cup jarred, peeled chestnuts
- 1 cup taro, peeled and cut into large dice (about a 3-inch segment)
- 1 cup carrots, peeled and cut into large dice (about 2 carrots)
- 1 cup butternut squash, peeled and cubed (about half a squash)
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PREPARATION
- Put short ribs in a bowl, and cover with water. Drain, and discard water. Repeat twice. Remove short ribs from bowl, and score them diagonally across the top of the meat. Return ribs to the bowl, and rinse again. Remove, and pat dry.
- In a blender or food processor, combine scallions, soy sauce, ginger, onion, garlic, sugar, mirin, orange juice and apple juice, then pulse to purée. Add a little water if you need to thin out the sauce so it combines.
- Put puréed sauce in a heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven with a lid, add 3 cups water and stir to combine. Bring pot to a boil over high heat, then add the ribs to the pot and lower heat to a simmer. Cover pot.
- Cook ribs over low for at least 2 hours. Add vegetables, cover and simmer, 30 minutes more or so, until meat is tender and vegetables are cooked through. Serve warm.
Tips
- Short ribs produce a good amount of fat. Get rid of the excess by making the stew ahead of time, refrigerating it overnight and skimming off any fat that collects on top. (Reserve for cooking potatoes or other root vegetables.) Warm through before serving.
- For a slow-cooker version, add the scored meat, vegetables, sauce and 2 cups water (instead of 3) to the machine. Cook on low for 7 to 8 hours. If you like firmer vegetables, wait to add them to the slow cooker 5 to 6 hours into cooking.
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COOKING Notes
Wen4 years ago
This is my go-to recipe when I have company.
I always brown the meat beforehand with onion, garlic, ginger and scallion.
No need for the sugar. I use 1 cup of orange juice instead of the two different types. I use 2/3 cup of soy sauce.
The dish is rather greasy because short rib is tasty but contains a lot of fat.
I keep the dish in the fridge for one night so that the fat separates to the top and separate it out.
Then I add in all the fresh veggies and cook for another hour the second day.
493 This is helpful
Martha4 years ago
I’ve done short ribs in the slow cooker. After 7-8 hours they came out deliciously tender. So tender, The connective grisly part is deliciously edible.
I left out the canned water chestnuts. If you can’t get fresh, use jicama instead. Once you taste a fresh water chestnut, you’ll never settle for those awful canned ones. Instead of the OJ and apple juice, l use grated Asian pear and a squeeze of lime juice. I agree there’s too much sugar. Cut back. substitute the vegetables for any you like.
219 This is helpful
Ruth4 years ago
What if I wanted to make this in a slow cooker? Any suggestions on the best way to adapt the recipe?
112 This is helpful
Baconsensation4 years ago
The half cup of sugar can be left out entirely.