This year wasn’t the traditional Thanksgiving dinner with turkey and all the fixings. I’m not the biggest fan of turkey although I love all the side dishes. Don’t get me wrong, I love to cook a turkey whether it’s using a wet or dry brine. I’ve even posted one using a maple bourbon brine. I wanted something different for the two of us.

This paricular dish was a recipe done on the show “The Kitchen”. It was done by one of their guests, Chef Nyesha Arrington, Korean-Inspired Braised Beef Short Ribs. It’s not often a chef inspired dish peaks (piques) my interest but this one sure did. Steve and I both love beef short ribs and I have a couple of my own recipes here on Let’s Dish With Linda Lou. With a few small changes, this is my version of this dish.

This recipe incorporates Korean ingredients and uses French cooking techiniques which is simply masterful. To top the dish off, she paired it with Sweet Potato Grits which allowed her to bring her southern roots into the final dish. I’m posting a link for the Sweet Potato Grits at the bottom of this post. This is my version of Chef Nyesha’s Korean-Inspired Braised Beef Short Ribs.

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 3 hours 40 minutes
Total Time: 4 hours 10 minutes
Yields: 6 servings
Equipment: 12-inch coarse mesh strainer, 1 (6-quart Dutch oven), chef’s knife, 5 small bowls, 1 large bowl, melon baller, aluminum foil, 1 (3-quart) saucepan

Ingredients:
1/8 cup of grapeseed oil
3 1/2 pound of bone-in short ribs, English-cut (6 short ribs)
*1 large sweet onion, quartered
**2 Asian pears, seeds removed, sliced into half-moons, placed in *acidulated water
*1 large orange, zested and juiced, reserve the 1/4 cup juice
1/4 cup of light brown sugar
*1 stalk of lemongrass, cut into rounds
*7 scallions, cut in half
*1 (3-inch) piece of ginger cut into rounds
*4 large garlic cloves, whole
*3 fresh bay leaves, substitute 2 dried
1/4 cup of tomato paste
1/4 cup of gochujang
1 1/4 cup of orange juice, small bottle of store-bought no pulp (reserved 1/4 cup of fresh squeezed juice)
1 bottle of red wine, Cabernet, use 3/4 of the bottle
1 quart of beef stock, unsalted
2 cups of water
1 1/2 cups of soy sauce
1 tablespoon of fish sauce
1/4 cup of sesame oil
1/4 cup of toasted sesame seeds
Cilanto, for garnish

Note: If you are making the sweet potato grits to pair with the short ribs, bake the sweet potatoes in advance. Scoop the out the flesh of the sweet potatoes, transfer to a bowl with a tight-fitting lid. You want to have the sweet potatoes ready to go when your done making the grits. Make the grits during the last 15 minutes of the cooking time for Korean Beef Short Ribs.

Note: You’ll see in many of these pictures, I have the fork-crush sweet potatoes in a bowl, ready to use for the Sweet Potato Grits.

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375-degrees F.
Over medium-high heat, heat grapeseed oil in Dutch oven. Sear short ribs and begin to brown on all sides.
Once the ribs are brown, transfer them to a large plate. If needed add more oil to pot.

Note: You’ll notice I’m not seasoning the short ribs. The soy sauce and gochujang will do the job of the Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper.

Add in the *aromatics (include the orange zest) stirring ocassionaly, allow them to caramelize, around 5 minutes. Next, add the tomato paste, gochujang, followed by the brown sugar, cook for 1 minute more, stir to combine.

Return the short ribs back into the pot.

Add in the wine, beef stock, soy sauce, orange juice, fish sauce, sesame oil, and water. You only want the liquids to come 3/4’s of the way up the short ribs. Do not completely cover with liquid. Refer to the picture. If needed cut back on the amount of water. Last add the toasted sesame seeds.

Bring everything up to a simmer, place the lid on and transfer to the middle rack of the oven. Cook for 3 to 3 1/2 hours or until short ribs are super tender.

Transfer the short ribs to a large plate and cover with foil to rest. Strain the cooking liquid, transfer to a saucepan, reduce over medium-high heat, 5 minutes or until slightly thickened. Serve the short ribs over the Sweet Potato Grits, garnish with fresh Cilantro.

There you have it, my Korean-Inspired Braised Beef Short Ribs.

*Acidulated Water: This is water where some sort of acid is added, often lemon juice, lime juice, or vinegar-to prevent cut oir skinned fruits or vegetables from browning so as to maintain their appearance.
*Aromatics: Commonly-used aromatics incluce bay leaves, leeks, onions, carrots, fennel, lemongrass, ginger scallions, garlic, bay leaves, and the list goes on.

https://lindalouhamel.com/2019/07/10/summer-time-flowers-and-herbs/

https://lindalouhamel.com/2021/11/29/sweet-potato-grits/