Korean Beef Short Ribs with Sweet Herb Gremolata and Perfect Jasmine Rice

If you're looking for a delicious, unique and fun new recipe, you've come to the right place! My son Nick, who is in grad school, was home for a few days this past week and I served these ribs for dinner one evening. Nick has always been one of my greatest encouragers, but, also one of my most brutal (no!) honest critics. I appreciate this because it keeps me on my toes. If he raves about something I make, I know it's top notch and Nick gave these ribs a huge thumbs-up!

These fork-tender Asian short ribs are slow roasted with a sweet and unbelievably flavorful sauce exuding hints of ginger, soy, garlic and sesame. This is an extremely versatile recipe as you can see from the pictures as it can be served as a fancy dinner entree or used in a more casual manner when served with a fresh salad, Crispy Sweet Potato Fries (recipe coming later this week), oven roasted potatoes or a myriad of other sides. The ribs can be made a day ahead and warmed up slowly on the stove top or in the oven. It's also great if you're having overnight guests or a dinner party and don't want to be fussing at the last minute. Although start to finish time is 3-4 hours, the actual hand-on time is less than 30 minutes.

For a casual supper, I served these Korean Beef Boneless Short Ribs with an Avocado and Tomato Salad with Fresh Ginger Dressing - recipe to come!! 

These Sweet Potato Fries (recipe to come!) delicious with the ribs and pair nicely with the sweet sticky sauce.

I created the cilantro gremolata (just a fancy word for a chopped herb condiment) to add a layer of fresh flavor and some beautiful splashes of color to the deep, dark, rich sauce and ribs. The cilantro/mint combination add just a touch of a Thai flair to this dish, which is sure to please!

The rice recipe that I'm sharing is super easy and pretty much foolproof. I learned this method from a  friend of mine from Vietnam - and if you know anything about the Vietnamese, you'll know that they make the BEST rice! I love to serve it in the little dome shapes you see in the pictures; it can make a simple rice side dish look a bit fun and fancy! I use an ordinary measuring cup to shape the rice which also makes it easy to monitor portion size for carb watchers!!

To make these fun rice "domes" I just line a 1/3 or 1/2  cup measuring scoop with plastic wrap, then tighly pack the rice into the cup. Tip the cup over and tap onto the plate, pull measuring cup up and remove plastic wrap from rice - your guests will be impressed!

Korean Beef Boneless Shortribs with Cilantro Gremalata

SAUCE

1/3  cup low sodium soy sauce, (be sure to use low sodium soy sauce otherwise later when you reduce the sauce for drizzling, it will be way too salty)

1/4 cup rice vinegar

2 cups apple juice, possibly more

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons honey

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1 tablespoon fresh ginger, roughly chopped

4 cloves fresh garlic, roughly chopped

1 teaspoon chile garlic sauce

1 bunch green onion, roughly chopped, reserve 2 onions for gremolata

1/2 cup cilantro, roughly chopped (I use the stems and lower leaves for

here and reserve the tops for the gremalata.)

SHORT RIBS

3 pounds boneless beef short ribs

2 tablespoons all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

2 tablespoons olive oil

GREMOLATA

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped

2 tablespoons fresh mint leaves, finely chopped

1 teaspoon fresh ginger, finely chopped

zest of 1 lime (use a fine zester or finely chop the zest)

1 teaspoon sesame seeds

2 (reserved) green onions, finely chopped

1. Preheat oven to 275º.

2. Combine all sauce ingredients and mix well. Set aside.

3. Combine flour, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Add short ribs and toss to coat ribs with flour.

4. Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. When oil is hot, add the ribs and sear for 4 to 5 minutes on each side, until well browned.

5. Add soy sauce mixture and bring to a boil. Cover tightly and place Dutch oven in preheated oven for 2 1/2 to 3 hours or until the ribs are tender enough to be easily pierced with a fork. Check about half way through baking time to make sure that liquid is covering beef. If needed add more apple juice.

6. When meat is tender remove ribs from sauce. Place Dutch oven on stove top and bring sauce to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium and continue boiling until the liquid reduces to half its original volume, 20 to 30 minutes. Return ribs to sauce and keep warm until serving time or allow to cool and refrigerate. Can be made 1-2 days ahead. Warm over low heat before serving.

7. For gremolata, combine all ingredients and mix well. Can be made 4-6 hours ahead and refrigerated.

8. To serve place ribs on serving platter or individual plates. Drizzle with sauce. Sprinkle liberally with gremolata and ENJOY!

Serves 4-6

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Perfect Jasmine Rice

1 cup jasmine rice

1 1/2  cups water, (use a bit more water if rice is older)

1. Place rice and water in a medium size pot over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to medium maintaining boil. Continue to boil uncovered until water has boiled down to the level of the rice and crater-like pockets form on the wet surface of the rice.

2. Cover the pot and turn off the heat. Leave pot on the warm burner for 15-20 minutes. Fluff with a fork and serve.

3. To make the "rice domes", line a 1/3-1/2 cup measuring container with plastic wrap. Spoon rice into measuring cup and pack tightly with back of spoon. Carefully turn cup over and tap on plate to release rice. Remove plastic wrap from rice carefully.

PRINTABLE RECIPE