First for the basics: Like for most red meats, it’s good to let cast iron do the work for you (cast aluminum or ceramic, like in some Dutch ovens, also work). The delicious stuff seared at the bottom makes for some phenomenal base for a sauce, so the deeper the pan, the better.
Equipment
- Mei Wok
Instructions
- We can make everything in a single pot (or wok) - trade out the later work when you clean for the work now by moving the food in and out. Here are your steps
- Let the cast iron get ripping hot and drop your well-salted short rib in there, fat side down. There's a lot of theory that can go into cooking, and while there's truth that this is locking in some of that deep fat of the meat, we're looking to make a great sear and taking care of the fat later down the line.
- Flip the thing 180 when things have caramelized at the bottom (don't let it get so brown that it burns!). Turn on each of these remaining sides for less than ten seconds each - you want color on the outside, not well done. When you have the edges of a wok, you can choose a different point of the wall for each side to make sure you're searing on something hot.
- Take out the short rib and let it rest somewhere.
- Depending on how much meat you're cooking, you're left with fond at the bottom, the greatness of all cooking. Throw in some chopped onions to fry in there. When they've softened, mix in your tomato paste. Toss in the rest of your aromatics. This is intentionally a vague step, as these flavors are not just configurable to your taste, but will also ultimately be forgiving later down the line.
- For depth (and ease of cleaning), pour a can of some ale in here. A wooden spatula should do the trick as your scrape the bottom. Finish off the bath with your chicken stock.
- We're done with the stove. Nestle your short rib(s) into the mixture with the fat peeking out and put the whole wok in the oven at 250°F/120°C. We're letting these guys sit in here for HOURS. No less than 1, no more than 4. Mix the veggies around every half hour or so, perturb the ribs, splash some of the sauce on the top. Our goal is to deepen the flavor and also render out more of the fat into our sauce.
- Remove from the oven, take the short rib out again to rest. Strain out the vegetables from the sauce. The vegetables should take a lot of the fat with it, with an appropriate amount left in. If you're a stickler... there's a lengthy process where you cool down the sauce and skim off the fat layer. Good luck.
- Plop the meat back in, let the sauce simmer back in the wok. Throw in a chunk of carrot if it's too tomato-ey. It will reduce for about half an hour into something thick (coat-the-back-of-a-spoon-test). Taste it, salt and pepper it as needed.
- YOU'RE DONE. It's a lot of time and effort, but an ultimately forgiving meal. The meat is absurdly tender at this point, the sauce can be used for your taters, your veggies - we used ours as the sauce for home-made za. Give it a try, thanks for reading!
