Braised Hoisin & Beer Beef Short Ribs

I’ve never cooked beef short ribs before. I’m not sure if I’ve even eaten them before but I think I may have. Certainly I’ve seen much talk about them being a great value cut that benefits from long slow cooking such as a braise.

My beef short ribs came from The Ginger Pig, and I asked them to cut them in half, through the bone for me so that when I cut between the bones, I was left with smaller, more manageable pieces.

Trying to narrow down recipes, I found many appealing ones on the web including Barbecued Beef Ribs & Molasses Bourbon Sauce, Coffee-Marinated Bison Short Ribs (which I figured would translate well to beef ribs), Cherry Balsamic Short Ribs, Stout-Braised Short Ribs and Red Wine-Braised Short Ribs. I even contemplated adjusting this recipe for Dr Pepper Pork Ribs, but figured best to use a recipe intended for my cut of meat, at least the first time.

The recipe that called to me most strongly was this Braised Hoisin Beer Short Ribs by Dave Lieberman, posted on the Food Network.

Although the total cooking time is nearly 4 hours, the prep is fairly quick and easy and the ingredients list is short and simple. The original recipe calls for rice wine vinegar but as it’s only a small amount, I substituted cider vinegar which I already had in stock.

The recipe worked well, and we enjoyed it. The meat was tender and falling off the bone and the sauce was nicely balanced,. Although the beer didn’t really come through, it probably did its job of tempering the hoisin. But I’m not yet sold on beef short ribs. I think many of the recipes I’ve found could be made with ox cheeks, which I adore and are the same price per kilo or cheaper.

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Braised Hoisin & Beer Beef Short Ribs

Ingredients

  • 1.5 kg beef short ribs , cut into approximately 10 pieces
  • 2-3 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 10-12 cloves garlic , peeled and smashed
  • 1 inch fresh ginger , peeled and finely chopped
  • 340 ml mild beer
  • 3 tbsp cider vinegar
  • 240 ml hoisin sauce
  • salt and pepper

Instructions

  • Season the ribs generously with salt and pepper.

  • Heat the oil in a large heavy casserole dish with a lid. Brown the ribs on all sides, in batches if necessary. Remove the ribs. If you have more than a couple of tablespoons of oil and rendered fat, pour away any excess before continuing.

  • Lower the heat to medium and fry the garlic and ginger for 2-3 minutes.

  • Return the ribs to the dish. Pour the beer and vinegar over them.

  • Once the liquid has reached a simmer, cover and reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 2.5 hours.

  • Preheat the oven to 150 degrees C.

  • Pour the hoisin sauce over the ribs, transfer the dish to the oven and cook, uncovered, for 30 minutes.

  • Remove the ribs from the sauce. Strain excess fat from the sauce, if necessary, and serve the sauce over the ribs.

  • Serve with mashed potatoes and green vegetables.

Do you have any favourite recipes for beef short ribs to share?

Please leave a comment - I love hearing from you!
11 Comments to "Braised Hoisin & Beer Beef Short Ribs"

  1. Stacey

    I feel the same way, Kavey. I find beef ribs tend towards heavy and greasy. Everyone once in while I geat a craving. I will roll them in a spice rub of some kind ( I like BBQ/smoke flavors). Place a layer of thinly sliced onions at the bottom of my crock pot (slow cooker) -add a little red wine and/or some red wine vinegar and let them cook in there for 4 or 5 hours on low. And, I typically serve with mashed potatoes and green veg….

    Reply
    kaveyeats

    Glad I’m not alone. The dish was tasty enough, the meat was tender and it worked well. But I couldn’t help but comparing to beef cheeks which are a lot less expensive and definitely my choice for slow cooking…

    Reply
  2. Kathy

    I think ribs are readily available over here, and I’ve literally never seen any American buy “cheeks” of anything. The beer in the recipe is used as a tenderizer, BTW. When I first started uni, I was given a recipe for a beef carbonade, and the beer was utterly undetectable in taste. Unlike all the other members of my family, I’ve never been a fan of ribs. Seems like a terrific amount of work (both in terms of prep as well as the actual eating) for getting such a small amount of actual meat. Sorry, give me a roast or a steak any day.

    Reply
    kaveyeats

    Yes, it’s true that I see a lot more recipes for beef short ribs in the US than I do here. Cheeks aren’t a hugely commonly used cut but becoming more so, lately I think. Hope their price doesn’t rocket too.

    Reply
  3. Rachel Kelly @MarmadukeS

    It seems as if I too am a paid-up member of WotFussShrib (what’s all the fuss about short ribs?) ! They are nice, but unless they are a much cheaper option (like they used to be – along with things like lamb shanks) I don’t think they are worth the effort. Having said that, Kavey, your short ribs look and sound gorgeous. Perfect “when will it be spring?” food!

    Actually I had some a couple of weeks ago cooked in Guinness with (surprisingly) garam masala . . . worked really well!

    Reply
    kaveyeats

    Stout and spices sounds like a good mix! Looks like there’s a few of us, eh?

    Reply
  4. Kathryn

    It sounds like a great combination of flavours and they look really delicious even if you aren’t completely convinced about them as a cut of meat. I have to admit that they’re not something that I ever really think of cooking but maybe I should!

    Reply
    kaveyeats

    Yes, I thought the flavours worked well… I’d probably try them again with a different cut.

    Reply
  5. Bron

    I cooked some the other day – also from Ginger Pig – and, just to be a slightly dissenting voice, thought they were utterly fabulous. They were fairly meaty and I slow cooked them for so long in vast quantities of garlic, red wine and shallots that the marrow melted into the stew so by the time we ate them with lots of mash and spring cabbage it was just a richly gorgeous plate of food. Good enough to give cheeks a run for their money!

    Reply
    kaveyeats

    It’s good to have the other side. I did enjoy them but not enough to justify the fact they are usually more expensive here than cheeks…

    I can see they’re much loved, especially in USA though I know foodies here who enjoy them too.

    I did like them but not as much as I’d hoped…

    Reply
  6. Snigdha

    Dear Kavey

    These look delightful, Kavey! Him Indoors is going to love this. Ribs are one of his faves, and with Hoi Sin?

    He’ll be in heaven!

    Great blogging, as ever!

    Love
    Snigdha

    Reply

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