Fall-apart tender short ribs with a deep sauce that contains hints of orange and ginger, served over a pile of grits mixed with butternut squash.
Cliff Notes:
Brown short ribs; prepare braising liquid and pour over ribs; cover and braise at 375° for 40 mins, then at 250° for 2.5 hours; reduce sauce; serve with grits mixed with either sweet potatoes or butternut squash.
Make It Your Own:
– Use lemon rind instead of lemongrass
– The Asian pear in the recipe is optional – it adds a bit of sweetness and helps tenderize the meat
– Use Sriracha sauce if you can’t find gochujang
– Use butternut squash instead of sweet potato in the grits
Simplify It:
– Instead of grits, use noodles, potatoes, pureed cauliflower, or rice
While watching The Kitchen on the Food Network a while ago, we were intrigued to see Geoffery Zacharian take a bite of a short rib and immediately become speechless. Once he regained his power to talk, he proclaimed it the best short rib he had ever tasted. Well, anything that could take away his power of speech had us immediately intrigued, so without delay, we went out and bought the ingredients because we had to try it for ourselves. And a few hours later, we understood.
The flavor of these short ribs is deep and rich. The meat is fall-apart tender, the broth is rich and savory with just a background of spice to it, and when served over grits that are slightly sweet from the sweet potato (or butternut squash, in this case), the whole dish just comes together.
In the few weeks since the episode aired, we have made it three times, and rave each and every time, and it is well on it’s way to becoming a family classic.
A video of me making this dish (with my modifications) is below. Please visit Food Network for the full recipe (link above), created by Nyesha Arrington.