It is old news to many of you that anything braised tops the love list in JBug's Kitchen and being fairly new to the world of "flanken" style short ribs you had to know we'd have to try a braised version sooner or later.
In case you're confused, flanken style beef short ribs are cut across the bone where English cut short ribs are cut parallel to the bone.
It's not that we haven't already told you about the joys of Korean Style Short Ribs and how they're marinated before they hit the grill which delivers them to the perfect "sweet spot" of medium rare tenderness; however, it seems a shame to limit such a fabulous tasting cut of meat to one preparation method so here you go.
Last night's flanken short ribs included ginger, tons of garlic and a touch of allspice along with several onions as the flavor base in a braising liquid made from beef consomme and tomatoes, both crushed and diced. The well browned ribs hit the braising liquid and a slow oven for darn near 3 hours before I even peeked at 'em. Such discipline!
Served on a puddle of mashed spuds, I gotta tell ya' it's a toss up for us which version of flanken ribs we enjoyed more, Korean style or braised. Suffice to say, the braised ribs are fall apart fork tender...heck you could toss the fork and eat 'em with a spoon, but as Big Guy indicated, the "likes" are not necessarily mutually exclusive which is his way of saying I can make any one of them again many times and he won't complain a bit.
Although braised English cut short ribs might look prettier on a plate, you dare not simply marinate them and cook 'em on a grill like you can flanken ribs because you'll need a table saw to get through them but braised, man, they're awesome. Now on the other hand, flanken ribs can be made either marinated and grilled or braised and they're keepers either way. I'm a fan. How about you?
Braised Flanken Style Short Ribs from JBug’s Kitchen Antics
4 pounds flanken style short ribs
All-purpose flour
2 tablespoons vegetable oil (more as needed)
3 large onions, diced
9 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
3 inch piece ginger, peeled and minced
2 teaspoons all spice
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons coarse ground black pepper
1 - 10 ounce can beef consommé
1 – 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
1 – 14 ounce can diced tomatoes with juices
Water as needed
Preheat oven to 325. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven until shimmering. Dredge rib in flour, shaking off excess. Brown well on both sides (in batches). Remove ribs from pot and set aside. Drain all but 1 tablespoon oil from pot. Return pot to medium heat and add onions. Cook until onions are softened, stirring often. Add garlic, ginger, allspice, salt and pepper and cook additional 2 to 3 minutes. Return ribs to pot. Add consommé, and crushed and diced tomatoes. Add water as needed to cover ribs. Cover pot, place in oven and cook for 2-1/2 to 3 hours until ribs are very tender. Remove pot from oven and skim fat from the top. Serve ribs with mashed potatoes or rice. Makes 6 to 8 servings.
A year ago - Braised Beef in Port and Ale
Two year's ago - Ginger Fried Beef
Three year's ago - White Bean Soup with Ham
Love the flanken style because it allows more of the lovely marrow stuff to mix with the braising sauce - and that makes it so much better! I also find that there is more meat to the flanken ones - but - I am kookie like that! They are wonderful - and I am such a fan of braising, also - but I do the stovetop braising, because down here in southern LA - it is cooler to do it on the stovetop than to get the oven going. ;) And I love braised meat all year long! I must get those flanken ribs to put them into the rotation for diversity!
Posted by: Lea Callais | 09/25/2013 at 07:28 AM
Lea - you're right about the marrow and I hear you re braising stove top instead of in the oven. No wonder my kitchen in Tucson was so darned hot. LOL
Posted by: June | 09/25/2013 at 09:59 AM
You know flanken are my quick fire bbq favorite...they are so tender and tasty. I will have to try them this way at the goat house (no bbq there yet). Nice!
Posted by: Lorraine | 10/11/2013 at 07:41 PM
I agree, flanken ribs are fabulous on the barby but they're pretty darned good this way too. So much flavor in such a small package.
Posted by: June | 10/12/2013 at 08:22 AM