Boneless short ribs... to BBQ and beyond

June 17, 2014 9:33 AM

Meatfilter: I just picked up a bunch of boneless beef short ribs. No idea what to do with them besides slow roasting in barbecue sauce - which would be fine for me. But what other recipes would you suggest that would make people who are committed medium-rare grilled steak lovers happy? Cooking ability moderate, added difficulty: no dairy ingredients, not a big fan of ketchup or mustard.
posted by Mchelly to Food & Drink (12 answers total)

Look for braising recipes, anything you'd do with chuck steak, beef shin or osso bucco. My family loves short ribs in an Asian style master stock; soy, rice wine, ginger, cinnamon, orange zest, star anise. When the meat is tender, reduce some of the poaching liquid, add sugar to help it go sticky. Coriander, spring onion, red chillies. Rice.
posted by stellathon at 9:44 AM on June 17, 2014

* This might be a bit of waste in a way but you could grind them into very delicious burgers (you can do this with a food processor and cubes of very cold meat). I think all-short rib is good but you could also mix with chuck or brisket or what have you.

* You could grill them directly and then slice thin, like this.
posted by ftm at 9:45 AM on June 17, 2014

You can grill them to medium rare. Marinate them first for a few hours as you'd like. We made a bang up marinade for beef ribs last summer that was some combination of bourbon, worstershire, cherry dr pepper, garlic, onion powder, chile powder, and cumin. Don't really remember the amounts, but you can figure it out.
posted by .kobayashi. at 9:45 AM on June 17, 2014

Short ribs are meant to be braised. There's a lot of connective tissue that needs to melt down before you get the succulent short ribs we all know and love. So medium-rare isn't really an option.

When I think short-ribs, I think Flanken. I'd finish in a crock pot, not the oven (too hot in the summer.) Delicious over buttered noodles, or mashed potatoes. Heavy for summer, but I really like it.

Korean Short Ribs, Bulgogi are pretty darn tasty too, can be done on a grill and may please your friends. (It would please ME!) The marinade will work at tenderizing the ribs.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 9:46 AM on June 17, 2014

Braise, braise, braise. You should be able to find a bunch of different recipes for this. My favorite is from the Ad Hoc cookbook, but it's pretty involved. I also use the general braising tips from "On Food and Cooking" to adjust whatever recipe I'm using (generally you want a lower temperature, a longer time, and less liquid than most braising recipes will indicate).
posted by madmethods at 9:59 AM on June 17, 2014

A friend passed along this Korean short ribs slow cooker recipe to me recently, and now I am obsessed with it. Although I never have sake handy so I've just been substituting in some beef stock. Even so, it's very good. I speak as a committed rare-grilled-steak-lover, if that helps calibrate your expectations.
posted by Stacey at 10:31 AM on June 17, 2014

I've been using this recipe for braised lamb shanks for boneless short ribs (thanks, Costco!) with great success. The meat is fall apart tender. I boost the amount of braising liquid depending on the amount of meat. The root vegetable puree included is excellent, but does include dairy. I'd replace it with polenta or mashed potatoes in this case.
posted by sapere aude at 10:37 AM on June 17, 2014

I love braising them in sauerkraut.
posted by harrietthespy at 10:47 AM on June 17, 2014

Smitten Kitchen has a good recipe for balsamic braised shortribs.

But really, braising short ribs is more of a technique thing than a recipe one --- you can take her recipe and swap out flavours that are more appealing to you if you like. Hoisin sauce and five spice powder plus some stock and sherry would be good, I think. A dark beer, some thyme and onions. Whatever appeals to you.
posted by Diablevert at 10:55 AM on June 17, 2014

Seconding ftm and Ruthless Bunny -- definitely galbi! Perfect for the grilled steak lover.
posted by odin53 at 11:00 AM on June 17, 2014

Brown Sugar and Balsamic Braised Short Ribs, from Seriouseats.com. They test all of their recipes first, and also post user reviews. These were very delicious, tender, and relatively easy to make, and the leftovers the next day were even better. You can use the mashed potato recipe that comes with it, or you can come up with your own side dish.
posted by KillaSeal at 2:14 PM on June 17, 2014

Old school Southern is season and wrap in a tight foil pouch with onions and your favorite aromatics, and let them bake in a slow oven or grill at about 250 degrees for a couple of hours. Finish on a hot grill with sauce.
posted by halfbuckaroo at 5:01 PM on June 17, 2014