Asian marinated short ribs

by Jessie on October 7, 2010

Hi cow! I’m going to eat you tonight.

Okay, maybe not you. But it’s going to be some cow out there and involve soy sauce, sugar, and cornstarch.

And when you land on my kitchen table, that’s what you’re going to look like. Okay, I’m going to stop. It really does make me sad sometimes that I’m eating a living being. Enough to have made me turn vegetarian for a year actually. Okay I’m going to stop thinking about this…

My mother came up with this recipe one day after being tired of eating steak. I’m not sure how one can get tired of steak, but it happened to her. So instead of buying a t-bone at the supermarket, she bought short ribs, marinated it in a simple concoction she concocted, and fried it.

Man, they are so delicious.

A dairy farm?!

This is where my parents live right now- in the middle of no where, Pennsylvania. Well, they don’t live on the farm, but the dairy farm is literally less than 400 meters away from the driveway. I rarely have the time to come here but decided to take a couple of days off from work to study (and look at cows).

Usually, the cows stay at the farm in the morning. This is also where they flock to when it thunders or snows. And you’d be surprised. They’re quite mannered as they like to walk, one behind the other, in a long straight line.

But by noon, they like to wander near our backyard. There’s only a shaggy wire fence that separates our yard from the farm. The cows like to graze by the fence. As I was studying today and looked up, I was like, HOLY COW! It’s a cow! So I grabbed my camera and ran out to take some shots.

Do you think cows know what cameras are? Usually they start walking away when they see you coming towards them. But all of them, surprisingly, just stopped and posed as I was clicking away. My mom was amused at how they were modeling for me.

I have to say. Life here may not be as fast-paced as in the city, but it’s really serene and peaceful. Today was one of those few days where I allowed myself to wake up naturally. The sunlight streamed through the window and onto my face. I waited an extra couple of seconds, soaking in all that light and remembering that ah, it’s not 5am and I don’t have to get up for work. What a great feeling. Then I walked downstairs and brewed coffee was already on the table. Man, it’s also nice to be taken care of.

Around the afternoon, I wandered out for a short walk. Along the way, I discovered a plethora of berries. I’d eat one, but considering how I have to a) make the 3 hour drive back to Jersey tomorrow night and b) study for my exam, I didn’t think that was a good idea.

So onto the short ribs. They’re tender. They’re sweet. They’re succulent. They’re perfect appetizers, but I’d only eat these in front of people who I’m comfortable with. They’re definitely not the best finger foods as they’re a tad bit greasy.

Asian Marinated Short Ribs

Ingredients:

Rack of short ribs, preferably separated into individual parts (8)
1 cup of soy sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoon cornstarch
Pinch of salt/pepper
Drizzle of sesame oil
Canola oil for frying

Recipe:

Make the marinade by combining the soy sauce, sugar, salt/pepper, and sesame oil in a shallow pan. Mix well so that the sugar dissolves. Then, set the short ribs flat on the pan so that the bottom side soaks in all that marinade. Let it sit for 30 minutes, then flip so that the other side gets covered. You can marinate this overnight, but if you’re in a rush, make sure you let it sit for at least an hour.

When you’re ready to fry, you want to sprinkle the cornstarch over the surface of the short ribs. It should look something like this…

Basically, the cornstarch will thicken the marinade and give it a white-ish tint. The cornstarch helps make the meat tender so don’t omit it. Then, in a saucepan, heat enough oil to coat an a short rib. Put the heat on high. When the oil is hot enough (so that it bubbles when you insert a toothpick to the bottom of the pot), fry the short ribs, about three at a time. You don’t want too many in there or else they’ll stick to each other. Fry until it cooks all the way through. It should take around 5 minutes. You’ll also know when it’s done when the bone seems to shrink.

When finished, let the short ribs rest on a plate with paper towels to catch the greasy remnants. Serve while warm.

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This post is part of a series featuring recipes from the FOOD & WINE archive. As a FOOD & WINE Blogger Correspondent, I was chosen to do four recipes a week from FOOD & WINE. I received a subscription to FOOD & WINE for my participation.

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