Kai and The Kitchen

Recipes and Musings of Food and Life

127 Beef

Short and Sweet {Slowcooker Asian Short Ribs}

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I remember the first time I made braised short ribs. It was right around the time that I first started learning to cook and what I thought was going to be one of my most ambitious creations. I had short rib for the first time at a restaurant across from my first apartment here in Chicago and immediately scoured the internet for a recipe that seemed manageable. I remember settling on Pioneer Woman’s original Braised Shortrib recipe that she published in 2009.

If you’ve never used a Pioneer Woman recipe written by Rhee Drummond herself, you’re missing out. She’s funny in a very relatable way and makes even the most daunting recipes seem manageable. A lot of the things I learned when I first starting cooking, came from reading and re-reading her recipes. She made cooking fun for me, and I hope in turn that I can make cooking fun for you.

Back to short rib. THEY ARE SO EASY. I’m pretty sure the hardest thing about making them, is waiting for them to be finished. Especially this crockpot edition. I will tell you though that I intentionally try to distract myself to spend less time in the kitchen whenever they are cooking. The smell is just too good.  I become too interested in how much progress they are making on their journey to “falling off the bone.” And I frequently find myself lifting up the lid of the crock-pot a few inches and peering in as I kindly inquire “HOW YOU DOIN?!?!'” Short rib. It’ll get ya.

Most traditional short rib recipes are made by using a dutch oven, mirepoix, wine, and broth in the oven for 5-6 hours. This recipe doesn’t. These short ribs are browned in a cast iron skillet, and then tossed into the slow cooker with a sauce to cook for 8 hours. The slow cooker does all the work for you. The results are sweet, tangy, fall off the bone short ribs, with a delicious Asian flavor profile to them.

These short ribs are delicious with brown rice, cauliflower rice, shiitake mushrooms, cauliflower puree, or stir fried veggies. The shredded meat makes amazing Asian tacos or Asian sliders. They are perfect for entertaining or a date night in. They make an amazing Sunday meal. In the fall. When it’s cold and rainy outside….Alas, I digress. Make these ribs and make them now!

Let’s get started. 

Step 1: Salt those babies. Sprinkle ribs with salt and pepper. Flip ’em and reverse ’em. Get all those pretty little sides.

Step 2: Hot and bothered.  Heat 1 tablespoon sesame oil in your skillet over high heat. Add half of the ribs to the skillet, let each side of the ribs cook for about 2 minutes before turning. Transfer the ribs to the slow cooker with the meatiest side down. Repeat with remaining ribs. Transfer to slow cooker.

Step 3: Get Saucy. In a large bowl, whisk together soy sauce, beef broth, brown sugar, ginger, garlic, sesame oil, and rice vinegar.

Step 4: And now we wait. Pour sauce over the ribs. Cover and cook on low heat 8 hours.

Step 5: Thicken. After about 7 hours, in a small bowl whisk together cornstarch and water. Stir in mixture into the slow cooker. Cover and cook on high heat for an additional hour or until the sauce has thickened. Feel free to remove some of the fat drippings from the sauce. To do this remove all of the ribs and then skim the top layer with a large spoon. Whisk together the remaining sauce.

Step 6: Let’s eat. Serve immediately. Garnished with cilantro, green onion, and sesame seeds and a few spoonfuls of additional sauce.

 

 

 

 

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