Braised Short Ribs with Hoisin Sauce - An Adaptation of an adaptation

I clipped a recipe from David Lebovitz's blog for Braised Short Ribs. After reading the article I saw that he adapted it from Dave Liberman. I totally trusted David Lebovitz so I went with his adaptation of the recipe and I am so glad that I did. I adapted it from there.



As you can see I wanted to go with the "In" crowd of sleeve tattooed chefs. I got my sleeves on! I am ready to cook.



I am about to brown the short ribs. Oooops. I got a shot of my TATTOO. Sorry about that.



Here they are browning. What? What do you mean what is that baggy mess at my wrist? Oh ....nevermind. Nothing to see here..... Just a costume malfunction.



Look at these beauties.



This recipe had a really ecclectic mix of tastes going. I was intrigued. I really am not a chocolate lover and the thought of putting chocolate in with this mix made me a bit edgy. It worked perfectly though. I knew I could trust David L. I did use Chipotle chili powder as my chili powder and it worked well.



If it was going to be chocolate I was going with the best (as far as *I* am concerned) Valrhona.



I went with a dark beer that was recommended to me by a nice young man that was eavesdropping on my conversation with Dr Food and the wine monger at the wine and spirit shop that we were at. NYM (nice young man) had good taste. Not only is this beer local (to me at least) but it was very good as well. Yes it went into the rib mixture but I had to TASTE it first.



Wine monger suggested we try this wine with the meal. It was very enjoyable.



I would make these again. I really thought that the flavors went together well and nothing was overpowering. Try them!


Braised Short Ribs with Hoisin Sauce
Serves 6 to 8
Adapted from David Lebovitz who adapted from Dave Lieberman

The best way to fry the ribs is to use moderately-high heat and resist the urge turn them incessantly. They should be as dark as possible, almost burnt. If you have a good hood fan, you’ll put it to good use. I tweaked his recipe and couldn’t resist adding some chocolate to the braising liquid, which gives it some extra body, and some chili, for a bit of heat.

Making them a day in advance and storing them in a refrigerator is a great do-ahead tip and allows you to skim off the fat. If so, just cook them through step #5, the chill, and the following day, skim, then finish with the hoisin sauce.

10 short ribs (rib pieces cut into 3 to 4-inch, 10 to 12 cm, chunks)
Salt and freshly-ground pepper
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups (375ml) dark beer
10 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and minced
3 tablespoons Chinese or Japanese rice vinegar
1 1/2 ounces (50g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped (I used Xocopili)
1/2 teaspoon red chili powder
1 cup (250ml) hoisin sauce

1. Toss the ribs in salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a large roasting pan and fry the short ribs until each side is very dark and well-caramelized. Don’t skimp and it may take up to an hour to get them all done. If your pan isn’t big enough, you can brown them in batches, or do some in a separate pan.

2. Remove the ribs from the pan, then turn off the heat and deglaze the pan with the beer. Scrape up the browned bits stuck to the pan with a firm spatula, then add the garlic and ginger, stirring to cook them in a residual heat of the pan.

3. Preheat the oven to 325F. (160C)

4. Add the ribs back to the pan and mix in the vinegar, chocolate, and chili powder.

5. Cover and let simmer for 3 hours, turning the short ribs a few times while they’re cooking. The ribs are done when they’re fork-tender and falling off the bone. (During cooking, you may need to add a bit of water to the pan if the liquid evaporates too much.)

6. Remove the cover, stir in the hoisin sauce, reduce the heat to 300F (150C) and cook for another 30 minutes.