These Korean-inspired braised short ribs are all about maximum flavour with smart fat control. We break down the joint to render excess fat, then build layers of umami, sweetness, and spice with ginger, garlic, pear, and soy—echoing the bold flavours of bulgogi. A two-stage browning process, careful fat skimming, and a final reduction deliver a glossy, rich sauce without greasiness. This is a masterclass in managing short rib fat while developing restaurant-level depth in your home kitchen.
Ingredients (Serves 4) • 1.2–1.5 kg bone-in short ribs, separated into meaty chunks and bones reserved • 1 tbsp neutral oil (high smoke point, for searing) • Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste • 1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, sliced • 4 garlic cloves, smashed • 2 Asian pears (or ripe conference pears), peeled and roughly chopped • 2 tbsp soy sauce • 1–2 tbsp brown sugar or honey (to taste) • 500–700 ml water (enough to cover beef partially) • 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil (finishing) • 1 onion, halved (optional, roasted with bones or added during final stage) • Sliced spring onions, to garnish
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There's no doubt when it comes to braising short ribs, you want bone-in.
The marrow brings flavor, the collagen gives it body, and the presentation is Instagram-worthy.
It comes with one problem, fat. Up to five times more than boneless ribs, making skimming mandatory.
Today, we divide and conquer to get the best out of this beautiful joint.
Bones, 200 degrees Celsius, one hour to render some of the fat,
but more importantly, to get even Maillard reaction.
Starting to build those deep, roasted, and meaty flavors.
All of a sudden, we're just braising some very evenly shaped beef chunks.
Pot, pan, high smoke point, neutral oil, beef goes in.
A bit of salt.
The objective of the exercise here is very simple.
Once again, we want to cause the Maillard reaction, and later on, caramelization,
which will give us some nutty depth.
And together, what differentiates this from boiled beef?
And to get the best browning, do them in batches.
Don't crowd your pan, otherwise they'll start steaming themselves.
Once everything is beautifully browned on all sides,
beef comes out, and we deliberately kept them chunky.
A, to factor in the shrinkage, and B, to get this meaningful browning,
without having to overcook the beef too much.
We skim off almost all of the fat.
Factoring in the marrow will reintroduce some extremely yummy fat later.
Now we start building our aromatic base.
Today, for a bit of fun, flavors inspired by the iconic Korean bulgogi.
Ginger in for a bit of heat and zesty freshness.
Garlic for depth and caramelized sweetness later.
And we're keeping them chunky because we'll pass everything through a sieve later.
And a couple of pears, usually used as a tenderizer in bulgogi marinades.
But today, mostly for a tiny bit of tang and fruity sweetness.
Salt to help them draw out their moisture.
Black pepper for a bit more heat.
And we sauté them first to evaporate most of their surface moisture.
Then to build flavor through caramelization, especially for the pear,
to reinforce the nutty complexity we just developed.
And another reason why we want to front-load all the fat skimming
is the moment you introduce other ingredients,
the fat starts to take on the fat-soluble flavors.
When you skim the fat late in the cooking process,
you are, in essence, taking away some of those flavors.
And as usual, the recipe is just a guideline on how I like to manage short rib fat.
Throw in whatever aromatics you fancy.
Make it your own.
Now, continuing to season and to mop up the beautiful fond,
soy sauce, umami, and salinity.
And to reinforce the caramelized sweetness,
to give this a glaze, a bit of honey or brown sugar.
Now, a tiny bit more water, just to make sure we have no flavor left behind.
As usual, before we add the rest of the water,
beef goes back in.
Manage stacking efficiency to minimize flavor dilution.
Fingers crossed for one layer.
Resting juices back in.
Necessary dilution.
Lid on.
And because we're boneless, two and a half to three hours.
After an hour in the oven, we're ready for the collagen without the fat.
Now here, we still have a really hot tray with some really yummy fat
and a very hot oven.
The world is your oyster.
Today, following the theme, just some onions.
After a bit less than three hours, we fish out these beauties.
Oh my god, look at that.
We remove all the solids
and we simply reduce this to the desired consistency.
Once we're happy, stove off.
And a very small dash of toasted sesame oil, just for the aromas.
Beef fat onion.
Look at that.
Beautiful braising liquid.
A generous amount of scallion on top.
And this is braised short ribs with bulgogi flavors.
