I’ll start by saying that this is a good recipe, which is based on one from Bon Appetit magazine. Though “inspired by Thai flavors,” and while good, it is clearly not an authentic Thai dish. That doesn’t make it bad, it’s just really “North American.”
Be sure that you don’t overcook the short ribs, or they’ll get dry. I recommend starting to check for doneness about 1.5 hours into the braising time. Other than that, these are really easy to make, and they taste good. After all, you can’t go wrong when cooking with coconut milk!
What you’ll need
- 3–4 lb. beef short ribs (I prefer boneless for this dish)
- Kosher salt
- 4 lemongrass stalks
- 2 large onions, finely chopped
- 10 garlic cloves, finely grated
- 1 2″-piece ginger, peeled and finely grated
- 6 Thai chiles, thinly sliced (remove some or all the seeds for less heat)
- 2T light brown or brown sugar
- 1t ground turmeric
- 3 13.5-oz. cans unsweetened coconut milk
- 2T fish sauce
- 0.25 cups lime juice
- 0.25 cups chopped cilantro leaves or sliced green onions (optional)
What to do
Pat the short ribs dry with a paper towel, then season each side with salt. In a large Dutch oven over medium heat brown the short ribs on each side, about 10 minutes per side. Transfer them to a plate when they’re browned, leaving the fat in the pan.
Start heating your oven to 350° F. Prepare the lemongrass stalks by cutting off the tops and bottoms, then removing the outer layer of each. With the butt of a knife handle or something similar, bruise the length of each stalk until they’re smashed enough to tie each into a knot. Add the lemongrass to the cooking pan, followed by the onions, garlic cloves and ginger. Cook over medium heat, stirring until the onions soften—about 2 minutes. Cover the pan and cook until the onions are golden in color—stir occasionally during the 8 minutes that this will take.
Stir in the Thai chiles, sugar and ground turmeric, stirring briefly before pouring in the 3 cans of coconut milk, the fish sauce and 1.5 cups of water. Bring the liquid to a simmer, stirring and scraping up any brown bits from the short rib-browning process. Return the short ribs to the pan, nestling them between the lemongrass. Cover the pan with its lid and put in the oven for about 2 hours, until the meat is tender. When the meat is done, remove and discard the lemongrass and stir in the lime juice.
Serve hot with jasmine rice by spooning the short ribs and coconut milk over the rice and topping with green onions or cilantro leaves.
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