Asian five spice short ribs

How can 6 hours of sitting on the couch watching football be productive? When you're also using that time to braise beef short ribs, of course! In the end, the meat literally falls off the bone, and a knife is barely necessary. The perfect combination of tenderness and extreme meatiness.

The first step is to lightly coat the short ribs with a spiced flour mixture, then quickly brown them on all sides, making sure not to crowd the pan. When the ribs are done, a braising liquid is made in the same pan, consisting of caramelized vegetables, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar and beef broth. The ribs are added back to the pan and braised for 3 hours. The meat will shrink and retract from the bone, resulting in tender chunks of beef that just barely hold together.

Next, a quick five spice-honey glaze is made in a small saucepan, simmering on low heat until syrupy.
The ribs are coated with the glaze and placed under the broiler for a few minutes on each side, creating a sweet crust. We paired the short ribs with garlic mashed potatoes.

Asian Five Spice Short Ribs
From The Nourish Network
Serves 6

2 tsp vegetable oil
3 Tbsp five spice powder, divided
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
6 pounds bone-in beef short ribs
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped carrot
3 cloves minced garlic
2 Tbsp chopped ginger
1/2 cup soy sauce, divided
1/2 cup rice wine vinegar, divided
1 cup beef broth
1/4 cup honey

Preheat oven to 300. Heat oil over medium-high heat in large pot (oven-proof, if possible). Mix together 2 Tbsp five spice powder, flour and salt. Dredge ribs in the flour mixture, tapping off excess, and brown on all sides, making sure not to crowd the pan. Remove to a plate when done.

Add onion, carrot, garlic and ginger to pot and brown for 8-10 minutes. Deglaze pan with 1/4 cup soy sauce, 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar and beef broth and bring to a boil. If your pot is oven-proof, add the ribs, cover and transfer to the oven. If not, transfer the ribs and everything else into an oven-proof dish. Braise for 3 hours and remove from oven.

When the ribs are almost done cooking, mix together honey and remaining 1/4 cup soy sauce, 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar and 1 Tbsp five spice powder in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower heat to medium and reduce glaze until syrupy, about 10 minutes.

When ribs are done, transfer to a cookie sheet and turn the oven to broil. Brush ribs with half the glaze and broil for 3 minutes. Turn over, brush with remaining glaze and broil another 3 minutes.

New Year's Eve Hot Truck!

If you attended Cornell University sometime between 1960 and today, you probably know, and love The Hot Truck. Parked below the West Campus dorms every night during the school year, the truck serves up french bread pizza to anyone willing to stand outside in the freezing Ithaca winter for an hour or more. Luckily, most of the customers are drunk enough not to notice the frostbite. I worked at Truck for two and a half years (as did my wife and several friends), taking orders, relaying them to Bob (the founder) and later Mike (the new owner), sliding the subs into the ovens, removing them when cooked, and finally handing them out to patrons. Saying that our group ate at Hot Truck two to three times per week for four years is probably close to accurate (hey, we were drunk, if that works as an excuse . . .). So when we all get together for New Year's Eve, as we have every year since graduation, Hot Truck is always on the menu.

I am in change of putting together the subs, containing everything from pepperoni and sausage, to BBQ chips, mustard and carrots. The standard sub, called a PMP, or Poor Man's Pizza, consists of butterflied French bread (preferably from the Ithaca Bakery), tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese, topped with oregano and cooked at 450 until the cheese begins to brown. My favorite sub, the Scooby, is basically a PMP with pepperoni, meatballs, onion, garlic powder and red pepper flakes. After cooking is complete, mayonnaise and lettuce (grease and garden, or G&G, in the Hot Truck language) are added and the sub is placed in a paper bag. It's not clean, neat or healthy, but it's damn good.

Here is a quick sample of what my friends requested on New Year's Eve:
MBC - PMP with meatballs
Ken - PMP with sausage, pepperoni, onion, garlic powder, red pepper flake, G&G, BBQ chips (crushed and placed on the sub after cooking)
Sui - PMP with mushrooms, sausage and pepperoni

To make your own Truck, find soft french bread and slice it lengthwise, keeping the two sides together. Cover with tomato sauce and add garlic powder, hot sauce and red pepper flakes, if desired.

Next, layer on onion, meatballs, pepperoni and sausage, followed by cheese and oregano.


Bake at 450 for about 6-8 minutes, or until cheese starts to brown and the bread crisps up. Top with mayonnaise, lettuce, BBQ (or sour cream and onion) chips, and/or mustard.

Fold the two sides together, place in a paper bag and eat!