After some unfortunately warm weather in Houston we finally got back down to the 40’s overnight this week, which made it the perfect time for some long slow cooking. In a fortunate coincidence, short ribs were on special at HMART! This recipe served 5 people comfortably, with enough leftovers for lunch for two. If you haven’t used gochujang before, it’s amazing. It’s a fermented red chili paste made with glutinous rice powder and it makes everything more delicious. I get tubs of it at HMART but you can find it now at most grocery stores.

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You do have to commit early in the day to making this. Cooking time will be 4 1/2 hours including all of the browning, plus chopping time and you want at least an hour for the short ribs to sit in seasoning and come to room temp.

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You can use literally any mushrooms that you want for this recipe. I like a combination of oyster and shimeji; they add some fun texture and I think add some really nice looking shapes to the short ribs.

Ingredients

3 pounds bone in short ribs

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 teaspoons sesame oil

salt and pepper

1 1/2 pounds mushrooms of your choice

2 large heads garlic roughly chopped

2 inches ginger sliced

1 medium onion chopped

2 medium carrots chopped

3 tablespoons gochujang

2 tablespoons tomato paste

2 12-oz cans neutral beer

1 tsp fish sauce

mint, basil, and/or cilantro chopped for topping

Instructions

• A few hours before you’re ready to start cooking, pat short ribs dry and season with salt and pepper on all sides.
• Preheat oven to 275 F.
• Heat vegetable oil in a large dutch oven over medium high heat. Working in batches, sear short ribs on all sides until deeply and evenly browned, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer browned short ribs to a large plate and continue with remaining ribs. Repeat process with the mushrooms to brown.

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• Add sesame oil to pot. Reduce heat to medium and add garlic and ginger. Cook until garlic is golden, add onions and carrot. Season with salt and pepper and cook until softened and onions are lightly browned.
• Add gochujang and tomato paste and stir to coat. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally until the pastes have started to caramelize.
• Add beer and fish sauce and scrape up any brown bits. Let this simmer for 2-3 minutes. Add mushrooms and nestle short ribs in the liquid. bring back up to a simmer, cover and put in oven.
• Cook undisturbed for 3 1/2 to 4 hours, removing lid for the final hour of cooking. Top with herbs and serve with mashed sweet potatoes or grits.