Asian-Style Braised Beef Shanks

Adapted from fineCooking Magazine "Create Your Own Recipe"

Printable Recipe


Prep time: 20 minutes

Braising time: 3 hours

Serves 2-4

Ingredients:

4 large beef shanks with marrow (figure 1-2 per person, you could also use thick cut short ribs)
3 tbsp olive oil
Salt & freshly ground black pepper 
2 cups medium-diced onions

handful of. dried mushrooms, steeped in 1 cup hot water until soft, then coarsely chopped (about 5 minutes)

1 tbsp finely chopped fresh ginger

1 tbsp finely chopped garlic

2 to 3 whole star anise

1/2 cup sherry (or rice wine, which I was out of)

1/4 cup lower-sodium soy sauce

3 cups total: 2 cups lower-salt beef broth  plus 1 cup mushroom soaking water 

1 to 2 tsp rice wine vinegar

1 to 2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:

1.  Preheat the oven to 325°F/160°C. 

2. In an 8-quart Dutch oven, heat 1 tbsp olie oil over medium heat. Season the shanks with salt and pepper. Add the shanks to the pot in one layer without overlapping.  Let the meat sit for 3 minutes before trying to turn with tongs.  They are ready to turn when they no longer stick to the pan.  Repeat the process for the other side. Transfer the seared ones to a plate and repeat the process with more shanks if required.  

2. Add the remaining oil and onions to the pan. Cook, stirring and scraping up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan, until the onions are soft and lightly browned, 6 to 8 minutes. Add chopped dried mushrooms, ginger, garlic, and star anise, and cook, stirring, until well distributed and fragrant, about 1 minute.

3. Pour the sherry/rice wine into the pot and cook, stirring to scrape up any browned bits on the bottom of the pot, until the liquid is reduced to about 2 tbsp, about 1 minute.

4. Transfer all the meat (and any juices that have accumulated) back into the pot. Pour the beef broth & mushroom juice mixture and soy sauce over the ribs and using tongs, arrange the ribs as evenly as possible and no more than two layers deep.

5. Bring the liquid to a simmer, cover, and put the pot in the oven. Cook, turning the ribs with tongs about every 40 minutes, until they are fork tender, about 3 hours. (The meat may fall off most of the bones about midway through cooking; this does not mean that the ribs are fully tender.)

6. Transfer the ribs to a serving platter or dish. Let the sauce and solids sit in the pot for a few minutes to cool and with a shallow spoon, skim off as much of the fat as possible from the surface. Season the sauce to taste with salt and pepper, and add the vinegar.

Serve the ribs with the sauce spooned over, sprinkled with chopped cilantro.