Cooking Together

You don’t need to be side-by-side to enjoy a cooking session.

Speaking as someone with admittedly limited culinary knowledge, I find watching someone cook fascinating. Maybe it’s a mindset thing, maybe it’s a practice thing, but the notion that someone can take a bunch of composite ingredients and turn them into a single delicious dish is truly wondrous. Unfortunately, due to current circumstances, I can’t visit my friends and see their culinary masterworks in action. It’s unfortunate, but not all hope is lost. Just look at Chris Morocco and Christina Chaey of Bon Appetit; they’re nowhere near each other, but thanks to the magic of video chatting, they can still enjoy each others’ company while Chris prepares a delicious batch of soy-flavored short ribs. They say food is better enjoyed in the presence of company, so while we can’t be right next to each other, I think we can call this the next best thing. If the idea of short ribs has you eager to cook for an audience, here’s a recipe for you.

Red Wine and Soy–Braised Short Ribs

Ingredients

4 lb. 2″-thick boneless beef short ribs or 5 lb. 2″-thick crosscut bone-in short ribs flanken style, cut into 2×2″ pieces
Kosher salt
2 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. grapeseed or extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion chopped
8 garlic cloves crushed
1 2 ” piece ginger peeled, sliced ⅛” thick
2 cups dry red wine
½ cup mirin sweet Japanese rice wine
⅓ cup soy sauce
¼ cup packed light brown sugar
¼ mu radish or daikon about 8 oz., peeled, cut into 1″ pieces
1 large egg beaten to blend
Shilgochu or gochugaru coarse Korean hot pepper flakes, sliced scallions, and cooked rice (for serving)

Instructions

Thoroughly season the short ribs with salt. Heat 2 Tbsp. oil in a small pot on medium-high heat. In 2 batches, cook the ribs while turning occasionally (turn the heat down if you need to so they don’t scorch), until they’re browned all over, 10–12 minutes per batch. Move those to a plate.
Add the onion, garlic, and ginger to same pot and cook, stirring often, until they’re soft and lightly browned, 6–8 minutes. Add the wine and bring the pot to a boil. Turn the heat down and let it simmer until the liquid has reduced by half, 8–10 minutes. Add the mirin, soy sauce, brown sugar, and 2 cups water. Put the ribs back in the pot and get the liquid simmering. Partially cover the pot and cook, carefully adjusting the heat to maintain a very gentle simmer and adding splashes of water as needed, until ribs are tender and easily shredded and the sauce is thick enough to coat the meat, 3–3½ hours. Add the radish in about 1 hour before the ribs are done. Take them off the heat.
Heat up the remaining 1 tsp. of oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the egg and tilt the pan to create a very thin 6–8″ circle. Cook just until the egg has set, about 1 minute, then roll it up into a cylinder. Move that to a cutting board and thinly slice into ribbons.
Top the ribs with egg, shilgochu, and scallions. Serve with a side of rice.