While looking through my old posts, I found this recipe for Five Spice Beef Short Ribs I published a few years ago. I am posting it again as it is fast and easy, which is perfect after all the holiday planning and fussing!
Some days you need a recipe that comes together in no time, and takes even less time to cook. I had one of those days recently, and out of it this recipe was born.
Back in the late 1980’s to early 1990’s I used to love this TV show called “The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd” that starred Blair Brown. I wonder if they have it on Netflix. . . but I digress. There was a running joke about a Chinese restaurant that delivered the food so fast the doorbell rang before you even hung up the phone. Apparently they used astral projection, but it really just inferred that Chinese food is so fast to make, it’s delivered almost immediately.
Chinese food can be fast, that is if you don’t count the prep time. Think about making a stir fry from scratch, slicing and chopping all those vegetables. Then it takes all of 5 minutes to stir fry in the wok! This recipe really is fast from start to finish. Although I let my meat marinate for a few hours, you can marinate for as little as 10 minutes up to overnight. I used flanken-style beef short ribs, which are cut across the bone in very thin strips. This insures very quick cooking.
I served my ribs with steamed baby bok choy and rice. Easy peazy. And that’s how I like it.
Five Spice Beef Short Ribs
1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
2-3 large cloves of garlic, smashed or roughly chopped
1 TB Five Spice Powder
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
1 1/2 - 2 lbs flanken style beef shorts ribs
In a small bowl mix the soy sauce, garlic, five spice powder and sesame oil. Pour the marinade over the short ribs, stir to coat and let sit for at least 10 minutes.
When ready to cook the short ribs, preheat your broiler for 5 minutes. Heat your broiler pan while you are preheating the broiler, so the meat will sear as soon as it hits the pan.
Remove the pan from the broiler, then carefully lay your short ribs on the HOT pan. Please do not forget the pan is preheated, and grab it with your bare hands to put back in the broiler. Please. Cook the short ribs for 2-3 minutes, until just done. Do not overcook the meat or it will get tough and chewy.
