What is Braised Beef Short Ribs?
Braised beef short ribs are a luxurious and indulgent dish featuring succulent beef short ribs that have been slow-cooked to tender perfection in a flavorful liquid. Braised beef short ribs start with meaty, bone-in sections of beef short ribs, which are renowned for their rich, marbled texture and deep, beefy flavor. To prepare this dish, the short ribs are typically seared in a hot pan to create a caramelized crust, enhancing their taste and locking in juices. The ribs are then placed in a deep, heavy pot or Dutch oven along with a mixture of aromatic vegetables, such as onions, carrots, and celery. These vegetables add layers of flavor to the dish as they soften and meld with the meat during the slow cooking process. A liquid is added to the pot, which can include red wine, beef broth, or a combination of both. Additional seasonings like garlic, fresh herbs (like rosemary and thyme), salt, and pepper are introduced to infuse the broth with robust and savory notes.
What does Braised Beef Short Ribs Taste Like?
Salty is one of the five main tastes. It has a satisfying and addictive quality with hints of sourness. Salty foods include cheeses, cured meats, chips, and olives. It is used in almost every dish and prepared food. Salt is added to enhance flavor and offer a distinctly salty taste.
Umami is one of five main tastes. It is savory with a depth of flavor. Umami is a taste in many foods, including meat, seafood, beans, and nuts. It is both naturally occurring and created through the specific use of ingredients to create a satisfying taste. Umami is characteristic of proteins and savory dishes.
Spicy is a flavor that brings heat and fire to food by creating a burning sensation in the mouth or sinuses. Spicy flavors come from hot peppers, horseradish, and wasabi. Spicy adds a kick and sometimes complexity to a dish and releases endorphins, creating a mildly addictive quality.
Ingredients
Beef ribs come from cattle. The rib is a cut of beef from the chuck, brisket, plate or rib of cattle. It is tender, juicy and often served as a slab. The flavor is meaty and varies depending on the flavorings added, such as barbecue sauce and dry rubs. The method of preparation changes the flavor also, whether it is grilled, roasted or pan cooked.
Beef stock is made from boiling beef bones in water, often with vegetables and seasonings. The stock boils for twelve to twenty-four hours typically. The result is a brown colored liquid with a thin layer of fat on top. The flavor is rich, meaty and somewhat vegetal. Beef stock is used in soups, sauces, and as a cooking liquid for many dishes.
The onion is a bulb vegetable, meaning its bulb and not its leaves are eaten. Onions come in many varieties, including white, yellow and red. Shallots are small and mild onions. Vidalias are sweet, while red onions are strong and sharp. The onion is usually round and has a thin dry skin around its juicy layers. This skin depends in the color of the onion, as does the flesh. The flesh, or body of the onion is made of multiple round layers, that get smaller towards the center. The flavor of onions are sharp and sweet when raw, with an astringent taste. When cooked, these flavors mellow and the sweetness emerges. Onion are a very common flavoring and ingredient for many savory dishes.
Worcestershire sauce is a condiment used primarily in the cooking process and less as a topping. It is a fermented liquid made of vinegar, soy sauce and seasonings. It is dark brown with a thin viscosity. The flavor is savory, salty and umami with a hint of sweetness. It is primarily used with meats.
Olive oil is extracted from the fresh olive, which grows on a tree. Many olives are needed in the extraction of the oil. This is done by a mechanical process and sometimes by a chemical process, though the mechanical method is highly preferred. Olive oil is a golden color and changes slightly due to whether it is extra virgin, or first cold pressed. The flavor of olive oil depends on how it was processed. Lower quality oils will taste mild, while high quality olive oils will have a robust flavor that is green, or may have a spicy quality. Extra virgin and first cold pressed or preferred. Olive oil lends a depth of flavor to any savory dish.
Garlic is used in cuisines around the world and is extremely popular for its depth of flavor. The garlic bulb forms underneath the soil and is harvested once it reaches maturity. The bulb typically has thin, dry, white and flaky skin, surrounding the individual cloves. Often there are 10-12 cloves to a bulb/head of garlic. The cloves are cream colored with a strong smell and flavor that is spicy and sharp. Garlic takes on a nutty flavor in addition, when cooked. It is used in countless dishes, sauces, breads and more.
Salt is a mineral composed mostly of sodium chloride. It is the main flavoring used in food and is naturally occurring in certain foods, such as cheese, beets, meat and celery, plus many others. Salt is white and has finer granules than sugar. Many commercial salts include iodide, while others exclude it. Most salts are white, while some are naturally pale pink with minerals. Salt brings out the flavor of something and can create a tangy mouthfeel, if used in excess.
The peppercorn plant grows in tropical climate and produces tiny black fruit. The fruit is dried and become hard. At this point it is ground into a textured powder comprised of black and grey dots. It has a flavor that is spicy, pungent and sharp. Pepper is an extremely popular spice, especially in Western cuisines and lends a gentle heat to dishes. There are different varieties of black pepper and the flavor changes subtly because of this.
Rosemary is a woody herb and grows on a plant that looks like a small bush. The dense stalks are reminiscent of a Christmas tree, with the many skinny rosemary leaves situated much like fir needles. However, rosemary is a soft leaf and has a very strong aromatic smell. This smell is sharp, yet pleasing and refreshingly green. Dried rosemary smells similar and is dried using air or mild heat. The leaves remain fairly intact and are added to potatoes and meat. The flavor has a quality that could be considered distantly like mint, but sharper and with a hint of bitterness.
