Flanken beef short ribs Asian style

shelly

New member
It's been a while since I posted any cooks on my DB. I've been busy playing with different indoor rotisseries, (returned 2 and kept the 3rd but I digress.)

I grew up in my grandpa's kosher butcher shop. Every week he brought home flanken cut short ribs (called just flanken at home) which were a staple in my grandma's Friday night chicken soup. The boiled flanken was her personal reward and she ate it with fresh horseradish. The rest of the family just enjoyed the chicken and soup.

Flash forward 60 years and now I'm smoking this cut of meat in the DB. It's a tough cut, usually prepared by braising in liquid. But I find that a couple of days in a marinade containing alcohol tenderizes it, as does a nice low and slow 5 hour smoke at 225°.

I rarely find flanken cut short ribs that don't have large fat pockets so I usually don't buy them at the inflated market prices. But the other day, I found some beauties that were marbled without any larger chunks of fat--and on sale. Such a deal! I bought 8 lbs but only prepared half of it today.

I mixed up an Asian style marinade with soy sauce, sherry, Splenda for the sweetener, 5-spice, crushed garlic, ginger, garlic chili paste and some ketchup for a richer color.

And marinated the 4 lbs (10 strips) for two days in a gallon freezer bag, turning each morning and evening.

Into the DB once the controller stabilized at 225°. At that temp it takes my grill an hour to reach 225° on my Maverick pit thermometer because of the cold meat. At hour 2, it reads 235° and at hour 3, 4, and 5 it reads 245°. Know your pit. The higher temps at the end of the cook help develop a beautiful glaze.

Here's a shot at hour 2 just after I turned the ribs. It was the only turn and no sauce was applied at all.

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My wife tasted a small piece and liked it a lot so I guess that I will have to share some of these. Although she does not usually eat any meat other than poultry and fish, she likes to have a bite or two of my ribs to taste the flavor (I use the same marinades on her tofu). And it was a testament to the meat being tender as she will not chew anything tough.

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Here's my dinner plate, mixing the ribs with some stir fried vegetbles.

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Shelly
 
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