Beef Short Ribs with Star Anise and Ginger – The Best of Both Worlds

Around these parts, having one’s cake and eating it is deemed not to be possible. The same goes in Italy where they say “Volere la botte piena e la moglie ubriaca” – to want the barrel full and the wife drunk. In Hungary, they say “Egy fenékkel nem lehet két lovat megülni” – It is impossible to ride two horses with one butt. I take issue with this defeatism. You can have the best of both worlds, if beef short ribs with a little Oriental twist is your thing. 

All one needs is a little imagination, patience and a willingness to experiment. If you want to get the wife drunk, or ride two horses, that’s your business and has little place here.

A non-traditional set of ingredients make for a very interesting experiment.

To serve six people you will need the following:

Ingredients

• 12 short rib pieces as shown, or 6 larger cuts
• 7 0r 8 carrots
• 3 or 4 onions
• 1 and a half bulbs of garlic
• 6 to 8 slices of ginger
• 6 star anise
• 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon of caraway seeds
• 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds
• 3 teaspoons of mixed peppercorns
• 1 tablespoon of tomato purée
• 500ml or a pint of good beef stock
• 1 teaspoon of smoked sea salt (or ordinary salt)
• 1 large glass of good, robust, red wine
• 5 or 6 parsnips
• 1 celeriac
• Salt and pepper to season

Slice the onions into quarters.

No need for fine slicing. You can half your onion and eat it too!

Peel and slice the carrots into 3cm (1″) pieces. Peel the garlic and trim the ends. Slice the ginger. Heat a casserole dish and add a little oil. Brown the ribs on all sides.

These are good quality, grass fed, long aged, beef ribs. You can have it all!

Remove the beef and reserve. Add the onions and reduce the heat to low. Add a little water and place a lid on the casserole. Cook the onions until they are near translucent. Add back the beef pieces.

Browned on nearly all sides. This one wouldn’t stand up!

Add the remaining dry ingredients, bar the celeriac and parsnip. Take a photograph of them because they look lovely.

There is a lot of flavour in these ingredients. I like this photo.

Add the wet ingredients.

Stock, wine and tomato purée also add a decent belt of flavour.

Cover with a tight fitting lid and cook in a 160ºC oven for 5 hours. Yes, 5 hours. The ribs will give up huge flavour to the meat. The garlic will melt into the sauce and the star anise and ginger will add their unique Oriental flavour too. The remaining ingredients will add a few more subtle layers of flavour too. However, you want the best of both worlds. To do that, chop the parsnips and celeriac into 3cm cubes and steam until soft. Add them to a food processor and blitz to a smooth purée. Season and add a knob of butter if you wish. The sauce may need to be thickened slightly by cooking with the lid off on the stovetop for a while.

Spot the deliberate error. Though, I am left handed, the cutlery is reversed.

The Oriental flavoured beef works beautifully with the very traditional purée and carrots. It’s proof positive that you can ride two horses with one butt. However, if you would rather enjoy a delicious meal and have the best of both worlds, this is the one for you.