Short Rib Kimchi Stew

Short Rib Kimchi Stew

Although Short Rib Kimchi Stew simmers on the stove for a full two-hours, it’s one of the simplest recipes I’ve made in a long time. Hands on cooking time is no more than 10 minutes, freeing you to do whatever else you need to do while the smell of short ribs fills up your kitchen.

The secret to the flavor of this stew is two-fold: 1) the intense pan juices created by the short ribs simmering slowly in a garlicky broth, and 2) really good kimchi. The spicy sour deliciousness of fermented cabbage is something I learned love during the 2 years I lived in Seoul. I particularly enjoy it in soups and stews, like Kimchi Jigae and Kimchi guk with noodles.

Our local Korean market sells whole Napa cabbage kimchi made without sugar (the bacteria feeds on the sugars in the cabbage alone). This is important for those of you who are celebrating the New Year with a Whole30 or a sugar detox.  If you can’t find sugar-free kimchi locally, you can make it yourself with this recipe from My New Roots, or you can order it online from Sunja’s Kimchi.

In case you missed it, this week’s Weekly Seasonal Menu is Whole30 compliant. We’ll post 3 more Whole30 menus  over the next 3 weeks.  You can find all of our weekly seasonal menus here.

Short Rib Kimchi Stew

5.0 from 1 reviews

Short Rib Kimchi Stew

 

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Prep time

5 mins

Cook time

2 hours 15 mins

Total time

2 hours 20 mins

 

Author: three beans on a string

Serves: 6 servings

Ingredients

• 1¼ pounds short ribs (2 large bone-in short ribs)
• 6 cups low sodium beef broth, divided
• ¼ cup coconut aminos
• 8 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
• 2 cups shredded carrots
• 4 cups kimchi
• 1 cup of the red spicy liquid from the kimchi
• 1¼ cups bean sprouts

Instructions

1. In a large stockpot, cover the short ribs with water and bring to a boil. Immediately drain the water and set the beef aside. This step helps make a clearer broth. Wash the stock pot.
2. Return the short ribs to the stock pot and cover with 2 cups of the beef broth. Add the coconut aminos, garlic and rice wine vinegar. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for 2 hours or until short ribs are tender. Add broth as necessary if the liquid gets too low.
3. When the short ribs are tender, add the carrots, kimchi, kimchi liquid and the remaining 4 cups of the beef broth. Turn the heat up to medium and cook until the stew is heated through and flavors are combined, about 15 minutes.
4. Remove the short ribs from the pot and pull the meat away from the bones. Discard the bones and return the meat to the stew.
5. Divide the stew into 6 bowls and serve topped with ¼ bean sprouts per bowl.

3.2.2925

About the Photographs

My focus in today’s photographs was on light and shadow. The stew is presented in a simple black bowl, with the short ribs appearing to float on top. I created the floating effect by making a little shelf inside my bowl with a plastic tupperware lid and then covering the shelf with soup before piling on kimchi and short ribs. The background is the rusted back of an antique ceiling tile. The only props I used are several dried red peppers I bought at a Korean market and an antique crock that created the marbled brown texture behind the bowl of stew.

I took these photos with my  Nikon D80, using a 28mm f2.8 NIKKOR wide angle lens. I used a Lowell Ego tabletop light like this one, at around 8 p.m., in complete darkness (with all other lights turned off). The light was positioned directly to the right and slightly in front of the food. I used black foam boards behind and to the left of the food to create shadow.  My ISO was set at 640, and the shutter speed was 1/200. The aperture was 3.5 in photo at the top of the page and 2.8 in the two shots below it.

Short Rib Kimchi Stew