Who doesn’t love a long, slow, oven-braised short-rib in the winter, served over hot buttered egg noodles? In July? Not so much. But I found bone-in short ribs on sale at the grocer, and since I really do love that rich beefy flavor and melty tenderness (AND I found myself with a Sunday afternoon and nothing to do but stay cool), I thought I’d tackle short ribs on the grill.
I’d seen the BBQ U guy on PBS do various Asian-inspired glazes, and since I have a number of Asian-sourced condiments, I was pretty confident I could throw something together. I knew short-ribs took about 2 1/2 hours in my oven after first being seared off in a pan, so if I did some direct heat followed by indirect heat, maybe that would approximate the sear/braise. After a consult with my husband, I decided to put them in a disposable pan with a touch of water to keep them moist and avoid the more complicated plate-setter indirect setup. These really couldn’t have been easier. On a larger grill like mine, I think I could double the recipe (using two pans) and cook for a crowd.
Grilled Short Ribs with an Asian Flair
(serves 3 – 4)
2 1/2 to 3 pounds bone-in beef short ribs
Glaze # 1
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 teaspoons reduced sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 star anise
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon ground coriander
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon-based “baking spice” [* see note at end of page]
Glaze #2
1/4 cup oyster sauce
1/2 – 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
Set up your grill for direct and indirect grilling. Because I was using our XL BGE (brick house), I was able to pile the coals towards the front of the grill for my “direct” grilling, leaving the rear of the grill without coals for my “indirect” grilling. Heat grill to 375F to 400F, pretty hot.
Combine all the ingredients for Glaze #1 in a small bowl. Put the short ribs, bone-side down, in a single layer in a disposable aluminum pan. Add about 1/4″ water to the pan. Brush about half of Glaze #1 onto the ribs (save the rest for later!). Put the ribs in their pan on the direct side of the grill for about an hour. At the one hour mark, check your ribs. They should be pulling back from the bone, fat will be rendering off, and they will be starting to carmelize. BUT, they will be tough as can be. Brush on the remainder of Glaze #1 and slide your pan to the indirect side of the grills. [Food safety note: Please use a fresh brush for each glaze session]
To make Glaze #2, combine the oyster sauce and enough rice vinegar to make it spreadable but not runny.
About 1 hour after moving the ribs to the indirect, check them. The smaller ones will be getting tender but the larger ones are probably not quite ready. Brush about half of Glaze #2 onto the ribs (save the rest for later!).
Check again about 1/2 hour later — the ribs should be crusty on the outside but fork tender if poked (they may need a touch more time if they are all big).
Pull the ribs from the grill and brush with the remainder of Glaze #2. Let rest on the counter for about 10 minutes before digging in.
I served these with a microwaveable “Confetti Rice” from Trader Joe’s (it has lemongrass and Thai-inspired flavors) and a gingery white sangria. My husband LOVED the ribs. I was just relieved to have avoided using both oven and stovetop!
This is a kid-approved recipe: Note the lack of black pepper or chili flakes.
*****
[*] This is a cinnamon-based spice mix that includes such things as ginger, nutmeg, mace, cloves, and/or allspice. Sometimes labled “Pumpkin Pie Spice” or “Apple Pie Spice”. Mine contains cinnamon, mace, anise, and a touch of cardamom.