Sous-Vide Beef Shortribs with Pomme Purée
Inspirations: Momofuku cookbook
Number of times I’ve made this dish: 40+
Early mistakes I made: Thinking store-bought beef stock was suitable. Also, blending potato puree is terrible, unless you’re trying to make glue (lmao).
Lessons learned: The fattier the short rib, the better. Slicing the short ribs off the bone makes it easier to work with at the end. Sous-vide is a great way of making large quantities for a dinner party. You can leave the bags in the fridge after they’re done cooking, and reheat whenever you need them.
Secrets unlocked: I also discovered that thick, green, Korean rubber gloves are great for peeling steaming-hot potatoes for the purée. A food mill/ricer is also great, especially when you pass the potatoes through a tamis after. (It’s so much work, though.)
Practical culinary science learned: The science behind making beef jus/reductions; how sous-vide tenderizes tough cuts by slowly rendering connective tissue at constant temperature.
Techniques improved through repetition: Slicing short ribs properly against the grain.
Ingredients (22)
Ingredients (22)
Garnishes
Soy Butter Bordelaise
Instructions
Heat a water bath with an immersion circulator to 144 °F.
Season short ribs (3 lb) liberally with salt and black pepper.
Heat a sauté pan over medium-high heat, then coat with beef tallow (2 Tbsp). Working in batches, sear the short ribs until well-browned on all sides.
Deposit each rib into a vacuum-sealable bag, along with 1 clove of garlic, 1 slice of ginger, and 1 sprig of thyme. Cook sous vide for 48 hours.
Carefully open and remove the short ribs. Strain and reserve the liquid for the sauce.
When ready to serve, slice each short rib off the bone, then briefly sear in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Slice the meat into thick slices against the grain, and garnish with dehydrated green onion powder, puffed black rice, fried garlic chips, and Maldon. Serve with pomme puree and Soy Butter Bordelaise.
Soy Butter Bordelaise
In a saucepan over medium heat, stir soy sauce (½ cup) and oyster sauce (½ cup) until combined. Drop the heat to low and add the butter (1 cup), stirring constantly to emulsify. Cool and store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
This will make more soy butter than you need, but it’s great to have around.
To make the Bordelaise, add the red wine (¾ tsp), shallots (2 medium), thyme (¼ tsp), and bay leaf (1) to a small saucepan over medium heat.
Bring the mixture to a rolling boil and continue to cook to reduce the contents until there’s very little liquid left.
When I first started making this sauce, I’d only reduce the liquid by half, which is not nearly enough. You want it extremely concentrated.
Add the beef stock (2 cups) and bring back to a boil. Reduce by half, then strain out the solids with a fine-mesh strainer.
Return to the stove, and whisk in 3 tablespoons or 4 tablespoons of soy butter, a little at a time until emulsified and smooth.
Season with salt (to taste), pepper, and reserved short-rib cooking liquid.
Notes
Notes
Sous Vide Pomme Puree (DO NOT MAKE THESE)
I used to do this dumb thing and blend my mashed potatoes with a stick blender. Yes, I used to eat gummy mashed potatoes like a dumbo. I’m only including this recipe, so you can see how dumb I was, and so you don’t make the same mistake of thinking, Huh, maybe I should make sous-vide pomme puree.
Ingredients
- 100 g Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and sliced thin
- 50 g butter
- 28 g whole milk
- Salt
- Freshly ground white pepper
Instructions
- Place the potatoes in a vacuum-sealable bag with butter and milk. Cook in a sous-vide bath at 90C/194F for 30min to 1hr.
- Remove potatoes from the bag and blitz the fuck out of them with an immersion blender. Season with salt and white pepper. Throw away.