Recipes > Braised Malaysian Short Ribs

Braised Malaysian Short Ribs

Details

Beer-braised short ribs are seasoned with exotic Malaysian meat curry powder and are finished with a touch of coconut milk to create a luxurious sauce.
  • Serves: 4
  • Active Time: 1 hr 15 mins
  • Total Time: 6 hrs
  • Views: 78,185
  • Success Rating: 98% (?)
    0% - I fed it to the dog
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Steps

Step 1: Seasoning the Ribs

Seasoning the Ribs
  • 3 to 4 tbsp Malaysian Meat Curry Powder (Rouxbe recipe below)
  • 4 lb short ribs (bone-in)

Method

To start, trim off any silver skin from the ribs. Rub the ribs with the meat curry powder. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or even overnight.

Step 2: Preparing Your Mise en Place

Preparing Your Mise en Place
  • 1 onion
  • 1-inch fresh ginger
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 1 cup beef, veal or chicken stock
  • 1 bottle lager beer (12 oz)
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 to 2 makrut lime leaves (or bay leaves)

Method

Once you are ready to start cooking the ribs, prepare the rest of your mise en place.

Roughly chop the onion, garlic and ginger. Gather the beer, stock, soy sauce and the makrut lime leaves and set everything aside.

Next, place the oven rack in the lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven to 200º degrees Fahrenheit (or 95º degrees Celsius).

Step 3: Searing the Ribs

Searing the Ribs
  • 2 tsp grapeseed (or vegetable oil)

Method

To brown (sear) the ribs, heat a heavy-bottomed pot over medium to medium-high heat. If needed, pat the ribs dry but be careful to not rub off the spices. Once the pot is hot, add the oil and brown the ribs in a single layer. Brown each side for about 3 or 4 minutes. Use tongs to turn the ribs and once the ribs are completely browned, transfer them to a plate.

Step 4: Cooking the Dish

Cooking the Dish
  • pinch of sea salt

Method

To cook the dish, pour off and discard any excess fat from the pot. Next, add the onions and a pinch of salt. Sauté the onions until they soften and start to brown, about 5 minutes. Then add the garlic and ginger. Stir and cook until fragrant, about a minute or so.

Next, deglaze with the beer. Bring the liquid to a boil over high heat. Let cook for about 2 minutes, scraping up any of the browned and caramelized bits from the bottom of the pot. Then pour in the stock and soy sauce and bring the liquid to a simmer. Add the makrut lime leaves and return the ribs to the pot.

The liquid should rise at least two-thirds the way up the ribs. If it doesn’t, simply add a bit more beer or stock. Bring to a simmer, cover the pot with a lid and place into the oven for about 2 to 3 hours. Turning the ribs every hour or so.

Once the ribs are fork tender, use a slotted spoon to transfer them to a plate. Cover and keep warm while you finish the sauce.

Step 5: Starting the Sauce

Starting the Sauce
  • slurry (optional)

Method

To prepare the sauce, strain the braising liquid into a bowl. Remove the excess fat by spooning off as much as you can from the surface. (Alternatively you can make the ribs ahead and cool the dish in the refrigerator overnight. This will make the fat much easier to remove.)

Once the fat has been removed, pour the sauce back into a pot and taste it. If you feel the flavors need to be more concentrated, reduce the sauce. Let the sauce simmer and reduce until you are happy with the flavor.

Once you are happy with the flavor, you can thicken the sauce, if desired. Whisk in the slurry (cornstarch mixed with a bit of water), a bit at a time, letting the sauce come back to a simmer each time before adding more. Once you reached the desired consistency, turn the heat to low.

Step 6: Finishing the Sauce and Serving

Finishing the Sauce and Serving
  • 1 tbsp palm sugar
  • 1 tsp tamarind paste
  • 1 tsp fish sauce
  • 1 tsp sambal oelek
  • 1/2 cup coconut milk (optional)
  • 1 fresh lime (optional)

Method

To finish the sauce, add the palm sugar, tamarind paste, sambal oelek and fish sauce. To enrich the sauce, you can add a bit of coconut milk. Let this simmer gently for a few minutes and then add the ribs back to the sauce. If you like, you can first remove the meat from the bones and break into pieces. Any excess fat can also be removed, if desired.

Once everything is nice and hot, squeeze some fresh lime juice over top just before serving. These ribs go particularly well with coconut-infused jasmine rice (recipe below).

Chef's Notes

Related Recipes:

Malaysian Meat Curry Powder
Coconut-Infused Rice

41 Comments

  • Liz S
    Liz S
    My husband made this using white wine instead of beer. This would change the taste a bit but it was still a winner. The sauce was delicious as were the short ribs and he has filed the recipe in his "Favourites" folder.
  • Leslie H
    Leslie H
    Made as directed, but ate the next day. The flavours were very intense and delicious! I reduced the sauce down quite a bit so the overall dish was quite rich and flavourful.
  • Rosalyn W
    Rosalyn W
    I'm unable to access the curry powder recipe. Is it no longer available, or is there some trick to it?
  • Dawn T
    Dawn T
    The recipe is still on the site but the link was not working on this particular recipe, it has now been fixed. Cheers!
  • Andrew L
    Andrew L
    Are you supposed to say yumm? These were really good. They disappeared very quickly. Thank you!
  • Faye G
    Faye G
    Sorry to say, but this recipe did not work for my family. The only item I could not get was the tamarind paste. The ribs came out perfect but the sauce was too strongly flavored so the ribs came in as a secondary item of the dish. Regardless of the outcome I’ve learnt what spices will work for my taste for the future cooking. I have had some issues with cardamom pods in the past, but stayed true to the instructions and used them as per recipe. Maybe if I used (I did not) coconut milk it would’ve mellowed the flavor somewhat? So I will keep trying other recipes from Rouxbe. So far this is the first recipe I did not like from Rouxbe. Thank you for giving me an opportunity to learn and improve my cooking skills.
  • Gloria M
    Gloria M
    So far, the only palm sugar I have been able to find locally is in powdered (or granular) form. Would this be an acceptable substitute? Would the quantity need to be adjusted?
  • Dawn T
    Dawn T
    As long as the ingredients listed says 100% palm sugar then it should be fine. Use a 1:1 ratio. Cheers!
  • Alexandre S
    Alexandre S
    Hello! I repeated this receipe twice and both times the result was terrific! I just wondered if the ribs shouldn't be rubbed with theb curry powder after searing, because I couldn't avoid burning the powder during the searing step. No problem at all with the resulting dish, but wouldn't it be even better withou the burnt powder? Thanks in advance.
  • Dawn T
    Dawn T
    The rub is added to the ribs beforehand so that it can start to penetrate and flavor the meat. If left to sit for a couple of hours (as per the recipe) the spices are generally absorbed by the moisture in the meat. When searing, if the heat is monitored, then the spices should be okay. Perhaps you might just need to turn the heat down or a bit, or perhaps use a bit more oil during cooking? Also, be sure to clean the pot in between batches if need be. Hope this helps. Cheers!
  • Alexandre S
    Alexandre S
    Dawn, will follow your advice next time. I've been using the enameld cast iron pot at the searing step. As it takes longer to sear than a stainless steel, maybe it's leaving enough time to burn the curry powder. Your school is so perfect! I've been improving a lot every week! Thank you!
  • Johnny H
    Johnny H
    I am trying to find a substitute for the beer. I am not a fan of beer flavor. It is a major component of the final flavor? What are my options. Thanks Johnny
  • Kimberley S Rouxbe Staff
    Kimberley S
    You can use a dry white wine (as stated above) or you can simply increase the amount of stock.You may also want to check out the lessons in the Moist-Heat Section (Combination Cooking Fundamentals, Braising etc.) of the Cooking School as we go into quite a bit more detail on this. Cheers!
  • Chester 4
    Chester 4
    If short ribs aren't available, what other cuts would be a good substitute?
  • Dawn T
    Dawn T
    Great question Chester. Many other tough cuts of meats can be used instead. For much more detail and suggestions on this, you may want to review the lesson on "Combination Cooking Fundamentals" and even the lesson on "Braising | Combination Cooking" as we go into quite a bit of detail about all of this. Cheers!
  • Mark K
    Mark K
    I'm really looking forward to making this, however I have three quick questions: 1) is there a replacement for palm sugar if I can't find any? 2) is there a replacement for sambal if I can't find any? 3) I assume leftovers are freezable, right? Thanks! mk
  • Kimberley S Rouxbe Staff
    Kimberley S
    Here is a great food reference site for food substitutions to bookmark for future reference. Yes, leftovers can be frozen, no problem. Cheers!
  • Mark K
    Mark K
    Hi, Sorry for the extra question! I was wondering if the recipe would suffer by using boneless short ribs instead of bone-in. And, if so, why? Thanks again! It's all quite an exciting (and delicious) education for me! mk
  • Kimberley S Rouxbe Staff
    Kimberley S
    You can use either but the bone-in will provide more flavor to the dish during the long, slow cooking time. Bones also add some gelatin to the overall liquid and will give it a richer mouth feel. Cheers!
  • Rebecca B
    Rebecca B
    I'm not really sure why, but in my area, I've had an increasingly difficult time acquiring English cut short ribs. I've tried this recipe twice: once with flanken style, and last weekend with the English cut. I liked the English cut much better. It seemed like when I used the flanken cut, the dish seemed overspiced, the meat seemed to cook too quickly (?), the meat seemed to have less texture, and I would find the occasional bone shard with the flanken cut -- which was really annoying and prompted a trip to 2 different stores in my area to get the English cut in the quantity that I would need to do this recipe last weekend. I should say that I really like this recipe. The flavors are fantastic, and paired with the coconut rice, this dish is really a special treat. I just don't make it as often as I would like because I have such a problem sourcing bone-in English cut short ribs. (It seems to require a special order.) Is it possible that I am just cooking the flanken cut ribs too long, resulting in miniature bone shards?
  • Ken R Rouxbe Staff
    Ken R
    We are so glad that you like the recipe! I might suggest asking your butcher to special order the English cut for you. In most cases, they are usually happy to do this to gain your loyalty and keep you as a customer. The flanken style cut is more susceptible to the bone shards that you refer to, as it involves cross-cutting the ribs in short increments, thus exposing the bone and creating the opportunity for splintering. If you inspect each piece of meat before cooking, you may be able to find the larger shards and remove them before cooking. I hope this helps...Enjoy!
  • Rebecca B
    Rebecca B
    Thank you Ken, that's a great suggestion as it is impossible to find the shards in the meat and sauce after cooking is complete. I will try this next time -- if I happen to spontaneously purchase the flanken ribs again. In the meanwhile, though, I will try to plan ahead by special ordering the English cut the next time I decide to use this recipe for entertaining purposes.
  • Jim R
    Jim R
    I followed the recipe except for the Cane Sugar (used Brown Sugar of equal amounts) and I used the recipe for making the curry. I learned a lot, and the meal came out just fantastic! Now my question: I would like to use a large cut of meat rather than the ribs just to serve friends over for dinner. Any suggestions on the cut? Stew Meat? Eye of Round cut 1.2 inch thick or cubed? Just not that much meat on the short ribs!
  • Ken R Rouxbe Staff
    Ken R
    Hi Jim- I would select a meat suitable for combination cooking methods. In this case, for braising, chose a cut with plenty of connective tissue and some fat, like chuck or top round. Eye of round is typically too lean and you run the risk it it getting too dry when braised. I'm curious about where the short ribs came from, as these can be very meaty indeed. Enjoy!
  • Jim R
    Jim R
    Thanks Ken for your suggestion on type of meat to use. The ribs I got were from Seabra Market, which is a small chain in the Northeast, USA. With your question, I will be checking short ribs in other stores to compare. They were labeled Short Ribs, looked about the right size only a "little" smaller and I know my meat fairly well, so did not pick up the wrong thing. I bought 8 short ribs to feed 3 people, and I could have easily eaten 4+ as they were so tasty. Just a lot of fuss for so little meat. Fat content was acceptable, not excessive.
  • Ken R Rouxbe Staff
    Ken R
    Hi Jim- Great, I'm curious to know what you find. One benefit of the short ribs is get the added benefit of the bone in the braise. A connective-tissue rich cut (like chuck) will still work out great though! Enjoy!
  • Dawn T
    Dawn T
    Jim, also be sure to check out the lesson on "Combination Cooking Fundamentals". In particular, the topic called "Choosing Meat for Combination Cooking". It shows you what to look for when choosing meats for this type of cooking. Hope that helps. Cheers! p.s. In the past I have also used boneless short ribs with great success. I just always made sure they had the necessary fat and connective tissue. These are generally not sold in most grocery stores, so you will likely need to go to a butcher for them. I used to buy mine at a nice Italian deli/butcher.
  • Jessica Y
    Jessica Y
    I'm really excited to try these! One question -- is the meat salted at any point? It doesn't mention any salt being in the curry powder or rubbed on with it. Do they ever get salt? Thanks!
  • Jim R
    Jim R
    Jessica, step 4 shows "add a pinch of salt", but also when you add the stock, there is plenty of salt in that also. I followed the recipe exactly as instructed and I fell in love with it! You will not regret the effort you put in to this! I made the rub first, and then two days later I made the dish. I have since made this 3 more times using boneless and bone in short ribs .....yummy, yummy to the tummy. Have fun with it and do not fret the salt.
  • Jessica Y
    Jessica Y
    Thanks Jim! You are right, and there is also soy sauce in the recipe, as I realized when I started making them. They are in the oven right now, can't wait to see how they turn out!
  • Ken R Rouxbe Staff
    Ken R
    So.... Jessica, how did they turn out? Just curious ;).
  • Jessica Y
    Jessica Y
    Haha I'm glad you asked Ken! They were absolutely delicious... I served them to about 10 friends and they were all head-over-heels. I actually served them with corn tortillas and an Asian slaw to do kind of a taco fusion thing. Incredible! As usual, Rouxbe FTW!
  • Merna B
    Merna B
    That is a really good idea Jessica, I bought a tortilla press but I'm not very good at making tortillas yet. Our family didn't make them when I was growing up so I'm missing some hands-on experience or assistance. I'm always looking for ideas to practice, thanks so much.
  • Ken R Rouxbe Staff
    Ken R
    Hi Jessica and Merna- That sounds delightful. I press fresh corn tortillas regularly - they are so satisfying. The taco fusion thing, as strange as it may sound, is really compelling. Corn works great with Asian flavors (it's earthy and sweet) and the package you can create is fun and convenient to eat. Cheers!
  • Silas H
    Silas H
    This was a great braising recipe - such different flavors from the usual Classic Bourguignon. It is definitely a keeper. One thing: cooking time. I find that Rouxbe braising recipes consistently underestimate the actual cooking times to get to "fork tender." For example, this dish took more than 6 hours at 95 C to get to fork tender (even though I was using less meat). For me, it wasn't a problem, since I was planning to refrigerate and serve the next day. But I have gotten stuck before - either having to take the dish out early or whip up a quick dinner replacement. Now I always plan to make the dish the day before to be sure. I've checked my oven temp with a thermometer, so that's not the issue. I'm using a cast iron Le Creuset pot. What do you think could cause these differences? Also, I was just given a crockpot. Do you think the Low setting corresponds to the 95 C 200F Rouxbe "low and slow"? Could I transfer all braising recipes to the Crockpot? Thanks!
  • Ken R Rouxbe Staff
    Ken R
    Absolutely- Cooking times can vary for sure depending on the meat and the specifics of the sauce (pH). I might ask you to turn up the heat just a bit to speed the process. The 95C temperature is a low temperature braise and more time may be required. Cheers.
  • Brendan I
    Brendan I
    Everything but the ribs came out like rubber I followed the instructions and the sauce came out amazing so did the rice ! I used a cast iron pot so maybe that had an impact also I cooked for 21/2 hrs so maybe that too . It came out like really rubbery pork rib Any hints would be great as to correct pot etc would be appreciated on this one
  • Brendan I
    Brendan I
    Sorry just the ribs came out like rubber
  • Kirk B
    Kirk B
    Hi Brendan - thanks for sharing; sorry to hear that the ribs didn't come out as expected. With braising, I've found that long-slow cooking always works the best - so I might suggest cooking even longer than the 2-3 hours suggested. I've found on occasion that when braising meat that is "on the bone" the cooking times need to be extended a bit. The key then is to keep an eye on your sauce so that it doesn't become too thick with such extended cooking times. I look forward to hearing about your results. Thanks for engaging with Rouxbe! Chef Kirk
  • Abigail B
    Abigail B
    Hello Chefs! I am a young culinary artist myself and I am not allowed to buy alcohol at my age in the U.S. Is there any substitution I can use instead of beer?
  • Eric W Rouxbe Staff
    Eric W
    Hi Abigail, the function of the beer is to provide flavor, so in its place, you can use another flavorful liquid like stock. ~Enjoy, Eric

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