Short ribs
Encyclopedia
Jacob's Ladder
Jacob's Ladder is a "ladder to heaven", described by biblical Jacob in the Book of GenesisJacob's Ladder may also refer to:* Ladder of Jacob, a pseudepigraphic text of the Old Testament...
' ) are a popular cut of beef
Beef
Beef is the culinary name for meat from bovines, especially domestic cattle. Beef can be harvested from cows, bulls, heifers or steers. It is one of the principal meats used in the cuisine of the Middle East , Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Europe and the United States, and is also important in...
. Beef short ribs are larger and usually more tender and meatier than their pork counterpart, pork spare ribs
Spare ribs
Spare ribs are a variety of pork ribs and beef ribs, cooked and eaten in various cuisines around the world. They are the most inexpensive cut of pork and beef ribs. They are a long cut from the lower portion of the pig or cattle, specifically the belly and breastbone, behind the shoulder, and...
. Short ribs are cut from the rib and plate primals and a small corner of the square-cut chuck
Chuck steak
Chuck steak is a cut of beef and is part of the subprimal cut known as the chuck. The typical chuck steak is a rectangular cut, about 1" thick and containing parts of the shoulder bones, and is often known as a "7-bone steak"...
.
A full slab of short ribs is typically about 10 inches square, ranges from 3-5 inches thick, and contains three or four ribs, intercostal muscle
Intercostal muscle
Intercostal muscles are several groups of muscles that run between the ribs, and help form and move the chest wall. The intercostal muscles are mainly involved in the mechanical aspect of breathing...
s and tendon
Tendon
A tendon is a tough band of fibrous connective tissue that usually connects muscle to bone and is capable of withstanding tension. Tendons are similar to ligaments and fasciae as they are all made of collagen except that ligaments join one bone to another bone, and fasciae connect muscles to other...
, and a layer of boneless meat and fat which is thick on one end of the slab and thins down to almost nothing on the other. There are numerous ways to butcher
Butcher
A butcher is a person who may slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat or any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat, poultry, fish and shellfish for sale in retail or wholesale food establishments...
short ribs. The ribs can be separated and cut into short lengths (typically about 2 inches long), called an "English cut"; "flanken cut" across the bones (typically about 1/2 inch thick); or cut into boneless steaks (however, these are not to be confused with "boneless country-style short ribs," a cut recently introduced in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
as a cheaper alternative to rib steak
Rib steak
A rib steak is a beef steak sliced from the rib primal of a beef animal, with rib bone attached. In the United States, the term rib eye steak is used for a rib steak with the bone removed; however in some areas, and outside the U.S., the terms are often used interchangeably...
, which are not ribs but cut from the chuck eye roll).
In Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
, short lengths of rib are often further butchered by butterflying
Butterflying
Butterflying is a cutting technique used by butchers to transform a thick, compact piece of meat into a thinner, larger one. The piece of meat to be cut is laid out flat on a cutting board and cut in half parallel to the board from one side almost all the way to the other. A small "hinge" is left...
(or using an accordion cut
Accordion cut
An accordion cut is a technique in butchery, similar to butterflying, in which a thick piece of meat is extended into a thin one with a larger surface area...
) to unfurl the meat into a long ribbon trailing from the bone, or the meat can be removed from the bone entirely and cut into thin (1/4-1/8 inch thick) slices.
Short ribs may be long-cooked, as in pot-au-feu
Pot-au-feu
The pot-au-feu is a French beef stew. According to chef Raymond Blanc, the pot-au feu is "the quintessence of French family cuisine, it is the most celebrated dish in France...
, a classic of French cuisine
French cuisine
French cuisine is a style of food preparation originating from France that has developed from centuries of social change. In the Middle Ages, Guillaume Tirel , a court chef, authored Le Viandier, one of the earliest recipe collections of Medieval France...
, or rapidly seared or grilled, as in Korean cuisine, in which short ribs (called galbi
Galbi
Galbi or kalbi generally refers to a variety of gui or grilled dishes in Korean cuisine that is made with marinated beef short ribs in a ganjang-based sauce . In the Korean language, galbi literally means "rib" and can often indicate uncooked ribs...
), are marinated and grilled over charcoal
(long-cooking thinner, shorter cuts are also a
Korean favourite). A specific type from Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
is known as Maui-style ribs. Other popular preparations are barbecue
Barbecue
Barbecue or barbeque , used chiefly in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia is a method and apparatus for cooking meat, poultry and occasionally fish with the heat and hot smoke of a fire, smoking wood, or hot coals of...
and braising
Braising
Braising , is a combination cooking method using both moist and dry heat; typically the food is first seared at a high temperature and then finished in a covered pot with a variable amount of liquid, resulting in a particular flavour...
.