asian inspiration

a couple nights ago was mexican, last night was asian.  we are eating our way around the world in this house!  actually it's kind of exciting to be learning how to cook some different flavours and have them turn out not half bad.  while i think james still prefers anything with a mexican flare, i was quite taken with last night's dinner and amazed that i made something that tasty!

i was given a pack of short ribs a while ago when a friend moved away and i've never known what to do with them, so they've sat forgotten and lonely in the back of the freezer.  but when i stumbled upon this recipe last week, i knew they'd found their destiny (if they weren't too freezer burnt, which they thankfully weren't).  it's a slow cooker recipe so i got to smell it all day long (and wanted to gnaw my own arm off it smelled so good!) and any harm to the meat by being abandonned in the freezer was undone by 8 hours of cooking.  it was super tender and super tasty.  i served it with stir-fried edamame, which i'll post below.


Asian Slow Cooker Short Ribs - www.nourishingdays.com
prep time: 20 mins  cook time:  8 hours
serves 4-6

3/4 cup low sodium soy sauce or 1/3 regular - i used just over 1/3 cup regular and 1/3 cup water, but probably didn't need the water
2 tbsp honey
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp grated fresh ginger - i minced it instead
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
2-3 lbs beef short ribs (about 4-6 ribs)
5 medium carrots, peeled and chopped into 2" pieces
1 medium cabbage, cored and cut into 8ths
1 tbsp sesame oil
4 scallions, thinly sliced - i misread this and used shallots - still getting used to some of these "strange" ingredients!  not to worry, tasted fine.

in a large pan, brown ribs on all sides over medium heat.
in a 4-6 quart slow cooker, combine soy sauce, honey, vinegar, garlic, ginger, and red pepper flakes.  add the browned ribs and carrots, in a single layer if possible.  top with cabbage.
cook on high for 4-6 hours on low or 7-8 hours on high.  after a few hours of cooking or before serving, stir the cabbage into the juices to distribute the flavour.
before serving, add salt as needed (none needed for us).  remove the bones from the ribs.  serve with a small drizzle of sesame oil and sprinkle with scallions.


mmmmm!  delicious.  the carrots and cabbage really picked up the flavours nicely.  and the meat... sooo good.  i think i will make the leftovers into a soup today - boil the bones for a while with some added veggies and the juices from last night, then chop up the leftovers nice and small and add a bit more seasoning if it needs it.  should make a lovely warm dinner for this blustery day!


this recipe would be great served over rice, but we've kinda had our fill of rice in the last few days, so i decided to make some edamame instead.  we found a big box of frozen edamame a while back at the grocery store and it's made a decent snack on more than one occasion.  i like that i can control how much salt goes onto it, not like ordering it in a sushi restaurant!  but i was flipping through a magazine yesterday and saw a recipe for stir-fried edamame that sounded interesting.  so as soon as i got home i looked it up online and sure enough, the seasonings were very similar to the short ribs and it looked quite easy to prepare.  i changed some ingredients to what we had on hand, but it turned out great!


Stir-Fried Edamame - adapted from Bon Appetite Magazine, Dec. 2008 and www.artoflivingwell.ca
prep time: 10 mins  cook time:  10 mins
serves 4

1 lb frozen edamame - recipe called for shelled but ours weren't.  whatev.
4 tsp low-sodium soy sauce - or regular, if you don't have low sodium
1 1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp honey - recipe called for oyster sauce, of which i have none and no intention to buy for one small recipe.  i added honey because i like honey.  :)
1 clove finely chopped garlic
1" finely chopped fresh ginger
1 small shallot, cut paper thin - i added it because i had it and i'm glad i did!
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes - recipe called for hot sauce but i'm starting to prefer the controllable kick of red pepper flakes
1 tsp sesame seeds

cook the edamame according to directions on package.

in a saucepan, add soy sauce, sesame oil, honey, garlic, ginger, shallots, and red pepper flakes.  stir fry for a couple minutes, until everything is soft.  add the edamame and stir to coat with sauce.  sprinkle sesame seeds over top and serve immediately.


these had a great little kick to them - can't wait to snack on the leftovers later today!