Damned Fine Asian-style Gochujang Beef

Prep time: 15 min Cook time: 3+ hours Ready in 3 ½ hours

Serves: 4-6 Culture: Asian-ish Author: Dana Ackley

Ingredients

• 4 lbs. beef short ribs
• 1 cup soy sauce
• 2 T sesame oil
• 3 T rice vinegar
• 1/3 cup gochujang sauce
• ¼ cup minced garlic (yes, that’s a lot, but I like garlic)
• 1 T minced ginger
• ½ cup maple syrup
• 2+2 T orange juice
• ¾ t red chili flakes
• 1 t lemongrass, halved and smashed
• ¼ t salt
• Dash of cayenne pepper
• ¼ cup Hoisin sauce
• 1½ T lemon juice
• Minced green onions and sesame seeds for garnish

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, sesame oil, vinegar, gochujang sauce, garlic, ginger, maple syrup, orange juice, red chili flakes, lemongrass, salt, and pepper.
2. Place the ribs in the bowl and toss to coat them.  Allow it to rest for 10 minutes.
3. Close the lid on your Instant Pot, make sure the valve is sealed, and set it to 35 minutes on high pressure.
4. When the time is up, let the pressure release naturally (approx. 15 minutes).
5. While waiting for the pressure release, line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and place a cooling rack inside; set aside. Place your oven rack to the upper third tray.
6. Carefully remove the ribs with tongs and place on the baking sheet.
7. Add the hoisin sauce to the IP
8. Set the IP to sauté to thicken up the sauce.  It an take 10 to 25 minutes to get to a thickened state.  Stir often to not burn.
9. Once thickened, add the lemon juice, orange juice, and stir well.  You may want to run the sauce through a strainer to get rid of any solids.
10. Slather the one side of the ribs with the thickened sauce and
    1. either broil just for a minute as you want to slightly char the sauce but not burn it.
    2. or grill it over medium flames.
11. Remove from the oven (grill), flip, baste, and return to the broiler (grill) for another minute.
12. Remove from the oven (grill) and sprinkle with sesame seeds and green onions. Store the remaining sauce in the fridge for up to a week.

Note: This is a hybrid of two recipes I found:

• https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/asian-style-braised-short-ribs-3646025
• https://www.thekitchenwhisperer.net/2019/01/17/instant-pot-korean-gochujang-sticky-boneless-beef-short-ribs/