72 Hour Short Rib, Bone Marrow Aioli, Cherry Tomato Bomb, Sticky Rice

For some reason, it feels like everybody (yes, everybody) has decided that the 72-hour sous vide short rib is the ultimate expression of what you can do with an immersion circulator (maybe less the 63C egg) - and I might be inclined to agree: I try to make myself one once a month or so.

Typically I like to do it with a few easy things like silky mashed potatoes and chimmichurri, but promised a coworker that I'd add a few bells and whistles this time around. I've been on a big bone marrow kick over the last few weeks (ahem, years) and wanted a sauce on the plate so bone marrow aioli was born. And I love the combination of beef with black garlic + pickles of some kind (as demonstrated by my last beef dish) so those had to happen too. Finally I felt like everything was going in an asian-ey direction, so sticky rice is the starch.

72 Hour Short Rib
1000g boneless short rib
300g beef stock (see mushroom swiss burger for recipe)
25g soy sauce
10g rice wine vinegar
7g lemongrass
4g galangal 
2g basil
0.4g dried bird's eye chilies, crushed
5 cubeb peppercorns

 

Vacuum pack all of the ingredients together and cook sous vide at 139F for 72 hours. Remove from the water bath and chill in an ice bath for at least 30 minutes. Reserve.

Above, after the ribs had cooled I removed most of the cooking liquid and repacked them with a bit of the strained liquid.

Cherry Tomato Bomb
200g cherry tomato
125g rice wine vinegar
40g water
30g palm sugar
5g garlic, peeled
4g kosher salt
2g calcium lactate
0.5g bird's eye chilies, crushed
0.5g ground coriander
0.5g ground pepper
1 kaffir lime leaf

 

Split half of the cherry tomatoes in half. Poke a few holes with the tip of your knife just through the skin of the remaining whole tomatoes. Vacuum pack the tomatoes along with the remaining ingredients. Reserve. 

Fermented Black Garlic Claw

1 large clove of fermented black garlic

Peel the black garlic and cut off the base so that it can stand up flat on the plate. Next, split the clove in half lengthwise so that I kind-of looks like a claw.

 

Rendered Bone Marrow

3000g bone marrow, split lengthwise

Canola oil

Rest the bone marrow in an ice bath for 1 hour prior to roasting. Remove from the ice bath, pat dry, drizzle with canola oil and roast for 90 minutes or until all of the fat has rendered. Strain and reserve.

Bone Marrow Aioli

175g olive oil 

135g rendered bone marrow

35g egg yolk

15g white vinegar

15g lemon juice

7.5g water

5g dijon mustard

4g garlic, crushed

4g salt

Combine all of the ingredients except for the oil and rendered marrow and whisk until the mixture is slightly foamy. While whisking constantly, very slowly add in the oil and marrow until the mixture has thickened. Reserve.

Sticky Rice Balls

200g water

150g glutenous (sweet) rice

50 short grain japanese (sushi) rice

3g salt

black sesame seeds, as needed

  

Rinse both the glutenous and short grain rice until the water runs clear. Set out and allow the rice to dry for 1 hour prior to cooking. Combine both types of rice, the water and salt and bring to a boil in a small saucepan. Once boiling, reduce to a simmer, cover, and let cook for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow the rice to stand for 5 additional minutes. With wet hands, shape the rice into balls and sprinkle black sesame seeds on top.

To Complete

short ribs

pickled cherry tomatoes

black garlic claw

bone marrow aioli

rice balls

fresh basil leaves

micro cilantro

1/16 inch dice habanero

canola oil, as needed

freshly ground cubeb pepper

fleur de sel 

 

Reheat the short ribs at 120F for hour. Cut the ribs into three squared off pieces per guest and sear at very high heat for approx. 45 sec on two sides. While resting, sprinkle freshly ground cubeb pepper and fleur de sel onto each piece. Arrange all of the ingredients except for the rice balls around the plate to taste. Serve with the rice balls on the side.

I could go into a discussion about how I feel about these short ribs but honestly, I think its pretty obviously how this came out. Super pungent tomatoes, perfectly seared and insanely tender meat, the sauce and garnishes all working together... you do the math.