The Bear is consistently the most true to life representation of the service industry on TV. They nail the fast paced nature of it so well, even if things are slightly dramatized. To me, it’s obvious that the team behind the show knew what they were doing. To support this, the food they show off is not only amazing looking, it’s also pretty well thought out and involves a lot of onscreen talent knowing how to cook. How does it taste though? Here's how to make the cola braised short ribs we see Syd working on.
Cola braised short rib
2 lb short rib - salt and pepper
1 yellow onion
2 carrots
3 cloves garlic
1 tbsp tomato paste
220g red wine
220g beef stock
220g Coke
Thyme parsley bay
Risotto
1 shallot
1 garlic clove
1.2 liter chicken stock
200g arborio rice
15 ml white wine
Butter
Mascarpone
10g parmesan cheese
Lemon juice
Chopped parsley and thyme
Step 1: Build The Braise
Roughly chop your carrots and onion, these don't need to be fancy as they'll be strained out later. Season the ribs themselves with salt and pepper and you can begin the long braise on these. Heat a dutch oven over medium high and add a little oil to start the process. Add your seasoned beef and brown them on at least 2 of the main sides. Remove the beef once browned and add in the chopped vegetables so they can cook in the fat for a few minutes. Once they've taken on a bit of color, add in your tomato paste and let that fry until the paste has cooked out. Add your wine and reduce it by half. Then, add your beef stock along with the Coke and bring that to a simmer. Add the fresh herbs and then nestle your beef back on top so it barely sticks out of the liquid. Place this in a 325f oven with the lid ajar or a cartouche (parchment paper lid). This needs around 3:30 hours depending on the size of your short ribs. Cook them until they are tender and almost falling apart. Check on them every hour or so to make sure the liquid isn't reducing too quickly.
Once you’re happy with the tenderness levels, you can pull the meat out and then strain out the braising liquid into another pot. A lot of people will let this cool and then place it in the fridge so you can easily remove any and all fat from the liquid. If you try just reducing the liquid with all the fat, you’re gonna have a really greasy sauce. My issue with that is that this already took about 4 hours to make so, I’m not waiting another 12. Instead, I add a handful of ice to the liquid so the fat immediately solidifies, then I strain that fat off and am left with a decently fatless liquid. Leave this here for now so the you can make the risotto.
Step 3: Make Risotto
I showed off a risotto in my scallop recipe and the process is really similar with slightly adjusted ingredients. Keep one pan hot of over a liter of chicken stock and one for the risotto itself. In the risotto pan, melt a few knobs of butter then add a minced shallot and 2 cloves of minced garlic. Cook these until they have just taken on some color and then add in your arborio rice. Toast that in the melted butter for a few minutes until you can really smell the nuttiness of the rice. Add in the white wine and cook that out and then begin the process of working the stock into the rice. Set a 20 minute time and work a little of the hot stock in at a time with the goal of getting almost all of the stock in by the 20 minutes. You basically add stock and mix, then cook it until it’s thick and do that over and over again. While that’s happening it’s easy enough to portion the short ribs and remove any extra fat.
At the 20 minute mark, the granules are cooked but not mushy and there’s just enough liquid to melt the parmesan cheese. Grate in the cheese and then add in chopped parsley and thyme. Season this with pepper then add a big spoonful of that mascarpone cheese for creaminess and sweetness. A squeeze of lemon is necessary for acidity, and taste this for salt levels. If your stock was salty, you should be good here. This can rest on the stove covered, and you can adjust the final texture with water right before serving.
Step 4: Finish Short Ribs
To finish the short rib, reduce the sauce we strained earlier over medium high heat until it’s at least half the volume, if not less. Take a tablespoon of cornstarch and mix it with cold water. Turn the heat off under your sauce and stir in the cornstarch slurry. Bring this back to a simmer to activate the thickening power of the starch. Like Carmen points out in the show, acid is really helpful here so squeeze in some lemon juice as well. Once it’s thickened, taste this and add salt as needed then drop in the short ribs and coat them in the sauce. This helps warm them through again and it gives them a nice shiny appearance.
Plate this up and enjoy the fruits of your hard work. I think this really is a beautiful dish, deeply seasoned, rich sweet and cut by the acid in the risotto and the sauce. The cola brings a lot of sweetness so the acid in the risotto helps a lot.
Cheers!
