Braised Beef Ribs with Spicy Black Bean Sauce

Hello everyone, I’m back. Unfortunately, I’ve haven’t taken my boards, so we can’t quite celebrate yet.

Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you. – Anne Lamott

A lot’s been going on with wedding planning, rotation scheduling, teaching classes, and notably a bad car accident where my tiny Corolla got hit by a monster truck. Thankfully, everyone was ok since it struck the car’s back half, so it’s more of an emotional shakeup. It could have been much worse, so I’m grateful.

With all that, I felt I wouldn’t have given my 110% to my boards, so after much agony, I decided to move it back. Because of my rotation schedule, I had to sign up much later than I wanted – 2 months later. As much as I would love to get it all over with, when it comes to boards, I wanted no regrets.

Plus, I really needed to actually learn Ob-Gyn, my last rotation which I have yet to do.

I was a little frustrated by this detour, but using this extra time, I spontaneously decided to recharge by going home for a week. Instead of having to cram all of boards into a 2 week “summer,” it was nice to step back from everything and enjoy family time as well as some good home cooking. I’m sharing mom’s delicious braised beef rib recipe, done in a slow cooker. After all, everyone needs a break every once in a while, and I can’t think of anything easier than letting the food cook on its own in a crockpot as you sleep.

So, to all my medical school readers (as well as the non-med school non-type A folks), even if things don’t occur in the proper timing or plan, I guess things always somehow turn out ok. Life happens even in the most well planned schedules. Sometimes, a detour for a break is in order instead.

Braised Beef Ribs with Spicy Black Bean Sauce

Ingredients
4-5 lbs beef short ribs
1/4 cup shallots, finely chopped
1 tsp minced ginger
1-2 long red chili peppers, minced
3 tablespoons black bean sauce with garlic*
2 tablespoons sake or vodka
1/2 teaspoon cracked black peppercorn
1 orange, juiced and zested
chopped green onion, to garnish
*black bean sauce is a prepared sauce you can buy at Asian markets and groceries

Directions
Position broiler rack 6 inches from heat. Broil ribs on both sides until well browned (10 min per side). Drain on paper towels. Separate ribs and place in slow cooker.

In a bowl, combine the remaining ingredients except green onion. Spoon over short ribs and toss to combine. Cover and cook on low to 10-12 hours or high for 5-6 hours until ribs are tender and falling off the bone. Sever hot with rice and garnish with green onions.