Soy, star anise and patience, reduced down to a lacquer

Red braising — hong shao — is one of the great Chinese answers to a generous, hard-working cut, and beef ribs might be its favourite question. The ribs simmer away in soy, Shaoxing wine and rock sugar with star anise and ginger until they're tender right through. Then the lid comes off and the pot does its party trick: the braising liquid reduces to a dark, glossy lacquer that coats every rib. Serve it over rice with steamed greens and watch the bones get picked clean.

3 hrs 15 mins 4 servings Prep 15 minsCook 3 hrsMain CourseChinese

Ingredients

  • 1.2kg Your Farmer grass-fed beef ribs (one rack)
  • 1 tbsp neutral oil
  • 40g piece ginger, sliced into coins
  • 4 cloves garlic, bruised
  • 4 spring onions, cut into lengths, whites and greens separated
  • 3 star anise
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 80ml (1/3 cup) Shaoxing wine (or dry sherry)
  • 80ml (1/3 cup) light soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
  • 40g rock sugar (or 2 tbsp brown sugar)
  • 750ml water, about — enough to just cover
  • Steamed rice and steamed greens, to serve

Instructions

Cut the rack between the bones into individual ribs, cover them with cold water in a large pot, bring to the boil and boil for 4 minutes. Drain and rinse the ribs — this quick blanch keeps the braise clean and clear.

1.2kg beef ribs

Wipe out the pot, heat the oil over medium heat and fry the ginger, garlic, spring onion whites, star anise and cinnamon for 1 to 2 minutes, until the kitchen smells like the good end of town.

1 tbsp neutral oil40g ginger4 cloves garlic3 star anise

Return the ribs, then add the Shaoxing wine, both soy sauces, the sugar and enough of the water to just cover.

80ml Shaoxing wine80ml light soy sauce1 tbsp dark soy sauce40g rock sugar

Bring to a bare simmer, set the lid ajar and cook gently for 2 to 2.5 hours, until the meat is tender to a chopstick.

Lid off, heat up. Reduce the liquid for 20 to 30 minutes, turning the ribs now and then, until it's a glossy lacquer clinging to the meat. Watch it closely at the end — soy and sugar go from lacquered to caught in a minute.

Pile the ribs over steamed rice, spoon the glaze over, scatter with the spring onion greens and serve with steamed greens alongside.

steamed ricespring onion greens

Appears in

Pack B & Pack D shares — Ribs (~1.2kg)

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Collagen Is the Hero Here

Red braising was built for exactly this kind of cut. The technique asks for meat with bone and connective tissue, because the finish — that glassy, clinging lacquer — isn't cornflour or any thickener at all. It's the braising liquid reduced down with the gelatine the ribs release as they cook, which is why the sauce sets to a soft jelly in the fridge and turns to gloss in the pot. Your Farmer® beef ribs arrive as a rack of about 1.2kg in Pack B and Pack D beef shares, and grass-fed beef's deeper flavour is an asset here — it meets the soy and star anise as an equal rather than being carried by them.

Swaps and Variations

Dry sherry stands in for Shaoxing wine without fuss, and brown sugar for rock sugar — the lacquer comes out fractionally less glassy, and nobody at the table will file a complaint. A wide strip of dried mandarin or orange peel in the braise is a classic addition, as are one or two dried chillies for warmth. Steamed bok choy or broccolini are the natural partners — cook them while the sauce reduces and everything lands at once. Diced beef takes the same treatment if you're between rib deliveries; drop the braise time back to around 90 minutes. And if this style of cooking wins you over — it tends to — our Korean-style braised beef is the pack's other great Asian braise, sweeter and loaded with vegetables.

Storage and Leftovers

Keeps, airtight, in the fridge for up to 4 days — and if you find the sauce has set to jelly overnight, take it as a compliment; that's the bones' gelatine, and it melts straight back to gloss over low heat. Freeze meat and sauce together for up to 3 months. The leftover move: shred the meat, warm it through the glaze and toss the lot with thick fresh noodles and the last of the spring onions.

One rack per Pack B and Pack D delivery is the rhythm — reserve your beef share and let the braising pot stay busy through winter.

Frequently asked questions

Where do I find rock sugar and Shaoxing wine?

Any Asian grocer, and most supermarkets carry both in the Asian aisle these days. Brown sugar and dry sherry are honest substitutes if you can't get them.

Why blanch the ribs first?

The quick boil draws out the proteins that would otherwise turn the braise cloudy and muddy-tasting. It's the standard first move in Chinese braising. You can skip it if you skim diligently in the first half hour instead.

It's tasting too salty as it reduces — help?

Soy sauces vary a lot. Add splashes of hot water as you reduce and keep tasting — you're aiming for intense but balanced. A little extra sugar also rounds a salty edge.

Can I do it in a slow cooker?

The braise stage, yes — 6 to 7 hours on LOW after step three. But the reduction has to happen in a pan on the stove; a sealed slow cooker can't evaporate anything, and the lacquer is the whole point.

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