Asian Style Short Ribs With Lacquered Carrots

"Braises and Stews" by Tori Ritchie

• Ready In: 3 hrs
• Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 6  short ribs on the bone about 3 pounds total, trimmed of excess  fat
•  kosher salt
•  vegetable oil
• 1 1⁄2 cups  orange juice
• 1⁄2 cup  low-sodium soy sauce
• 1  teaspoon sugar
• 1  teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1  yellow onion, thinly sliced
• 2  inches  piece fresh ginger, peeled and minced
• 2  garlic cloves, minced
• 2  bunches  baby carrots or 1 1⁄2 cups  bagged mini carrots

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Rinse short ribs and pat dry with paper towels. Sprinkle with salt. Coat bottom of a 5- to 7-quart Dutch oven with a thin film of oil and set pot over medium-high heat. When oil shimmers, add enough short ribs to cover the bottom in one layer. Cook, without stirring, until short ribs lift easily from pot with tongs and are well browned on bottom, about 5 minutes.
3. Turn and brown on the other side, about 5 minutes more. Transfer to a plate and continue with remaining short ribs, adding more oil to pot in between batches as needed.
4. Meanwhile, stir together orange juice, soy, sugar and red pepper flakes. Set aside. When the last batch of short ribs has been removed from pot, drain off all but 1 tablespoon fat and add onion. Cook, stirring, until onion is softened, about 2 minutes. Add ginger and garlic and stir 1 minute more until fragrant. Pour in orange juice mixture, let come to a boil, then put short ribs back in pot 1 at a time, bone side up; don't worry if you have to snuggle them a bit.
5. Cover pot and transfer to oven. Cook until meat peels easily away from bone when prodded with a fork, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Remove from oven and transfer meat and bones to a plate. (The recipe can be made ahead to this point; let cool to room temperature and place short ribs and sauce in separate containers and store, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.).
6. If serving the dish right away, cover meat with foil to keep warm. Tilt pot to one side and spoon off as much fat as possible from sauce. Place pot over high heat and add carrots and 1 cup water; bring to a boil. (If made ahead, lift and remove solidified fat from top of sauce. Put sauce in a wide, deep pan, add carrots and water and continue as directed.) Reduce heat slightly and cook, uncovered, at a steady simmer until sauce is reduced by about half and carrots are just tender, 12 to 15 minutes. Return meat briefly to pan to rewarm, then serve. (If reheating meat, cover pan and heat in sauce for about 10 minutes more.).