Recipes / Meat
Braaied beef short ribs with a sticky cola glaze
Thick beef short ribs simmered until tender in a spiced cola and chutney sauce, then glazed and charred over medium coals.
- Prep
- 20 min
- On the fire
- 2 hr 30 min
- Serves
- 4
- Done at
- 145°F (63°C)
Ingredients
Ribs
Cola glaze
Method
Cooking on gas?
- Preheat with the burners on high and the lid closed for 10 minutes, then turn them down to medium so the lid thermometer settles at 175 to 200°C (350 to 400°F). Brush the grates clean and oil them.
- Close the lid between turns. It cooks a little faster than an open braai, so start checking about 5 minutes early.
- Keep one burner off or on low as a cooler zone. If fat flares up, move the food there. Never use water on a gas grill flare-up.
- For a smoky taste, put a handful of wood chips in a smoker box, or a foil parcel pierced with a few holes, over a lit burner while the grill preheats.
- Put the ribs, salt, onion and bay leaves in a large pot. Cover with water, bring to the boil and simmer gently for 45 minutes. Skim off any foam.
- In another pot, mix all the glaze ingredients and bring to the boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring now and then.
- Lift the ribs out of the water and put them into the glaze. Simmer with the lid half on for 45 minutes to 1 hour, turning them every 15 minutes, until a skewer slides into the meat easily.
- Take the ribs out and let them cool on a tray for 15 minutes so they firm up and hold together on the grid.
- Boil the glaze hard, stirring often, until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. This can take 20 to 30 minutes.
- Brush the ribs all over with the thick glaze.
- Cook over medium coals for 15 to 20 minutes, turning and brushing with more glaze every few minutes. Move them to the cooler side if the sugar starts to burn.
- Rest the ribs for 5 minutes and serve with the rest of the glaze warmed on the side.
Done when: the glaze is dark and sticky, the meat pulls back from the bone and a skewer slides in with no resistance. The safe minimum is 63°C (145°F), but short ribs only turn tender at about 90 to 95°C (195 to 203°F) inside, which the simmering takes care of.
Tips
- You can do the simmering a day ahead. Keep the ribs and glaze in the fridge and just glaze and braai them on the day.
- For a smokier version without boiling, cook seasoned ribs bone side down in a closed kettle braai at about 110 to 130°C (230 to 265°F) for 5 to 7 hours, brushing with the glaze in the last hour. Take them off when a probe slides in like butter, usually at 93 to 95°C (200 to 203°F).
- Ask the butcher for thick-cut short ribs (also called English cut in the US). Thin cross-cut flanken ribs suit a quick marinade and hot coals instead.
Short ribs are a tough, fatty cut from the lower rib cage, full of connective tissue that needs long, gentle heat before it softens. South African cooks often simmer them in cola, chutney and tomato first, a trick that also turns up in sticky rib recipes for pork and lamb, then finish them over the coals for char and smoke. Serve them with pap and chakalaka or a crisp pineapple coleslaw.
Source
Adapted from Recipe: Beef short ribs at The Citizen (Food and Home) and Luyanda Mafanya's smoked cola short ribs at Megamaster.