Red-Braised Beef Short Ribs with White Radish

Why people make this dish

Nourilo stumbled onto this recipe at a relative’s house, lured into the kitchen by the fragrant smell of beef simmering with radish. The key flavour secret turned out to be Korean beef braising sauce — a product easy to find at Korean grocery stores — which lends a rich, slightly sweet-savoury depth that’s hard to achieve with a homemade marinade alone. Beef short ribs (the meat near and on the bone) are prized in Chinese food therapy for their ability to nourish the stomach and spleen, and for their natural richness in protein, iron, and zinc. The white radish is not just a flavour accompaniment; in traditional thinking, radish is a “thinning” vegetable that helps counterbalance the richness of the meat, keeping the dish satisfying without feeling heavy.