Costillitas Americanas

Grilled Short Ribs with BBQ Sauce

In Peru, anticucho sauce is usually the only sauce used for grilling, but I love all types of barbecue sauce. With the mirin and tamari, this one is more of a Japanese-style sauce that is really good on beef.

Boneless short ribs are sold either as a slab of meat or already divided into individual pieces. When they are grilled this quickly instead of slow cooked, the ribs need to be very good quality—“sashimi” quality, as I like to say—with very little fat with tender meat, not the tough, fatty ribs you find at most grocery stores. You also need to remove the white connective tissue in the meat and any fat or they will be tough (ask your butcher to do it or trim the ribs well yourself). Or, if they are too difficult to find, use skirt steak or flank steak instead of ribs. Even tenderloin would be very good with this sauce. Spoon the sauce on the meat toward the end of the grilling time so the sugars in the sauce caramelize, but don’t burn.

• 2 to 2½ pounds boneless short ribs, connective tissue removed, or skirt or flank steak
• About ½ cup Japanese-Style BBQ Sauce (recipe)

1 Prepare a regular or hibachi grill for direct, high-heat cooking. Trim the short ribs into individual serving pieces about 3 inches long and 2 inches thick (some trimmed pieces may be smaller). Pat dry with paper towels. Set aside about 3 generous tablespoons of the barbecue sauce in a small dish to use as a finishing sauce. Put the remaining barbecue sauce in a medium bowl by the grill.

2 Grill the meat until the bottom side is nicely charred, 4 to 5 minutes. Let the meat rest on the grate without lifting it. Use tongs to transfer the meat to the bowl with the barbecue sauce, toss it around in the sauce a few times, and return the meat to the grill with the opposite side facing down. Sear until the bottom blackens in spots, about 2 minutes. It shouldn’t take as long as the first side because the sugary sauce will cook more quickly.

3 Transfer the meat to the bowl again, toss it around in the sauce, and return it to the grill with the first side you grilled face down. Sear the meat for another few minutes, or until medium-rare (check with a knife; the meat should still be ruby red in the middle). Brush the meat generously with the barbecue sauce, flip one more time, and immediately transfer to a serving platter.

4 If using skirt or flank steaks, slice the steaks before serving. Drizzle the reserved barbecue sauce on top of the beef.

Japanese-Style BBQ Sauce

Makes about 1 cup

Make the sauce at least one day before you plan to grill so the flavors have time to develop. Mixing together soy sauce and tamari gives the sauce a richer flavor than soy sauce alone, but if you only have one or the other in your pantry, don’t let that stop you from making this sauce.

• ¼ cup soy sauce (or more tamari)
• 2½ tablespoons tamari (or more soy sauce)
• ¼ cup mirin
• ⅓ cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon light corn syrup or honey
• ¼ small red onion, finely grated (about ¼ cup)
• 2 tablespoons pureed ginger (page 37) or finely grated ginger
• 2 tablespoons pureed garlic (page 37)
• ¾ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Whisk together all of the ingredients in a medium bowl or food storage container. Cover and refrigerate the sauce overnight, or better still, 2 to 3 days, before using. Refrigerate the barbecue sauce for up to 1 week.