Boneless Shortribs 48-Hour Sous Vide and Grill

This recipe is 100% worth the wait! Despite the rather intimidating time frame, this is one of the easiest short rib recipes I’ve ever done. Prep time and grill time total is about 15 minutes. The sous vide does all the hard work. Just sit it on your counter one evening, and let it roll until you grill it up two evenings later. The scoring technique, by exposing more of the fat cap to high heat, helps increase crispy, sweet, buttery fat bits. The simple rub is simply the BEST (far better than the other glazes I tried).

I took the rub and gremolata recipe from HERE (the rub is bananas-good, but the grilling recipe itself is not recommended for our shortribs— they will end up far too chewy if just grilled at high heat).

Ingredients

FOR SOUS VIDE:

  • 1 Randall Lineback Boneless Shortrib (about 1.5 lbs)

  • Salt and Pepper

FOR GRILLING:

  • 1 Tbsp Fish Sauce

  • 2 Tbsp Brown Sugar

  • 2-3 Garlic Cloves

  • 2 teaspoons canola oil

  • 6 scallions (optional)

FOR SERVING (optional Gremolata):

  • 1 garlic clove

  • 1/3 cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

  • 2 teaspoons grated orange zest

  • 1 1/2 teaspoons sumac

  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

  • 1/2 teaspoon flaky sea salt

Preparation

STEP 1: SOUS VIDE

Note: Since they’re going in the sous vide for such a long time, your short ribs don’t need to be fully thawed when they go in.

  1. Season Randall Lineback Boneless Short Ribs generously with salt and pepper and place in a sous vide bag (I vacuum-sealed mine under low pressure)

  2. Set Sous Vide in a large container filled with water (since this is going for a long time, you want to use a large container).

  3. Sous Vide short ribs for 48 hours at 134F (lower if you’d like them even pinker than what I’ve shown above).

  4. To prevent water loss— use a container cover, saran wrap, or sous vide balls (or ping pong balls as a cheap alternative!). Check the water level every 6-12 hours and replenish with warm water if necessary.

  5. Remove your short ribs from the sous vide. Leave to rest/ cool while you prepare the rub.

STEP 2: RUB AND GRILL

  1. Get your grill going— whether using charcoal or gas, you want very high heat, around 500F if you can. Make sure the grates are clean and oiled.

  2. For the rub— use a microplane (careful of your fingers! I use cut-proof gloves) to very finely grate 2 garlic cloves. Mix with 2 Tbsp brown sugar.

  3. Using paper towel, pat your short ribs dry. With a sharp knife, score with deep diagonal lines (these should penetrate at least 1/4”— See first photo). Flip over, right to left, and score the other side, maintaining the same diagonal. (In other words, if you could see through the short rib, the score lines on either side would make a diamond pattern— otherwise you’ll end up accidentally slicing through the short ribs).

  4. Place fish sauce in a small ramiken. With a basting brush, baste all sides of the short ribs. Then rub all over with the garlic brown sugar mix. Let sit for a few minutes.

  5. Optional: toss scallions in canola oil. Then char them on the grill, turning frequently, for 1-2 minutes. Set aside for the gremolata or as garnish to serve.

  6. Place short ribs onto grill, fat cap side down, and grill for 2 minutes. Flip and grill for another 2 minutes. Flip one more time to get a final char on the fat cap— 30-60 seconds more. Remove from heat and let rest 5 minutes.

  7. Cut into thin slices to serve.

STEP 3: OPTIONAL GREMOLATA

  1. In a small bowl, combine 1 minced garlic clove, parsley, orange zest, sumac, kosher salt, and pepper.

  2. Rub together with fingers to combine.

  3. Thinly slice grilled scallions and add to parsley mixture. Toss gently to combine.

  4. Sprinkle on top or serve alongside your short ribs.

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