I had this really nice lunch at La Cicala with my son Wen Yu when he was back from UK for vacation in summer 2012. They have a S$25++pax lunch set that offers choice of 2 tapas+1main course+1 dessert – really great value.  I had the Basque seafood stew as 1 tapas & the Spanish beef rib as the main, and enjoyed the lunch & companion of my son thoroughly. 🙂

I then googled and found this Spanish beef ribs recipe among others. I use Spanish chorizo that gives it a very nice flavour that for me enhances the beefy taste but also added Chinese sausage which for me added to the sweetness (some may not like this addition). The carrots, celery & yellow onions provide a very sweet vegetable broth as a counterpoint for the beefy dish, & the red peppers & tumeric (saffron is too expensive & troublesome to get for me) add to the vibrancy of the colours.

I bought chuck ribs from Giant usually during sales at S$1.49 per 100g (on one occasion just S$0.99 per 100g). A 1.2kg packet with 6 ribs costs around S$20 and serves 6 – in my case as I do many course and tapas items, it can serve 8).

Spanish slow-braised beef ribs (dish was inspired by La Cicala)

My son, though he likes my beef ribs, still prefers the La Cicala version which has beef broth instead of vegetable broth as the sauce base. I am happy with this vegetable broth version to balance the strong beefiness.

Spanish slow-braised beef ribs (dish was inspired by La Cicala)

Spanish slow-braised beef ribs (dish was inspired by La Cicala)

I had this for the 6.10.2012 dinner which by design coincided with Jeanette’s birthday celebration & the photo above was taken by Jeanette who loved the dish. I did this again for the “Best Of” dinner and all my friends (even Cheng Poon who generally avoided beef) loved it!

c.h.e.f andy

Ingredients:

• 1.2kg chuck ribs
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 carrot, peeled & diced
• 1 celery, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Spaish chorizo + 1 Chinese sausage, cut into 1 cm pieces
• 1 red pepper, cut into 2cm pieces
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp flour
• 1 cup white wine
• 3 cups chicken stock
• sea salt & coarse black pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Season chuck ribs with sea salt & coarse black pepper.
2. Place in a baking tray & put in the oven preheated to 210degC (I use the grill function) 12 minutes on each side to brown.
3. fry onion, carrot & celery in olive oil over high heat in a large wok until the vegetables softened.
4. Add minced garlic & Spanish chorizo & Chinese sausage and cooked until they are nicely browned, around 5 minutes. Add the red peppers & flour and cooked for a few minutes.
5. Add the white wine & reduced the liquid by 1/2. Add the chuck ribs. Turn to low heat and braised the ribs for 2hrs until the ribs are tender & falling off the bones. Season with sea salt to taste, portion the ribs & serve.