Savory, meaty, tender and flavorful. If you have the time for these, they are a real treat. There are several layers of umami built up in this dish through ingredient choice and cooking steps. A rich entree for a cold night – read on to find out how to make it for yourself.

The flavor starts with mushrooms – I’m using dried wild mushrooms from Trader Joe’s.

Using boiling water, we will rehydrate the mushrooms for about 15 minutes.

While the mushrooms soak, we’ll prepare the other aromatics – onion, carrot, garlic, thyme, and parsley.

The short ribs – bone-in are fattier in my experience. The bone-in ribs will also add a little gelatin to the braise, to help with a smoother and thicker sauce. If I can, I get a mix of bone-in and boneless. After braising, I discard the bones before serving. Wash the short ribs to remove any bone fragments and loose bits of fat, then pat them dry with paper towels. It’s important to remove as much surface moisture as possible to get good browning – our next step.

Brown the short ribs on all sides – this is important as the braising alone would not get us the flavor we’re looking for.

More layers of umami – the wild mushroom liquid, anchovies and tomato paste. If the wild mushrooms had any grit or sand on them, it will probably be at the bottom of the container you used to soak them – don’t add that!

Sautéing the sliced onions in the same pan we used to brown the short ribs. The onions will release liquid which will in effect deglaze the pan. Waste not, want not.

The other ingredients for the braise, assembled. Beef broth, red wine, the mushroom liquid. Peeled garlic cloves, thyme, a few bay leaves. On the right are the umami components: tomato paste, minced anchovies, and in the blue pinch bowl is Trader Joe’s Thai dry chili paste – a mushroom based savory ingredient.

Adding ingredients to the dutch oven – onions on the bottom, then the short ribs and diced carrots.

Adding the liquids for the braise – the red wine.

And the beef broth.

Bay leaves on top, this is ready to go into the oven and cook slowly. Check on the braise every hour or so to make sure the liquid level is not getting too low. You can add water or stock as needed, but if adding stock, watch that it’s low- or no-sodium as things can get too salty if you aren’t careful. I would suggest water.

The short ribs on the table. Garnishing with parsley just before serving adds a nice pop of color. I served these with small potatoes and steamed broccoli. Enjoy!