Red Rib Curry

The recipe for the sauce is based on one that appears in Pete Goffe Woods’s book Kitchen Cowboys, a course I did with him some time back.

To cook the rib

You’ll need:
2.5kg short rib of beef cut into squares
Sea Salt & freshly ground black pepper
2 – 3 Tbs sunflower oil
3 onions – roughly chopped
2 carrots – roughly chopped
2 sticks celery – roughly chopped
1 litre NOMU Beef Fond

Method:
Preset the oven at 180°C. Season the short ribs on all sides with the salt and pepper. Pour the sunflower oil into a cast iron casserole and take to medium heat. Brown the short ribs on all sides. Remove and set aside. You should be able to do this in three goes. Add the onions to the casserole and cook till light golden brown. Add the carrots and celery and continue to cook for several minutes as the onion browns further and the carrot and celery soften. Return the short ribs and any juice to the casserole. Pour over the beef stock. Place a lid on the casserole and cook on the middle shelf for 30 minutes. Drop the oven temperature to 140°C. Cook for a further three hours or until tender.

About an hour before the beef is ready, prepare the sauce.

You’ll need:
1 tin 400g coconut cream
2 tin 400g coconut milk
70g sachet Thai Red Curry Paste
2 onions – roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic – finely chopped
6 Tbs ginger – finely chopped
6 Tbs Thai Fish Sauce
2 Tbs brown sugar
2 red peppers cut into thin strips
250g Portabellini mushrooms – cut into slices
125g frozen peas
60g fresh sweet basil
Oryx Desert Salt to taste

Method:
Into a large saucepan pour the coconut cream and one can of the milk. Bring to the boil and cook for about 15 minutes until the coconut splits and the oil comes out. Ad the red curry paste and stir for about five minutes while it breaks down and becomes fragrant. Add the onion, garlic, ginger, fish sauce and brown sugar. Then add the red peppers, the mushrooms and the remaining tin of coconut milk. Cook over low heat for about 12 minutes. Carefully lift the beef from its cooking liquid and add to the sauce with the peas. Simmer for about 5 – 7 minutes to heat the beef though. Taste and season if necessary. Float the basil leaves on top, stir them in and serve with steamed Basmati rice.

Serves 6

More recipes can be found on Michael’s website www.michaelolivier.co.za or write to him atmichaelolivier@iafrica.com