Recipes of the week: Two ways to spice up beef: Korean and Hawaiian

Korean-style grilled barbecued short ribs or Hawaiian-style stir-fry? Two recent books suggest fast and easy ways to give beef an exotic flourish.

Recipes of the week

Korean-Style Barbecued Short Ribs

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Korean-style beef is best enjoyed when marinated, grilled, and served with spicy kimchi, say Stanley, Evan, Mark, and David Lobel in Lobel’s Meat Bible: All You Need to Know About Meat and Poultry From America’s Master Butchers (Chronicle Books). The brothers, who operate Lobel’s Meat on New York’s Upper East Side, advise cutting the grilled meat into small pieces, which diners can then roll up into lettuce. Top with sliced scallions marinated in equal parts soy sauce, rice wine, and sesame oil.

¾ cup soy sauce

3 tbsp Korean rice wine (ch’ongju) or dry vermouth

2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

3 tbsp Asian sesame oil

½ cup lightly packed dark brown sugar

3 large scallions, thinly sliced, dark green slices reserved for garnish

3 large cloves garlic, thinly sliced

1 heaping tbsp grated, peeled fresh ginger

2 star anise pods, broken into points

½ tsp freshly ground black pepper

4 lbs flanken-style short ribs, cut ½-inch thick

2 tsp sesame seeds

Combine soy sauce, rice wine, lemon juice, sesame oil, brown sugar, white and pale green scallion slices, garlic, ginger, star anise, pepper in 15-by-10-inch glass baking dish; stir to dissolve sugar. Nestle short ribs in marinade, coating sides and tops with marinade. Cover with plastic, marinate 1 to 2 hours at room temperature, turning meat once. Make medium-hot charcoal fire or preheat gas grill over medium-high heat. Lightly oil grate; grill short ribs 3 minutes per side for medium-rare. Transfer to serving plates; sprinkle with reserved scallion slices and sesame seeds. Serves 4 to 6.

Sizzling Beef and Mushrooms

With Sweet Garlic Over Watercress

Hawaiian restaurateur Beverly Gannon, author of Family-Style Meals at the Hali’imaile General Store (Ten Speed Press), says that this light stir-fry meal is a perfect match of beef and a bitter green like watercress. Frisée or arugula can be substituted.

4 tbsp chopped fresh garlic

2 tbsp fish sauce

2 tbsp light brown sugar

5 tbsp peanut oil, for frying

1 lb beef sirloin, cut into 2-by-¼-inch strips

2 cups thinly sliced red onion

2 tbsp cider vinegar

2 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tsp sugar

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

6 cups watercress, stems removed

½ cup fresh mint, coarsely chopped

1 lb cremini mushrooms, halved

In medium bowl, whisk together 2 tbsp garlic, fish sauce, brown sugar, 1½ tbsp peanut oil. Add beef; toss to coat well. Cover; refrigerate 4 to 6 hours. In medium bowl, toss together onions and vinegar. Cover; refrigerate 1 hour. For dressing, in small bowl, whisk together soy sauce, olive oil, sugar. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Remove beef from refrigerator 1 hour before cooking. Using fine-mesh sieve, drain excess marinade. Just before stir-frying beef, toss together watercress and mint in large bowl. Remove onions from refrigerator; add dressing; toss. Place onions over watercress; pour liquid over watercress. In large wok over high heat, add 1 tbsp peanut oil; swirl to coat pan. When oil is very hot, add mushrooms; cook 2 minutes until browned. Transfer to plate.

Add remaining 2½ tbsp oil to wok; swirl to coat. Add beef in one layer; cook 1 minute. Flip beef over; sear 1 minute. Add remaining 2 tbsp garlic; stir-fry beef 2 minutes. Add mushrooms; stir-fry 1 minute. Pour beef mixture over the watercress. Serves 6.