At Ventanas Restaurant and Lounge in Fort Lee, N.J., executive chef Sean Piccarreto seasons short ribs with kosher salt, cumin, coriander, paprika, garlic, onion, and cayenne pepper, sears them, sets them aside, and then in the same pan sautés onions, garlic, ginger, celery, and carrots and then adds orange juice, veal demiglace, thyme and rosemary. That’s poured over the short ribs, which are braised for around 90 minutes. Then the ribs are strained and portioned.
He makes a fried rice by sautéing carrots and snap peas in sesame oil and then adding a purée of ginger, garlic, and onions. That’s followed by day-old jasmine rice, soy sauce, and scrambled eggs.
Separately he combines julienne carrot, red onion, watermelon radish, pickled jalapeño and shishito peppers, the white part of scallions, and cucumbers marinated in sesame oil with lime and cilantro.
He also makes a kalbi sauce combining sesame oil, soy sauce, serrano chile, garlic, ginger, brown sugar, and Sriracha sauce, which he cooks down, purées, and thickens with xanthan gum.
At service he reheats the fried rice with ginger oy sauce, pineapple pieces, and peanuts, and reheats the short ribs in their braising liquid and glazes it with the kalbi sauce. The short ribs are placed on top of the fried rice and the plate is finished with the salad and kalbi sauce.
Price: $48