Preliminary Paleo Recipes

My first official foray into cooking paleo-friendly meals began with a delicious (let me say that again, delicious) recipe from the awesome site, Nom Nom Paleo. In fact, the blog dedicated the month of January to a Whole30, and posted new recipes for each day! (Here’s the round-up post.) Where did I start? Day 20: Slow Cooker Korean Short Ribs.

For those of you who are not rib connoisseurs – which, for the record, includes me – here is your down and dirty lesson on the different types of ribs, courtesy of Saveur Magazine:

• Spare ribs: Pork ribs cut as near the bone as possible from the belly of the pig;
• Baby back ribs: Pork ribs from the loin on either side of the spine; lean, quick-cooking;
• Short ribs: Beef ribs taken from the bottom of the rib cage; can be cut individually or as a slab containing several bones.

I’m not going to repost the recipe here because you really ought to experience Nom Nom Paleo if you haven’t. Further, she takes gorgeous step-by-step pictures of her recipes – it is truly a wonderful blog. What I will do, though, is provide you with the ingredient list:

• Beef short ribs (ideally grass-fed if you can find them)
• Asian pear (any pear will do if you can’t find an Asian pear)
• Scallions
• Coconut vinegar
• Coconut aminos
• Fish sauce
• Ginger
• Garlic
• Cilantro

In case you’re wondering, coconut aminos are a paleo substitute for soy sauce. I found both the coconut vinegar and coconut aminos at Whole Foods. Fish sauce is a tricky ingredient to find paleo-friendly. As Nom Nom Paleo notes, Red Boat Fish Sauce is all natural, does not contain shellfish, and is not only paleo, but it is also Whole30-compliant! Finding it may be a bit difficult. You can buy two bottles from Amazon, but it’s rather pricey. Alternatively, Red Boat has a locator on its website to identify local vendors. I called my local Balducci’s to make sure it had some on the shelves before venturing out there – although the location nearest me was sold out (but had it on order and would have it back in stock the following day), the location a bit further away did have it! And a good bit cheaper than Amazon.

Let’s talk a bit about the ginger and garlic. I’m a big fan of minimizing effort in the kitchen – pre-minced garlic and ginger both go a long way in helping with the prep work. But (and this is a BIG but) … double check these jars before just grabbing what you need – I’ve seen added sugar and other preservatives. Just get some fresh garlic and fresh ginger! Here’s a little tip for peeling your garlic: lightly smash a clove with the side of your knife, which will cause the skin to crack off the clove.  Alternatively, take a look at this awesome video (once again, thank you Saveur):

These ribs are truly fantastic; give them a go and enjoy!