Asado de tira

Ingredients

The meat

• 1.6 kgbeef short ribs cut across the bone in a 3–4 cm strip (tira de asado), 3 to 4 bones wide
• 2 tbspcoarse salt (sal parrillera or coarse sea salt)

The fire

• 3 kghardwood charcoal, or quebracho if you can get it
• Firelighters or dry kindling
• A parrilla grill with an adjustable grate, or a kettle barbecue

To serve

• 250 mlchimichurri
• 1lemon, in wedges
• Crusty bread
• A green salad of lettuce, tomato and onion

Directions

1. Take the ribs out of the fridge 1 hour before cooking so they reach room temperature; cold meat over a slow fire cooks unevenly and the fat never renders.
2. Light the charcoal and let it burn down completely to grey-white embers with no flame, about 40 minutes. Argentine asado is cooked over embers, never over live fire.
3. Rake a bed of embers under one half of the grate and set the grate about 15 cm above them. You should be able to hold a hand at grate height for 6–7 seconds.
4. Salt the ribs generously on both sides with coarse salt just before they go on, and lay them bone side down. This first stage protects the meat while the bones conduct heat.
5. Cook bone side down for a full 45–60 minutes without touching them. The bones darken, the fat between them renders and drips, and the meat cooks gently from below.
6. Turn once, meat side down, and cook a further 20–30 minutes until the surface is deep brown and crusted and the meat has shrunk back from the bone by about 1 cm.
7. Test by pressing: it should feel firm with a little give. Argentines take asado de tira to a point a jugoso, just past pink, so the connective tissue softens.
8. Rest 5 minutes on a warm board, cut down between the bones into individual strips and serve with chimichurri, lemon, bread and salad. Everything else at an asado waits for the meat.

Technique

• Tira de asado is the flanken cut, sawn across the ribs, not the thick English-cut single rib. Ask a butcher for asado, flanken or Korean-style short ribs.
• One turn only. Repeated flipping is the commonest error and gives grey, tough meat; the asador’s discipline is patience.
• Salt goes on before cooking, coarse and generous, and no marinade is used. Chimichurri is a table sauce in Argentina, not a marinade, whatever export cookbooks say.
• Fat dripping onto embers causes flare-ups. Move the meat, do not spray water, which throws ash onto the food.

Substitutions

• No parrilla or charcoal: sear the strips 3 minutes a side in a very hot cast-iron pan, then finish in a 150°C (300°F) oven for 45 minutes. You lose the smoke but keep the texture.
• Quebracho charcoal is the Argentine standard and burns long and hot; oak or beech lump charcoal is the nearest widely available substitute.

Variations

• Tira de asado, the thin cross-cut strip described here.
• Costillar, the whole rib plate cooked for three hours at a distance from the fire.
• Asado al asador, the same ribs staked on an iron cross beside an open wood fire.

History

The crosscut was developed in River Plate meatpacking plants, letting long flat strips of rib cook evenly on the parrilla.

Frequently asked questions

What is Asado de tira?

Asado de tira is a main from Argentina: beef short ribs cut across the bone, grilled slowly over embers. The crosscut was developed in River Plate meatpacking plants, letting long flat strips of rib cook evenly on the parrilla.

How long does Asado de tira take to make?

Asado de tira takes 20 min of preparation and 1 hr 30 min over embers of cooking. The recipe makes 4 servings. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Asado de tira?

Yes, within limits. No parrilla or charcoal: sear the strips 3 minutes a side in a very hot cast-iron pan, then finish in a 150°C (300°F) oven for 45 minutes. You lose the smoke but keep the texture. Quebracho charcoal is the Argentine standard and burns long and hot; oak or beech lump charcoal is the nearest widely available substitute.

What is the most important thing to get right in Asado de tira?

Take the ribs out of the fridge 1 hour before cooking so they reach room temperature; cold meat over a slow fire cooks unevenly and the fat never renders.