I'm at Dickson's Farmstand Meats in NYC to talk about beef short ribs.

Where do they come from? Yeah, the ribs ok, but let's break it down.

The short ribs that you and I love come from what is called the rib plate (beef plate)

or sometimes more specifically called the short plate. Well, where's that?

Look here. Let's isolate it in the beef carcass. There are 13 ribs in a steer.

First, let's separate the hindquarter from the forequarter, and that always happens between

the 12th and 13th rib. Next, we split the forequarter in two.

Now this is where it's get tricky with butchers in different countries with varying standards

and traditions. In America, some people split the forequarter between the 4th and 5th ribs,

others between the 5th and 6th, and I'm sure there are even more variations therein. It's

all about your final plans with the meat you're cutting.

In either case, we're left with an arm chuck there, and a rib plate here. Now this section

here has a few cuts we all know and love. Ribeye steaks up here. And the extension of

the brisket (deep pectorals) muscle down here called the Navel. Get rid of those, and we're

left... with the short ribs.

Check it out. Here's a full beef plate. See ribeye here, the same rib bones in the RIB-EYE

become the short ribs down here, and then, into the navel muscle.

Oh, and, the skirt steak lives on the inside of the rib plate there. Ok, a lot of info,

I know. But here we go: remove the skirt, split the rib section from the plate, when

the rib bones end on the underbelly of the steer, find the cartilage and remove the navel.

Edge it on the saw and there, finally, are your short ribs. But that's just the beginning.

Now the fun begins.

How many different types of short ribs can we make from this? (Let us count the ways)

On this plate we have 8 ribs. Rib #5 - 12. Keep in mind, that the muscles change throughout

the animal. So a short rib from this area won't look like a short rib from this area,

but they will be equally tasty. The only ribs you can't use are the last ribs (#9-12) on

closer to the top of the back (dorsal). Don't worry, you'll never see these ribs in a butcher's

case for sale -- there's just no good meat in them, it's all fat. They go to compost

or to add fat to ground beef or sausage.

Let's cut our plate like this to make things easier on ourselves, no?

This, we'll save for tasty ground beef.

This section makes gnarly looking ribs but they are really flavorful.

The most traditional style of beef short ribs are what some people call English cut. Cut

between the bones, maybe about 5 inches long. Each rib has one bone with meat around it.

This is English cut, and cut from this section it's English cut too, but we get that quintessential

short rib look. Like this.

But now if you cut across the bones, you get Flanken cut short ribs. In this case, instead

of just one bone, each piece of meat has several small pieces of bone. See? They taste the

same, it's just about style and presentation.

Now there's a way we can take it even further. If we cut our flanken ribs very thinly, and

remove this top muscle here, called the Lifter (latissimus dorsi), along with it's silver

skin and fat, we get something called Kalbi. A traditional Korean cut that takes sugary

marinades really well, caramelizes on the grill, and, since it's cut pretty thin, is

very tender all things considered (no braising necessary). It ends up tasting like meat candy.

Crusty and caramelized, beefy and fatty, cook it to well-done and enjoy a really great tearing

action as you eat it with your fingers.

The best looking ribs all around, the ones you have to use for Flanken and Kalbi and

those picture perfect English cut, come from ribs 5, 6, 7, and 8. And it's all because

of this muscle here. If there's nothing else you take away from ALL this information, you

have to know that this muscle is what makes your short rib so awesome. It's called the

serratus ventralis. Quite possibly my favorite cut in the whole animal [forget tenderloin].

Big beefy flavor (beefy) and great intramuscular fat (marbling). This is the muscle that you

love so much when you bite down into those beautifully braised short ribs.

So there it is. The plate. English cut. Flanken cut. Thin cut flanken. And the muscle that

runs through it all, the serratus ventralis.

For more information, talk to your local butcher.

Check out Dickson's Farmstand dot com

And for a cool Colombian recipe called Sancocho featuring short ribs, check out Sweet y Salado...