miso stewed short-ribs French-dip sandwich

Ingredients

MISO-STEWED SHORT-RIBS:
• 35.3 oz (1 kg) beef rib fingers, or boneless short-ribs, or chuck
• 2 tbsp canola oil
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 large onion, roughly cut
• 5 cloves garlic, chopped
• 5~6 slices ginger
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/8 tsp curry powder
• 5 cups beef stock or chicken stock
• 1/2 cup yellow miso paste
• 1/4 cup mirin
• 1/3 cup (83 ml) Japanese sake wine
TO FINISH:
• Crusty breads like ciabatta or baguette
• Melted butter
• Slices of provolone cheese
• Finely minced shallots
• Freshly ground black pepper
• powdered bonito flakes

Instructions

1. TO MAKE THE MISO-BRAISED SHORT-RIBS: Leave the rib fingers in large strips uncut. If using short-ribs or chuck, cut into large 2"x6" (5x15 cm) chunks. Heat 2 tbsp of canola oil in a large pot over medium-high heat, add the beef without crowding the pot, in two batches if need be. Then brown the beef until deeply caramelized on every sides, approx 5 min on each side. Add the soy sauce and continue to cook until the liquid has mostly evaporated. Add onion, garlics and gingers and cook until fragrant, then add the tomato paste, ground black pepper and curry powder and cook for a couple minutes more. Add the stock along with miso paste, mirin and sake wine. Stir until the paste has completely dissolved.
2. Cover the pot and simmer on low heat or in a preheated 300F/150C oven, for 3 hours until the beef is fork-tender, and the liquid has reduced by about 1/3. You should stir more frequently if cooking on stove-top to prevent burning on the bottom.
3. Carefully remove all the beef from the stew, then strain the liquid through a very fine sieve (miso pastes are grainy so it must be strained). Press on the solids to extract all liquid, then discard the solids, then return the beef back in the sauce. I highly recommend making this the day ahead. It only gets better as it sits.
4. TO PUT TOGETHER THE FRENCH-DIP SANDWICH: Reheat the beef stew if needed. Remove the beef with a slotted spoon then cut them up roughly with a scissor into 1" chunks give or take. Cover with a plastic wrap to prevent drying out. Skim off some of the excess fat on top of the broth and add mix 1 1/2 tbsp of it with the beef (You can keep the rest for roasting vegetables).
5. Slice the bread horizontally across and remove some of the crumbs to create space for the filling. Brush the crumb sides liberally with melted butter then toast under the broiler on high until golden and crusty on both sides of the bread. Arrange double layers of sliced cheese onto both slices of the bread and return it under the broiler until the cheese is melted. Pile the chopped beef liberally on top of one piece of the bread and top it off with another. Prepare a small bowl of the hot miso broth with finely minced shallots, ground black pepper, and a good pinch of bonito powder. Serve immediately by dipping the sandwich into the broth.