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2025 Cooks the Books - George Brown College
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Grilled Beef Short Ribs and Beef Kidney Lumpia: An Homage to Filipino Roots

Course Main Course
Prep Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Servings 6 servings
Author Student Chefs Ariella-Anne Monzon and Annika Lusis, George Brown College | Toronto, Ontario

Ingredients

Kare-Kare Peanut Sauce Espuma:

  • 1/2 (60 g) yellow onion
  • 2 cloves (5 g) garlic
  • 2 1/2 tbsp (40 g) Lactalis Butter Unsalted
  • 2 tbsp (15 g) annatto seeds
  • 2 pcs bay leaf
  • 2 pc cloves
  • 2 tbsp (30 mL) neutral oil
  • 2 tbsp (32 g) peanut butter (smooth)
  • 2 tbsp (32 g) bagoong (shrimp paste)
  • 6 cups (1420 mL) beef stock
  • 1 cup (250 mL) cream
  • 1 tsp (5 mL) fish sauce
  • 1 tbsp (15 g) Milled rice from puto recipe
  • 2 tbsp (30 g) water
  • Ice wine vinegar salt and black pepper, to taste

Squash Puto:

  • 1 cup (210 g) Dainty Kimora Medium Grain Rice
  • 1/4 (85 g) butternut squash, peeled
  • 1 cup (240 g) Lactalis Organic 3.8% Milk
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 tbsp (30 mL) neutral oil
  • 1/4 cup (50 g) sugar
  • 1/2 tsp (3 g) baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp (3 g) salt

Pickled Pear and Beets:

  • 1/2 cup (110 mL) white vinegar
  • 1/4 cup (50 g) sugar
  • 1/2 tsp (3 g) salt
  • 1 pc (180 g) Bartlett pear
  • 1 pc (180 g) medium sized beet

Beet Top and Pickled Beet Slaw:

  • 1/4 cup (40 g) beet top leaves
  • 1/8 cup (30 g) pickled beets
  • 1 tsp (5 mL) ice wine vinegar
  • 1/2 tsp (2 mL) sesame oil
  • Salt, black pepper, and sugar, to taste

Kidney “Lumpia”:

  • 1/2 cup (100 g) PEI Certified Beef Kidney
  • 1 cup (236 mL) Lactalis Organic 3.8% Milk
  • 1 pc (30 g) shallot
  • 1/2 cup (100 g0 Dainty® Kimora Medium Grain

Rice:

  • 1 tbsp (15 mL) soy sauce
  • 1 tsp (5 mL) champagne vinegar
  • 2 sprigs of thyme
  • 2 sage leaves
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 lime leaf
  • 1 tbsp (14 g) Lactalis Unsalted Butter
  • 1 tbsp (15 mL) canola oil
  • 6 lumpia wrapper layers
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Glazed Short Rib:

For the Glaze:

  • 2 tsp (10 g) fresh ginger
  • 2 cloves (5 g) garlic
  • 1/4 cup (50 mL) maple syrup
  • 2 Tbsp (10 mL) ice wine vinegar
  • 1 Tbsp (5 mL) sesame oil

For the Dry Rub:

  • 1 tbsp (15 g) paprika
  • 2 tbsp (26 g) brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp (16 g) salt
  • 2 tsp (9 g) ground black peppercorns
  • 2 tsp (6 g) annatto powder
  • 1 tsp (3 g) cayenne pepper

For the Ribs:

  • 1.2 kg approx. 2.6 lb PEI Certified Beef Short Ribs (yields 6 ×5 oz cooked portions)

Bok Choy:

  • 1 tbsp (15 mL) canola oil
  • 7 pcs (791 g) baby bok choy with blossoms
  • 2 1/2 tbsp (35 mL) white wine
  • 3 tbsp (45 mL) Lactantia Unsalted Butter
  • Salt to taste

Instructions

Kare Kare:

  • Roughly chop garlic and onion. Melt butter with oil and annatto seeds until orange; strain seeds and save butter and oil. Add cloves, bay leaves, and the annatto oil; toast until fragrant. Sauté onion and garlic until translucent, then stir in peanut butter and bagoong and cook until lightly caramelized. Gradually whisk in beef stock and cream until smooth. Simmer for 15 minutes and thicken with rice flour slurry until desired consistency.
  • Blend flavours. Season with fish sauce, ice wine vinegar, salt, and pepper. Strain and keep warm or transfer to an espuma siphon for plating.

Squash Puto:

  • Mill short-grain rice into flour. Slice butternut squash into thin sheets using a mandoline; reserve trimmings for purée. Spray silicone molds with non-stick spray and line with squash ribbons. Blend squash trim with milk until smooth, then add egg and oil and pulse to combine. Mix rice flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt; add to the blender and pulse until smooth.
  • Pour batter into greased molds lined with squash ribbons and steam over medium heat for 12–15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Pickled Pear and Beets:

  • Heat vinegar, sugar, and salt in a small pot until it is dissolved.
  • Meanwhile, peel the pear, and cut into quarters ensuring you do not cut the core. Thinly slice half the pieces on the mandoline, and place into a bowl. Set aside the other pieces for mocktail.
  • After the pear is cut, peel the beets and then julienne. Set aside in a separate bowl. Pour half of the pickling liquid over the pear slices and the other half over the beet, let cool for at least 10 minutes. When done, top each puto with pickled pear before serving.

Beet Top and Pickled Beet Slaw:

  • Thinly slice the beet tops. Strain the pickled beets from their liquid, reserve the liquid for the mocktail. Place strained beets onto a paper towel until dry. Mix dressing ingredients in a small bowl. Add the beet tops and the pickled beets, toss to order. Chill before serving on top of Lumpia.

Kidney Lumpia:

  • Butcher and clean the kidney, removing white fat. Soak in milk for 1 hour, then dice finely. Wash rice (save some rice water for mocktail) and cook in a rice cooker with water until fluffy.
  • Sauté diced shallots in canola oil until translucent, add kidney, and brown. Deglaze with soy sauce and vinegar, then add thyme, sage, lime leaf, and bay leaf; reduce. Combine mixture with cooked rice, fold in butter, season to taste and keep warm until service time. Using a cookie cutter or a small round cutter, cut each lumpia wrapper into circles. Stack two circles together for each serving (3 stacks per serving) Spray with oil, layer with parchment, and bake between sheet trays at 400°F (205°C) for 6–7 minutes until golden. Spoon kidney mixture between two crisped wrappers, then add a third to form a triple-layer sandwich. Garnish with fresh beet tops and pickled beet slaw.

Grilled Short Ribs:

  • Trim excess fat from short ribs and season with salt. Grate garlic and ginger, then mix the glaze and dry rub in a separate bowl. Preheat the grill pan to medium-high heat. Sear ribs on both sides for grill marks, then brush with maple–ice wine glaze, letting it caramelize. Once deep in color, sprinkle with dry rub and grill until the internal temperature reaches 145°F (63°C). Rest for 10 minutes, then slice and portion 5 oz per plate for six servings.

Bok Choy:

  • Clean and cut in half. Save blossoms to garnish puto. Heat oil in a pan, lightly sear stems without colouring, then add wine and butter; cook until tender. Season with salt to taste.

Serving Directions:

  • Arrange the puto diagonally on the right side of the plate, with the lumpia placed below. Stack the short ribs beside the lumpia and position bok choy to the right of the ribs. Dispense the espuma sauce into a container, then spoon it onto the left side of the ribs for a clean, balanced presentation.

Notes

Chef Notes:
  • Soak kidney in milk for an hour, or overnight, to neutralize metallic flavours and improve texture.
  • Repurpose trimmings and liquids to minimize waste—for example, blend 1⁄2 pear trim, 250 g rice water, and 10 g sugar with ice, then add a splash of beet pickling liquid for a mocktail.
  • Rotate vegetables seasonally, such as using zucchini for squash or peas for bok choy.