Joi Ito — Cooking
Recipe

The Best Chili Ever

For the original recipe and instructions, see “The Best Chili Ever” at seriouseats.com

★★★★★ Serves 6 to 10 Cook 6 hours, plus overnight to soak beans Mexican, short ribs, soup
The Best Chili Ever

Notes

This is my first chili recipe, but we like it so much I've stuck to this recipe each time I've made chili since. I make it with short ribs. It's a fair amount of work but it produces quite a bit of chili which I freeze in 1 qt bags. It freezes well and tastes good when slowly warmed back up.

The full recipe is on the Serious Eats site.

short ribs

short ribs

It's a fair amount of work to sear, debone and cut up the short rib, but it's worth it.

short ribs

Before it goes in for the slow cook in the oven.

Ingredients

  • 1 pound (450g) dried dark red kidney beans
  • Kosher salt
  • 4 quarts (3.8L) water
  • 3 whole ancho, pasilla, or mulato chilies, seeded and torn into rough 1-inch pieces (about 1/2 ounce)
  • 2 whole New Mexico red, California, costeño, or choricero chilies, seeded and torn into rough 1-inch pieces (about 1/8 ounce)
  • 1 whole cascabel, árbol, or pequin chili, seeded and torn in half
  • 5 pounds (2.3kg) bone-in beef short ribs, trimmed of silver skin and excess fat
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons (30ml) vegetable oil
  • 1 quart (900ml) low-sodium chicken broth (preferably homemade), divided
  • 2 whole anchovy fillets
  • 1 teaspoon (5ml) Marmite
  • 2 teaspoons (10ml) soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons (30ml) tomato paste
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons whole cumin seeds, toasted, then ground
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons whole coriander seeds, toasted, then ground
  • 2 whole cloves, toasted and ground
  • 1 star anise, toasted and ground
  • 1 tablespoon extra-finely ground coffee beans
  • 1 ounce chopped unsweetened chocolate
  • 1 large yellow onion, diced fine (about 1 1/2 cups)
  • 3 fresh Thai bird chilies or 1 jalapeño, finely chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced (about 1 tablespoon)
  • 1 tablespoon dried oregano leaves
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 (28-ounce; 794g) can crushed tomatoes
  • 1/4 cup (60ml) cider vinegar, plus more to taste
  • 1/4 cup (60ml) vodka or bourbon
  • 1 tablespoon (15ml) Buffalo-style hot sauce, such as Frank's RedHot (or more to taste)
  • 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
  • For the Garnish (all suggestions optional):
  • Scallions, sliced finely
  • Cheddar, Jack, or Colby cheese, grated
  • Sour cream
  • Jalapeño or Poblano peppers, diced and seeded
  • Onion, diced
  • Avocado, diced
  • Saltines
  • Fritos