Have you ever had a meal that you can’t stop thinking about? We have. BIG TIME. Every single time Zikki and I travel back to my hometown of Rehovot in Israel, our first stop is a restaurant called Yonathan’s. It is a small but very mighty Yemenite restaurant across the street from a strip mall and it serves the best Yemenite food…maybe, ever.

If you have never tasted Yemenite flavors…well, you are at a loss and this is something you must fix immediately. Yemenite cooking is known for its rich, bold, and aromatic flavors, with influences from Jewish, Middle Eastern, and African cuisines. Key characteristics include the use of warm spices like Hawaij and condiments like Zhugg, a spicy cilantro chutney.

Soup Hawaij (different from Coffee Hawaij), is a mix of cumin, coriander, turmeric, black pepper, and cardamom.

Upon our return to Israel, Zikki just couldn’t sit still. There was no place in New York to get this iconic soup, so Zikki made it her mission to replicate the flavor based on her memory and thus Zikki’s Yemenite Short Ribs recipe was born.

Typically, different cuts of beef are used to make this 12-hour wonder, Zikki chose to use beef short ribs, it’s one of our favorites because the meat just falls off the bone. The best part about this dish is that it can be prepped in 15 minutes. Once it’s been prepped, you just let it cook all day long. Zikki’s secret? The double boiler effect. Before she puts the stew in the oven to slow cook, she seals the pot first with a layer of parchment paper, then a layer of aluminum, and then finally the lid. This method makes a world of a difference, so do NOT skip it.

Once your Yemenite Beef Short Ribs are tender and your potatoes have absorbed all the incredible spices, fat and broth - you are ready to go! Serve alongside a gorgeous Chopped Salad, some brined pickles and a basket of fresh Saluf, Yemenite Pita. If you’re lucky … you will have plenty of leftovers to portion out into your new freezer trays (30% off)

Some things just get better with time…

In our house we love things that are: Quick to prep, slow to cook, and easy to freeze! With life endlessly flying forward, there is no better feeling than minimizing food waste and meal prep time! Enter Souper Cubes, our go-to sexy silicone oven safe freezer trays. These trays might be our most washed dish in the entire kitchen.

Zikki cooked a big batch of her Yemenite Beef Short Ribs and immediately half the batch went into our 2-cup freezer trays, which we easily pop out for a individual dinner for one anytime. So easy, and just perfectly portioned.