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« Spicy Umami Ketchup Recipe |Main
July 09, 2013Smart Cheater’s Barbecue RibsThese are the ribs of last week’s July 4 celebration. Itwas just my husband and me. I had been hunkered down all week long finalizingthe manuscript for The Banh Mi Handbook.(I hit “Send” yesterday so it’s in the hopper, due to be published a year fromnow in July 2014!) It was a national holiday but I had to work most of thetime. My strategy for putting together a special meal was to get my husbandinvolved.
He’d been hankering for the kind of barbecue we enjoyedin Texas a few years ago and I was thinking of gnawing on some meaty ribs. Wediscussed options and settled on pork spareribs. While I don’t mind tending toa pot of pho, I’m not into tending a grill for hours. We leave that the pros toget right. I remembered a recipe from BonAppetit magazine for “the best” barbecue ribs.
Leary of superlative recipenames, I still gave it a try. The reason is that the barbecue recipe involvedoven-baking with a spice rub, then a quick grilling. My friend Hunter Lewis, aSoutherner, was BA’s food editor when that recipe was published in 2012 so Ihad a hunch that it would be good. Hunter makes delicious food andcomes up with good techniques for home cooks. I trust him.
I was right. Hunter came up with a great method formimicking the slow barbecue quality on a good rack of pork spareribs. This is not going to be smoke-to-the-bone kind of ribs. However, you will get ribs that beats out most of the barbecue dreck out there. The porky flavor of the meat and its richness shine.
The other fabulous thing about this cheater's barbecue method is that you can roast the ribs up tothree days in advance and cook them up within 15 minutes of serving. We spreadone full rack of ribs over the course of two meals set days apart. I loveshortcuts when they’re smart. Don’t you?
Feel free to tinkerwith the spice rub but do keep the dry mustard, which lent a wonderfullycomplex layer of flavor. We used Colman’s dry mustard but you could certainlyuse Chinese or Japanese dry mustard powder. Try different kinds of ground chileinstead of the cayenne and paprika. Hello, Korean gochugaru ground chile?! Or, add other spices. Keep the kosher salt and pepper. If you don't have kosher salt, use half the quantity of regular salt or sea salt: 1 1/2 teaspoons salt.
As for the barbecuesauce, cook up your own. My husband doctored up ketchup with sauteed shallot, chile, Chinkiang vinegar, and soy sauce. You could even use the umamiketchup and add ginger, rice vinegar, and kechap manis or soy sauce. Use dark soy sauce and sugar to get a nice color. Or, just bya bottle of barbecue sauce and focus on side dishes, beverages, and dessert.
RECIPE
Cheater’s BarbecueRibs
Yield: Serves4
Ingredients
1/4 teaspoon cayenne1/4 teaspoon black pepper1 1/2 teaspoons paprika1 1/2 teaspoons dry mustard Generous 1 tablespoon kosher salt1 full rack (a good 4 lbs / 2 kg) meaty pork spareribs3/4 to 1 cup (180 to 240 ml) store-boughtor homemade barbecue sauceInstructions
Positiona rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350°F (180 or 175°C / gas mark4). Combine all the ingredients for the spice rub and set aside. If athick, knobby cartilage-laden part remains on your rack of ribs, cut them offand save them for making soup or simmering in caramel sauce. (If you bought a rectangular cut called “St. Louis-style” spareribs, that section will have been trimmed already.) Cutthe rack in half between two ribs. Put each piece on a piece of heavy-duty foiland rub the spices all over them. Wrap each piece up and bake for 2 to 2 1/2hours, until very tender but not falling apart. (We baked for 3 hours and itwas falling off the bone and a little over done.)Removefrom the oven, cool for about 15 minutes, then open up the foil to vent andcontinue cooling. Pour any juices from the foil into a heatproof cup; reserve thosejuices to later add to the sauce. Let the ribs cool completely, wrap them backup in foil, and refrigerate up to 3 days. Returnthe ribs to room temperature before finishing. Build a medium-hot charcoal fireor heat a gas grill to high. Meanwhile, if you have reserved cooking juices,add it to the sauce to make 1 1/4 cups; add water if you don’t have any cookingliquid. Thinning the sauce out prevents it from burning up the ribs duringgrilling and helps to create a lacquered effect. If your sauce isn’t too sweetor thick, you don’t have to thin it out! Grill theribs, basting with the sauce and turning frequently, until glazed looking and charredin a few spots, roughly 8 to 10 minutes. Cool for a few minutes then cut betweenthe ribs and serve with more barbecue sauce.See the original Bon Appetit recipe here.Posted in Recipes: All, Recipes: Gluten-Free , Recipes: Grilled, Recipes: Main Course, Recipes: Meat | Permalink | |
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Comments Smart Cheater’s Barbecue RibsThese are the ribs of last week’s July 4 celebration. Itwas just my husband and me. I had been hunkered down all week long finalizingthe manuscript for The Banh Mi Handbook.(I hit “Send” yesterday so it’s in the hopper, due to be published a year fromnow in July 2014!) It was a national holiday but I had to work most of thetime. My strategy for putting together a special meal was to get my husbandinvolved.
He’d been hankering for the kind of barbecue we enjoyedin Texas a few years ago and I was thinking of gnawing on some meaty ribs. Wediscussed options and settled on pork spareribs. While I don’t mind tending toa pot of pho, I’m not into tending a grill for hours. We leave that the pros toget right. I remembered a recipe from BonAppetit magazine for “the best” barbecue ribs.
Leary of superlative recipenames, I still gave it a try. The reason is that the barbecue recipe involvedoven-baking with a spice rub, then a quick grilling. My friend Hunter Lewis, aSoutherner, was BA’s food editor when that recipe was published in 2012 so Ihad a hunch that it would be good. Hunter makes delicious food andcomes up with good techniques for home cooks. I trust him.
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