Savoury pork ribs
Ribs are one of the best antidotes to cold weather outside and a thrifty way to indulge during these double dip disaster days. My only gripe in the past has been how long it takes to prepare them if you intend to go the whole hog with a 24 hour marinade and a long, slow roast to gently tease the flesh from each bone. While I am a sucker for experimenting with recipes that have ninety-nine steps, some days you just want to come home, fill your belly and dive under a duvet.
Hello Quick Ribs. Perhaps not quite the same as 24 Hour Ribs, but still pretty damn good. They are delicious on their own straight out of the oven - hot, spicy and juicy. The vinegar and lime add a fruity sourness to cut through the rich, fatty meat, while sweet and savoury flavours are punctuated with smoky, almost bitter nuggets of darkened garlic. Dipped into the reduced sauce they become an epiphany of pig and Asian flavours.
Ingredients
1 small rack pork ribs
1 good pinch cinnamon, paprika, sumac and cayenne pepper
4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp rice vinegar
1 lime, juice only
½ tbsp palm sugar
Sea salt
Black pepper, ground
Olive or rapeseed oil
What to do
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F.
Wash the rib rack and lay it meaty side down. Season this side with salt and pepper and then turn the rack over and place it on a sheet of foil, large enough to enclose the rack. Evenly cover the meat with the rest of the marinade ingredients, before sealing the foil tightly around the ribs. Put the package in the oven for 45 minutes, before opening up the foil and allowing the garlic to caramelise and the sauce to reduce to a spicy sweet/sour stickiness.
Serve with sauce of power.