BBQ or Chinese Spare Ribs

Description:

Serves: 2

Source: Recipes4us.co.uk, but heavily modified to ingredients and cooking. It now works !

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: About an hour and a half.

Comments: The recipe has been mainly used on baby back racks, if using spare ribs then may need to revise the cooking approach. The oven temperature is deliberately kept low with longer cooking to try to avoid the honey in the marinade burning.

Haven’t tried the Chinese ones yet.

Ingredients:

• BBQ (sweet/chilli)
• 450g/1lb Pork Spare Ribs
• 30ml/1.0fl.oz clear honey
• 15ml/0.5fl.oz sweet chilli sauce - can be omitted
• 1 Garlic Clove, crushed
• 1 tbsp Tomato Purée - have also used ketchup for a slightly sharper taste
• 1 teasp Spanish Paprika
• 1 tbsp Cider or Red Wine Vinegar
• 1/2 teasp Dried Thyme (or mixed herbs)
• ½ Teasp of hot chilli powder or flakes
• Salt and Black Pepper
• can also add a little oil

• Chinese (Ken Hom’s)
• 5 tbsp hoisin sauce
• 3 tbsp sesame oil
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 2 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry
• 3 tbsp coarsely chopped garlic
• 2 tsp finely chopped ginger
• 2 tbsp chilli bean sauce
• 2 tsp sugar

Method:

1. Heat the oven to 160C.


2. In a small mixing bowl, combine the honey, sweet chilli sauce, garlic, tomato purée, paprika, vinegar, dried herbs, salt, pepper and chilli. mix thoroughly.


3. Arrange the spare ribs in a large roasting tin. spread the sauce over the ribs covering the completely, then roast in the oven covered loosely with foil for one hour. Dont use fan/circotherm.


4. Roast for a further 15 minutes still at 180 but uncovered and at the top of the oven.


5. Alternatively marinade ribs for two hours in the sauce beforehand and cook on BBQ for 1 to 1.5 hours basting frequently with the sauce (or if you can’t stand running the BBQ that long ! then pre cook for an hour in the oven and finish for 30 minutes on the BBQ).



6. Alternatively (Ken Hom’s method which works well and is good for baby back ribs):


7. Preheat the oven to 150C/300F/Gas Mark 2.


8. Put the spare ribs in a baking dish and sprinkle on both sides evenly with salt and pepper. Put into the oven and cook for 1 hour.


9. Remove from oven. The spareribs can be done in at least four hours in advance up to this point.


10. Then cover with marinade and grill for 10 minute each side, basting as appropriate.