I caught a great sale at my local grocer on some pork spare ribs and decided to pick up a few racks for the July 4th holiday. You simply can’t go wrong with ribs – everyone just loves them especially the ones I make with a jazzed up sweet and spicy BBQ sauce. I toss them in the oven when I simply don’t feel like cranking up the grill.
For this year, I wanted to try something a little different, so I went hunting for a new way to prepare the ribs. I came across a recipe on a blog called Pure Land Organic that offered an Asian-style twist that sounded really delicious. I had all of the ingredients on hand which made it easy, and these were flavors I know and love. First the ribs were braised in a low sodium soy sauce with orange juice and ginger, and after a few hours of cooking the resulting liquid was reduced down to a glaze and used to baste the ribs. I decided to add a few other ingredients to the braising liquid for a little more sweet and spicy flavor. For something like this, the key is to develop a tasty and aromatic flavor that will penetrate the meat – and with these few little additions, I managed to accomplish that.
The recipe was really easy to make and other than preparing them and putting them in the oven, there really wasn’t anything else to do for the first 2 hours other than flip the ribs over half way through. As with most rib recipes, the work really comes at the end when it’s time to glaze them. I will tell you that these ribs did not disappoint and the little effort required at the end was rewarded with lots of smiles and empty plates.
Serve these alongside a great potato salad and some cornbread, and you’ve got yourself a great summer time meal that is great for any holiday gathering.
Asian Style Pork Spareribs
4 pounds of pork spareribs, cut into sections
3 cups orange juice
1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
¼ cup sugar
2 large knob of fresh ginger, grated
Add- ins to the reduction for glaze (I added)
orange rind (just the skin, no pith)
2 garlic cloves, whole
¼ teaspoon 5-spice
½ -1 cup honey (depending on how sweet you like it)
large pinch ground pepper
2 tablespoons tomato ketchup
1 cup hoisin sauce
Cut the spareribs into 2 piece sections all the way down the rack and place the ribs into a deep baking pan. Put together all of the ingredients for the braising liquid and pour this over the ribs. Cover this with foil and bake at 325°F for 2 hours. After they have been braising for 1 hour, turn over the ribs, cover with foil again and finish braising.
At the end of the 2 hour period, pour off all of the braising liquid and put the ribs into another baking pan that has been greased well with a good pan spray – this step will help with cleanup, or you can simply line the baking pan with foil and toss it out once the ribs are glazed. Remove the fat from the surface of the poaching liquid and add in the orange rind, garlic cloves and 5-spice and allow the mixture to reduce down to 1/3 of the original amount. Place the covered ribs back in the warm oven until the glaze is made. Once the liquid has reduced, remove the garlic cloves and the orange rind and add the 2 tablespoons of ketchup, the honey (add according to your level of sweetness) and the black pepper and remove from the heat.
Remove the ribs from the oven and turn the oven up to 500°F. Add ½ cup of the hoisin sauce onto the ribs and then brush on the glaze. Place the tray in the oven on the top most rack and allow them to begin to take on some charred color, about 5-10 minutes.
Remove from the oven and turn them over, add the rest of the hoisin sauce, brush over with glaze and put them back in the oven for 5-10 more minutes. The next time you remove the tray from the oven, turn the ribs over again and just baste them with the glaze, continue doing this for about 45 minutes until the ribs have taken on the desired amount of color and char. Remove from the oven and serve warm.
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