Get: - rack of pork ribs (safeway sells 3-4lbs St. Louis style, which is too much for two people)
- Chinese 5 spice powder ("C" for "Chinese"!)
- 1/2 cup hoisin sauce
- 1/4 cup dry sherry (or shaoxing wine)
- 2tbsp soy sauce
- 1/4 cup honey (I used molasses which was fine!)
- salt, pepper, garlic powder
Prep: - Chop ribs apart using straight cuts. Align with the large end of the bone; this means you'll have to slice through the narrow part as it curves over the next rib.
- Lay ribs out on a plate or dish and season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and 5 spice powder. Let stand at least 5 minutes.
- Combine hoisin sauce, dry sherry, soy sauce, and honey/molasses in a cup and whisk to combine.
- Place ribs into gallon-sized ziplock bag(s) and pour over the marinade. Seal bag, pressing out air, and squoosh marinade to evenly coat the ribs.
- Place bag(s) in refrigerator and let ribs marinate at least overnight and up to three nights.
Slow cook: // untested - Preheat oven to 200°F.
- Remove ribs from bag, wiping off excess marinade with your fingers or lip of the bag. Reserve the marinade.
- Place ribs in foil, separated from each other.
- Roast 4 hours at 200F.
- Remove foil, brush ribs with marinade, increase heat to 450°F, and continue to roast until charred, glazed, and sticky, about 20 minutes longer.
- Rotate and baste the ribs with marinade once during cooking. Let rest 5-10 minutes and serve.
Quick cook: // a little tough? - Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Remove ribs from bag, wiping off excess marinade with your fingers or lip of the bag. Reserve the marinade.
- Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil, set a wire rack in it, and spread the ribs evenly over the rack.
- Cover with aluminum foil and roast for 1 hour.
- Remove foil, brush ribs with marinade, increase heat to 450°F, and continue to roast until charred, glazed, and sticky, about 20 minutes longer.
- Rotate and baste the ribs with marinade once during cooking. Let rest 5-10 minutes and serve.
Results: - Pretty tasty! It definite had a genuine char su kind of taste. Searing the glaze on with high heat worked pretty well.
- The meat was edible but not amazingly tender. Makes me want to think about a recipe that would have made the meat more tender / broken down more of the collagen. Longer bake time?
- I used molasses instead of honey. That was fine.
- I salted, peppered, and garlic'd the ribs in addition to just the 5 spice and the marinade as called for by the serious-eats recipe.
- I tried an alternate where I tried to saute the ribs in garlic and chili instead of the oven. That did not work at all! The garlic burned and the ribs were much much less flavorful. Interestingly, the flavor was so much less only because of the last 20 minutes that it makes me think that the marinade soak is not doing nearly as much work as the baste-and-burn at the end.
- I spilled the glaze in the oven and that was a disaster. Don't use disposable pans that can't handle the high heat!
- Grill results: BAD
- i tried finishing the ribs on the grill. That did not work! They quickly charred to total black.
- The lowest setting on the grill with one burner and indirect heat makes the ribs cook at 240F. I think that was okay? I cooked in foil packs. HOWEVER
- Direct heat was far far too much for the ribs. The sauce on them blackened. They were solid char, no good.
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