Baby back ribs in ginger-orange glaze

I've never tried making my own glaze or sauce for a barbeque before.  This was a first. And now I'm thinking of making more and bottling them, and selling them!  Seriously!  Because they are absolutely great!   The golden ticket of barbeque ribs! This recipe is adapted from Jaden Hair of Steamy Kitchen.  I've tried this over the weekend, including her fall-off-the-bone tip and what a turn out!  Serious baby back ribs, and literally fall-of-the-bone ribs, with a sweet and spicy Asian glaze.


These are the best ribs I've ever cooked at home! Most ribs we grill always end up marinaded for a few hours then on the grill.  Great for those spontaneous what-should-we-have-for-Sunday-lunch-barbeque?  On the other side of the fast and furious is this.  Slow and tender cooking (3-4hours) with some passionate smearing of spicy-sweet-orange glaze. And if you don't like the sweet and spicy orange glaze, you can still use your own favourite supermarket variety.  But do the 3-4 hours slow cooking process, because it'll change your life forever. The next time you'll have a backyard barbie, you can have this in your repertoire and your guests will definitely be impressed.

Pat dry the 1.5-2k pork baby back or rack ribs (American ribs as called in local butchers) with salt and pepper.  Place on a roasting tray or dish, cover with aluminum foil and place in a 150 degrees pre-heated oven for 3-4 hours. 





To make the glaze

1 tsp grated ginger (1 thumb-sized nob)

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 small eschalot , minced (Also known as shallots - see onion varieties here)

3/4 hoisin sauce (I used up a whole jar 240g Lee Kum Kee jar)

1 large orange, zest and juice

1 tbsp mirin

1 tbsp sambal

2 tbsp lemon juice

2 tbsp vegetable oil

Heat a small skillet or saucepan.  Add the vegetable oil and saute the onion until soft, 2-3  minutes.

Add the garlic and ginger and cook for another minute.

Add all the ingredients except the lemon juice (Jaden uses yuzu sauce but mentioned that lemon can be a substitute).

Lower the heat to low and simmer until sauce thickens, 8-10 minutes. 

Remove from heat and add the lemon juice (and some more ginger for extra punch).

We had this for dinner over the weekend, served with rice or rosemary buttered dinner rolls option, and simple side salad.  This dish is definitely making an encore in the next get-together.  I might make this a staple-plate-to-bring for those lunch and dinner invitations.