Adapted version of Gordon Ramsay’s recipe for sticky pork ribs.

Sticky Pork Ribs

By Sue Lau | Palatable Pastime

This month for FoodieExtravaganza, we are sharing rib recipes. I decided to share my version of Gordon Ramsay’s Sticky Pork Ribs.

I think Ramsay uses fatty spareribs to  keep the meat moist; I opted to use country style ribs or western style ribs in mine. They are essentially pork shoulder blade roast that has been sliced into thick ribs with bone  in.

I note in  his video that he salts his ribs prior to browning and I disagree. Salt is prevalent throughout the recipe and the meat picks up plenty of salt flavor during the braise cycle from the addition of soy sauce, chicken  stock, and also the rice wine, which has salt added (since it is a cooking wine). If you add salt anyway because he did, and you find it too salty, don’t come moaning to me about it. You know, you can always salt at the table, but you can’t take it out.

After browning the meat, I also chose to drain the fat out of the pan, because there is sufficient fat in the rest of the meat that is still going to render out during the braise, and I don’t want any extra mixed in once I add the braising liquid. It would just make the ribs greasy.

He also uses whole star anise and whole Sichuan peppercorns. I think the star anise are nice, and I did add a few for show, but stuck with ground versions of these spices that you can easily purchase in an Asian grocery. As for the whole Sichuan peppercorns, I don’t use those whole anymore because I find they have a gritty texture which I find unpleasant. If you do have whole ones, pound them out in the mortar then sift with a fine sieve. I think you will much prefer it.

As  for that amount of red pepper flakes, you might worry about the spice level, but I didn’t find this overly spicy at all.

I also used dark  soy sauce in mine, but if you need to, use regular soy sauce and adjust the amount of honey upward, since dark soy is sweeter.

I served this on  shredded lettuce with sliced tomatoes. Probably because it is summer and I like it lighter- plus the lettuce reminds me a bit of the way some Vietnamese places will serve Com Tam Thit Nuong- lemongrass seasoned pork with broken rice, served with lettuce, pickled carrot, sliced cucumber, tomatoes, nuoc mam, and if you are very lucky, a fried runny egg.

But if it were winter I would probably serve this with steamed rice, and possibly sauteed zukes or broccoli instead of tomatoes and lettuce.

Sticky Pork Ribs

• Servings: 6
• Time: 2hr 10mins
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup  olive oil
• 5 pounds pork  shoulder blade thick-cut ribs (country style or western style)
• black pepper
• 2 teaspoons ground or crushed Sichuan peppercorns
• 2 teaspoons ground aniseed or about 5 whole star anise
• 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
• 2 ounces thinly sliced fresh ginger
• 5 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 3/4 cup dark soy sauce
• 1/2  cup Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry
• 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1/2 cup runny honey
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 2 cups chopped scallion

Serve with:

• 1 head iceberg lettuce, shredded
• 4 scallions, chopped
• 2 ripe tomatoes, sliced

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Heat oil in a stainless steel  roasting pan on the stove top.
3. Season pork ribs with black pepper. Do not salt them at this point.
4. Place ribs in roasting pan and brown on both sides; remove ribs from pan and drain off all the fat. Don’t worry about the fond sticking to the bottom- leave it there.
5. Return  the ribs to the pan and sprinkle with Sichuan peppercorn, anise, red pepper, ginger and garlic.
6. Add soy sauce, Shaoxing rice wine, rice vinegar, honey and chicken stock to the pan, then sprinkle with the chopped scallion.
7. Place the roasting pan in the oven and cook for thirty minutes; remove and turn the ribs and cook for thirty minutes more.
8. Remove the pan from the oven and cook on the stove top until sauce thickens and coats the ribs, turning the ribs frequently.
9. Serve ribs on a bed of shredded lettuce, sprinkled with additional scallion and sliced ripe tomatoes; in winter you may just like to serve this with rice.

From the kitchen of palatablepastime.com

FoodieExtravaganza

Foodie Extravaganza is where we celebrate obscure food holidays or cook and bake together with the same ingredient or theme each month. This month we celebrate Spare Ribs (which is on July 4th). Sneha from Sneha’s Recipe is hosting this month’s event and here’s the challenge she shared with us…

• Canh Suon Khoai Tay (Vietnamese Spare Rib Soup) by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Chinese Spare Ribs (Slow Cooker) by Caroline’s Cooking
• Pomegranate Braised Short Ribs by Food Lust People Love
• Singaporean Coffee Spare Ribs by Sneha’s Recipe
• Slow Cooker Chinese Spare Ribs by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Sticky Pork Ribs by Palatable Pastime