Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Chinese Baby Back Ribs

Get ready to say “hands off” when you make this one!  My oldest sister whipped up these ribs for my dad’s birthday celebration last weekend, and they barely made it to the dining table.  While the glistening racks of baby backs were resting on the cutting board, my other “not-so-helpful” sister (what a surprise) snuck in and hacked off a rib to sample.  After that, the flood gates were open and five or six others followed suit (including myself!).  Even the younger kids were reaching for the carving knife to kipe a juicy rib.  When my mom makes these, she uses country style spare ribs, but I prefer the baby backs.  Either way, it’s ridiculously easy.  And your house will smell incredible!
The sugar in this marinade creates a rather tasty charred edge!

Serves 4
2 pounds pork baby back ribs (about 1 rack)
6 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
3 tablespoons cooking wine or sherry
2 teaspoons salt

Cut rack of ribs into two equal halves to fit into a gallon-size re-sealable plastic bag.  (Use two bags if both half-racks don’t fit into one.)  Whisk together sugar, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, wine and salt.   Place ribs and marinade in plastic bag, seal and turn to coat the ribs evenly.  Refrigerate overnight, for up to 48 hours, flipping bag 2 to 3 times to re-distribute marinade.

Take ribs out of refrigerator 20 minutes before baking.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees with rack in middle.  Line a 17” x 12” x 1” baking pan with heavy duty aluminum foil.  Place ribs on pan meat side down; pour remaining marinade from bag onto ribs.  Bake for 35 minutes.  Turn ribs over; baste top of ribs with pan juices, bake for 40 more minutes, until meat is browned nicely and edges start to char.

Let ribs stand for 15 minutes.  Transfer to work surface and cut racks between bones into individual ribs; serve immediately.