Chinatown Ribs


 
MO, you would benefit greatly by foiling your ribs when doing a high heat cook. The steaming/braising process will assist in the break down of collagen and connective tissue.
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never had a problem with bb's. They're fall off the bone without foil.

If I made this recipe, I would probably leave out the hoison and sugar towards the end of the cook, possibly as a glaze.
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the hoison is the primary flavor of the marinade. I'd leave out the sugar, but leave in the hoison.

For post cook sweetening...don't forget to try the plum sauce glaze. The ingredients are listed in the first post. I'll post the specifics if you're interested.
 
J, please do post up the specifics of the glaze. I'm going grocery shopping tonight for the marinade (got three racks of spares yesterday, 12.xx pounds for only $23!).

Thanks.
 
please do post up the specifics of the glaze
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the glaze is from Jim Tarantino's book, I highly recommend it if you're into experimenting.

2/3 cup plum sauce (I used Lee Kum Kim)
2 tbs Hoisin
2 tbs sherry (I used chinese cooking wine...all I had)
1 tbs soy
1 tbs ginger (sliced thinly against grain to avoid long fibers in finished sauce)
2 clove garlic
1/4 cup cilantro
1/2 tsp dried red chili

toss in blender and mix.

I love the Brooklyn Local 1!
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Brooklyn 1 and Murray's cheese...about the best dessert I can imagine!
 
Very cool, thanks for posting.

We're actually going up to a friend's lake house tomorrow evening after I get off work, and smoking the ribs on Saturday afternoon. To make things a little easier when loading up the vehicle tomorrow night, I went ahead and pre-made the marinade and glaze tonight, minus the fresh ingredients. I'll add those closer to marinating and serving time.

As of right now, the sauces are pretty similar to each other. I've never had Hoisin sauce before. Interesting flavor. A bit ketchup-y, but not bad at all. The addition of the sesame oil to the marinade is what really kicked it into true Asian flavor. I think this will work out very well.
 
As of right now, the sauces are pretty similar to each other
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hoisin can overpower the plum glaze, I wanted to cut back, but my friend talked me out of it because its "the" flavor you're looking for.

the cilantro and chili are what make the glaze another layer of flavor. the cilantro pairs up with the star anise in the 5 spice perfectly.

did you make your own 5 spice? I forgot to ask and it really is a major improvement of commercially available stuff.

good luck!
 
No, I went with a commercial brand 5-spice.

Overall, the ribs were a fantastic success. The marinade smelled overpoweringly garlicky, but it ended up tasting great. I cooked some of the reserved marinade down and used it for dipping, and also used the plum glaze. Both were really fantastic. The plum glaze was a bit heavy on cilantro for my tastes - it's not my favorite herb in the world, but others loved it. I'll probably cut back on it next time. The fresh ginger was just an out-of-this-world flavor. Absolutely love the smell of fresh ginger.

I also used a very small amount of cherry in the fire (three finger-sized twigs), but it still came out a bit smoky for my tastes. Next time I'll use only charcoal. I know, blasphemy, right?
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I just thought they came out tasting too much like BBQ ribs. Not that it's a bad thing, but it just missed the mark for me. I'll make them again some time, just tweaked for my tastes.
 
Looks good...and the hoisin sauce can be used in oh so many dishes. I always try to have a jar or two around...if nothing else I use it on take-out!
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Looks like I need to get some BBs to do this recipe.
 
No, I went with a commercial brand 5-spice.

Overall, the ribs were a fantastic success. The marinade smelled overpoweringly garlicky, but it ended up tasting great. I cooked some of the reserved marinade down and used it for dipping, and also used the plum glaze. Both were really fantastic. The plum glaze was a bit heavy on cilantro for my tastes - it's not my favorite herb in the world, but others loved it. I'll probably cut back on it next time. The fresh ginger was just an out-of-this-world flavor. Absolutely love the smell of fresh ginger.

I also used a very small amount of cherry in the fire (three finger-sized twigs), but it still came out a bit smoky for my tastes. Next time I'll use only charcoal. I know, blasphemy, right? Smiler I just thought they came out tasting too much like BBQ ribs. Not that it's a bad thing, but it just missed the mark for me. I'll make them again some time, just tweaked for my tastes.
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awesome...glad to hear it worked.

I used a bit of apple wood with mine. I kind of liked it, but I agree, you're not making southern bbq here, so you want it barely in the mix. I added the wood because its about the only thing that separates the wsm from an oven.

I like cilantro, so I used a good bit in my glaze.

next time, go over the top and make the 5 spice, it'll be a masterpiece.
 
Just a quick update. I've just finished my third batch and cooked them straight in an oven. I figured they aren't really meant to be smoked anyway so why not right? I ran them for about 2 hours at 320ish on cooling racks on top of cookie sheets. I wrapped them in foil to go. At the party I basted them and finished them under a broiler. They still came out great, but of course lacked they little extra something that comes from the wsm.

I had the butcher cut them through the bones so they were bite sized morsels. I wouldn't recommend this on the wsm because it makes it next to impossible to get them into a rib rack. But it worked well in an oven where they were laid out. The little bites make a great appetizer.
 
I just tried this exact recipe this weekend and I'm very pleased with the results. The marinade smelled great and the plum sauce is really nice. My mother in law is a big bbq'd rib and cilantro fan so I'll certainly make this again.

One question for you, Jeff. As I always do, I cooked my baby backs at 325-350 degrees for 90 minutes before foiling to finish. I normally add some apple juice to the foil when doing traditional ribs. I had no clue what I should use this time so I didn't add any liquid. The lack of liquid made the rub/marinade mixture stick to the bottom of the foil and added a little bitterness. What type of braising liquid would you add? Thanks.
 
Glad you liked it Jerry.

I don't see why apple, or pear juice wouldn't work. Neither flavor is very strong nor would be out of place.
 
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