Pok Pok Ribs (Monster Style)


 

j biesinger

TVWBB Platinum Member
If you've ever bought a piece of belly at an Asian market, you might have recognized some ribs hidden in it. This gave me the idea to try making some monster ribs. I ordered a whole belly that was skin-on and bone-in and squared out the ribs, the rest became bacon. I did this once before, but that's another story.
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I was following the Pok Pok recipe for Sii Khrong Muu Yaang (Thai-style pork ribs). You can easily find a variation of the recipe online, and I suggest you do because the marinade is a nice mix of ceylon, ginger, nutmeg, white pepper, booze, honey and soy. I read some info about the ribs and was totally off on the cut. Instead of big, juicy ribs, they are supposed to be more like little riblets that are grilled so they end up with a bit of chew, but I already had my rack in the marinade, so it was full steam ahead.

I was hoping to give them lots of love on the wsm, but the meal got pushed from a sunday to a monday so time was an issue, plus I wouldn't be around for most of the cook. I ended up wrapping the rack in foil and braising it in a 280* oven for 3 hours. I kept it skin side down to make sure it ended up nice and soft. After braising, I set up the wsm without a water pan so I could get some charring without worrying about flareups
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we made a couple of other recipes out of Pok Pok, to go along with the ribs

Kaeng Jeut Wun Sen ("bland" soup with glass noodles). Thai pork stock with: glass noodles, sliced wood ear, muu deng (Bouncy pork balls), salted radish, naam man krathiem (fried garlic oil), krathiem jiaw (fried garlic), chinese celery, cilantro, and green onions.
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Phak Buung Fai Daeng (stir fired water spinach)
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Som Tan Thai (Central Thai-style papaya salad)
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Yam Khai Dao (fried egg salad)
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ribs with dipping sauce, which is a little different than the version posted online. The book recipe is heavy with chile powder, which was to be ground from a whole toasted chile. I was really impressed at how much better the color and flavor was of the freshly ground powder when compared to preground. I'm going to do this more often when the need for some high quality chile powder arises
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I figured I throw in a shot of how monster the ribs really are. From the cross section, you can see how it's a slab of belly on top of a rack of ribs. I mentioned that I tried this before, which was an attempt to make a thick rack (not quite monster). Unfortunately, the layer above the rack is mostly fat, so trimming away only some of the belly doesn't get you any more meat, just more fat. But both combined, as here, is pretty fantastic. They were very tender and moist, and excellent dipped in the sauce.
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online rib recipe:
http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/honey-glazed-baby-back-ribs-with-whiskey-marinade

Pok Pok book:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1607742888/tvwb-20?tag=TVWB-20
 
J Biesinger your culinary interests are muy simpatico to mine.

Does Pok Pok call for ground chili pequin like Thompson does? I had the same experience using that over some preground. I get the Mexican Pequin chilis.

Is the dressing on the fried egg salad normal thai salad dressing fish sauce/lime/sugar?
 
thanks for the kind words everybody!

J Biesinger your culinary interests are muy simpatico to mine.

Does Pok Pok call for ground chili pequin like Thompson does? I had the same experience using that over some preground. I get the Mexican Pequin chilis.

Is the dressing on the fried egg salad normal thai salad dressing fish sauce/lime/sugar?

Ricker calls for Mexican puya chiles which he says mimics a certain kind of medium sized dried chile. My wife googled puyas and we had an acceptable sub on hand with guajillos. Who knows how close we got.

yes, egg salad dressing was: lime, palm sugar syrup, fish sauce, garlic and chile

Btw, it's been a while since we talked and I finally got my curing chamber going and survived my first batch of salami
 
J that is a 10 star meal right there,But then again you alway's raise the bar with your meal's & picture's.
 
Wow. Just wow.

I love the look of that belly with the cross hatches and the crispy skin. I've got a nice Berkshire belly in the freezer, I'm going to pull it out tomorrow and get it ready for the weekend and some five spice love.
 
Don't know how I missed this post originally. A home run Jeff on all counts. I happen to love water spinach. I cook it up the Malay way with belacan, garlic, shallots and chili sambal ("Belacan kangkung"). Cheers!
Oops. Thought it was an older post. I guess I am current...
 

 

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