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.
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
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.
Phak Buung Fai Daeng (stir fired water spinach)
Som Tan Thai (Central Thai-style papaya salad)
Yam Khai Dao (fried egg salad)
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
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.
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
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
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.
Phak Buung Fai Daeng (stir fired water spinach)
Som Tan Thai (Central Thai-style papaya salad)
Yam Khai Dao (fried egg salad)
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
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.
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
