Best ever, you ask?  Well, in my humble opinion, yes.  But let’s be perfectly honest, EVERYONE has said at one point in their cooking life, theirs is the best!  And, guess what?  They are 100% right! As an avid cook (40 years), I have eaten and baked a ton of bbq ribs; some that were lip smackin’ delicious and some I wished I never made.

Trial and error, listening to what the good cooks in your life tell you, and sometimes a mistake that leads to an aha moment are key building blocks when one cooks.  My mother in law used to make awesome baked spareribs and hers never had a lick of barbeque sauce; they were so good as is with a bit of seasoning – fall off the bone, melt-in-your-mouth kind of rib.  I have cooked ribs the way she did and sometimes basting with bbq sauce towards the end of the cooking time.  My style of cooking has a propensity towards experimenting with what is traditional and mucking around with it.  If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.

It’s utterly amazing when you ask people how they like their ribs and the answers vary from dripping in sauce, fall off the bone, gotta be pork and not beef (or vice versa), baby backs versus spareribs, or for the real deal, must be smoked.  For me, I don’t have a meat preference (pork or beef will suffice) nor do I labor over making the perfect sauce.  Perhaps the notion that if you don’t season the ribs, let them sit in the fridge overnight, use wood instead of charcoal, never boil the meat and so on is enough for anyone to say I’ll buy the ribs already cooked, thank you.  Being a good cook shouldn’t be so intense.

Just when you think fall off the bone best describes what ribs are all about, I read that properly cooked ribs should pull cleanly off the bone with your teeth, have some resilience and chew (like a properly cooked steak), but not be tough.  I say, hogwash!  Cook ribs the way you like ’em!

My recipe is easy to follow and the meat, while not falling off the bone, is lip smackin’ good!

serves 4 to 6
1kg (2lbs) pork spareribs

marinade:
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons finely chopped ginger
1/2 cup hoisin sauce
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons Shaoxing rice wine
3 tablespoons ketchup

Place ribs in a large pot, cover with cold water and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to a simmer and cook 20 minutes.  Drain and allow ribs to cool to room temperature.  To separate the ribs, cut between the bones.  Combine all marinade ingredients in a bowl large enough to hold the ribs.  Add ribs and toss to cover the meat.  Refrigerate at least one hour and if time permits, or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350f (180c).  Remove ribs from oven and place on a parchment lined baking tray.  Bake 45 minutes turning once and baste with marinade as needed.

The Culinary Chase’s Note:  Don’t crowd the baking tray as you’ll end up steaming the ribs.  If you’re in a hurry and don’t have time for the ribs to cool down, rinse in cold water to help reduce the temperature of the meat.  Enjoy!