Approx cost: €7
Approx calories (per serving): ~800
Approx preparation and cooking time: 90 mins
BBQ ribs: sticky and meaty and messy – dinners don’t get much better. Pork ribs are one of these things whose price varies wildly by country and region. I actually paid €16 for 600g of ribs yesterday from my local butcher, but I’ve adjusted the price down because from a quick check of supermarket prices, you can get the same amount for a lot less – half the price or less in some cases. I find that around 600g is enough for two people when served with some good mash or similar item.
Ingredients
To serve 2:
– Around 600g Pork Ribs
– Around 6 average sized potatoes
– 1 medium sized tomato
– 2 tbsps sugar
– 0.1 litres milk (0.4 cups)
– 0.1 litres honey (0.4 cups)
– 1 medium sized onion
– 0.1 litres Olive oil (0.4 cups)
– 2 tbsp Soy sauce
– 25g butter (0.3 cups)
– Salt
– Pepper
– Cloves
Instructions
- Start by filling a large pan with enough water to cover the entire rack of ribs. Chop the onion roughly, put in about 2 tsp salt and about the same of black pepper. If you wish, add in a few pinches of cloves too. Bring to the boil. Score the fatty side of the ribs and when the water is boiling place the ribs in the water, cover the pan, turn down the heat and leave to simmer for around 30 minutes.
- This step can be skipped if you happen to have (or prefer to use) ready-made ketchup. If not then take the tomato and chop it very finely. Place in a small pan with about 0.1 litres (0.4 cups) water and about 1 tbsp of sugar and a pinch of ginger, a pinch of salt and a pinch of pepper and boil vigorously, stirring frequently, until the water has reduced and the sauce is thick.
- Peel the potatoes, cut them in half and cover with water and boil until you can stick a fork easily through them. You can add a teaspoon of salt into the water if you wish to bring out the flavour while cooking.
- Place your tomato ketchup into a blender and blend until smooth (if you have a small blender available) and transfer to a bowl. If you’re using ready-made ketchup then you’ll need about 0.1 litres of it (0.4 cups). Add in the soy sauce, half the olive oil, the honey, 1 tbsp of sugar and stir up with a teaspoon of salt and pepper. You can also add in minced garlic, some ginger, a little cayenne pepper – anything really. This sauce is open to a lot of customisation.
- Remove the ribs from the pan. Some people prefer to cook them as a whole rack. Personally, I prefer to cut them into individual ribs. Coat the ribs in the sauce and place on a baking tray. Place in the oven at around 160 degrees Celsius. They’ll need to be in here for about 30-45 minutes, until brown and/or slightly charred – depending on preference.
- Drain the potatoes and mash/press. Add in the butter, the remaining half of the olive oil and the milk and mix well. Salt to taste.
- You may need to heat the potato through again once the ribs are ready. Serve with the ribs and, if you fancy, some other veg. I had some red-cabbage salad available so I served it with that.
Chami C. says
looks yummay!