Cooking pork ribs does take a fair bit of time, although luckily, most of the time is just waiting. If you've got people over for dinner or are celebrating a special event, pork ribs are actually a great idea. All the prep is done a day before, and they're then just placed in the oven for 4 hours, with just a few minutes needed throughout to baste every hour. Packed full of flavour, and so tender they fall off the bone, the below recipe was a hit!
In terms of portioning them out, the butcher recommended thinking about who you'll be serving. If they're into big portions, they'll likely need a rack each, whereas if they eat slightly smaller portions, you won't need more than half a rack per person. The good thing is though, if you've got leftovers, they're great the next day!
The below recipe served around 8-10 people. We served them with a side of my watermelon salad, walnut, pear and blue cheese salad, and a quick potato salad.
Ingredients
4.5kg pork spare ribs
300gr ketchup
150gr brown sauce
100gr honey
1/3 cup whiskey (we used Jack Daniel's)
2tbsp brown sugar
5 cloves garlic
Zest of 1/2 an orange
Juice of 1/2 an orange
1tsp paprika
1/4tsp cloves
1tbsp Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper, to taste
Method
1. Prep the ribs. Ours came prepped from the butcher (highly recommend this if possible!), but you'll have to remove the membrane if not, as this gets very tough and chewy otherwise. This should be as simple as pulling the membrane back.
2. In a large jug, add the ketchup and brown sauce, along with honey, whiskey, and brown sugar. If need be, use a handheld blender to incorporate.
3. Mince your garlic finely and add to the sauce mixture. Zest half the orange and squeeze the juice, adding to the mixture. Add the paprika, cloves, Worcestershire sauce, and salt and pepper. Taste as you go along! If you decide you want more spices, alter as you go. If you're very into zest-y flavours, you may want to add more orange too! Just be sure to adjust the spice then, so it's not too sweet.
4. Place the ribs in two large dishes, making sure there's no overlap. Using a brush, start brushing the ribs with the marinade. Once you've covered all the ribs, pour the remainder sauce on top. Marinade for a minimum 4-6 hours in the fridge, or ideally, overnight.
5. Cooking the ribs. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees celsius. Grab the ribs and cover each rack of ribs individually in foil, wrapping them tightly. Before wrapping them up, be sure to give them an extra drizzle of the marinade. Once the oven has preheated, place the ribs in the oven. Do not throw out the extra marinade!! This will be used for basting.
6. Once an hour has elapsed, turn the temperature down to 160 degrees celsius. Baste the ribs every 45 minutes - an hour using the leftover marinade to do so. This will ensure the ribs remain nice and juicy. Cook for a further 2.5 - 3 hours. You'll know they're done when you pull at one of the ribs, and the bone comes out with no struggle. If you'd like your ribs to get more colour, feel free to unwrap them in the last 20 minutes. Keep a close eye! If left too long, it will dry out your ribs.
7. Enjoy with your favourite sides!
Recreating this recipe? Tag me on instagram @juliawgr!
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