Braised Teriyaki Beef Short Ribs [Zack]

Many of my latest posts have been teriyaki-obsessed. I can’t help it. It makes everything tasty!

Here is an adaption to a previous recipe for Sous Vide Teriyaki Short Ribs. If you don’t have a sous vide machine (understandably), you can braise the short ribs and get similarly great results.

Process:

Start by prepping the teriyaki sauce that you’ll use for the braise. Mince ginger, garlic, and the chiles.  Saute them in a sauce pot over medium heat in sesame oil, until the onion is translucent. Add in the soy sauce, vinegar, and sugar, and simmer for about 10 minutes.  Taste and adjust as needed.

Slice onions, red/green peppers, and a few jalapenos. Layer the bottom of a roasting pan with them.

Brown all sides of the short ribs in a pan in small batches. You don’t need to salt them – the teriyaki will handle that. When finished, de-glaze the pan with the teriyaki sauce.

Place the short ribs on the bed of onions and peppers, and pour the teriyaki sauce over top.

Cover the pan with foil or a lid, and braise at 300F until tender. It took me about 3.5 hours, but it depends on the thickness of the short ribs.

Remove the short ribs and veggies from the roasting pan and spoon the fat off the top of the remaining teriyaki sauce.  If you put the sauce in the fridge, the fat in the sauce will solidify and you can more easily dispose of it.

Add the teriyaki sauce to a small sauce pot and set over medium heat.  Scoop out about 1/2 cup of sauce into a separate bowl and whisk in 2-3T of corn starch to thicken the sauce.  This will ensure you don't end up with lumps of starch in your sauce.  When the slurry is smooth, add it back into the sauce pot.

Glaze the ribs with the sauce and serve!  I placed the short rib on top of roasted yams pureed with ginger, and topped with pickled jalapenos.

Ingredients:
8 short ribs
1 sliced large onion
1 sliced red pepper
2 sliced jalapenos

~2T of corn starch to add to the teriyaki sauce after braising

Teriyaki Braise Sauce
2T sesame oil
5 few garlic cloves
2 inchs ginger, diced
2 birdseye chiles
2 cups soy sauce
dash of rice wine vinegar
1.5 cups brown sugar (to taste)
a few T of sriracha if desired

Song:  Dizzle Beatz - Frankie Krupnik

Pressure Cooker Shoyu Ramen [Zack]

I’ve always wanted to cook a bowl of Japanese ramen from scratch, but I’ve been overwhelmed by the task.  Despite the fact that I’m willing to spend the large amount of time in the kitchen to make the soup base, the sheer number of conflicting recipes and techniques made my head spin.  There are many different types of ramen soups (Kenji explains here), and each classification of soup has many different recipes (just like Italian grandmas and their red sauce).

I was watching “A Mind of a Chef” with David Chang and he seemed really laid back about the whole process.  After re-watching the ramen scene many times and searching the internet, I gave it my first try.  The result was amazing and the process was actually pretty simple!  I’m going to attempt to explain below:

I made Shoyu Ramen based on a Momofuku recipe I found online.  You make a base stock using kombu (Japanese seaweed), dried shiitake mushrooms, veggie aromatics, chicken bones, and pork bones.  You then make a bacon and chicken-flavored soy sauce “Tare” to mix into the base stock.  Add in noodles, an egg, scallions, roasted pork, and mushrooms and whamo!  It’s ramen.

Since the stock base takes so long to simmer, I ran a side-by-side experiment with a pressure cooker version and a stove top-simmered version.  I wanted to see if I could speed the recipe up.  Both stock bases were full-bodied and delicious, but the pressure cooker took only 3 hours, while the simmering stock pot took ~10 hours.  Below you can find my “fast” version of Ramen using the pressure cooker.  Disclaimer:  this is not meant to be the ultimate authentic recipe, but a good beginner’s bowl of ramen.

Process:

This pressure cooker recipe will produce around 10 bowls of ramen.  If you want to make a lot more since you’re going through all of the work to make the stock, you can double the recipe and use multiple stock pots.  Simmering on the stove gets the same results, it just takes longer.

Start by making the ramen stock base:

Fill your pressure cooker (or multiple pots) ½ way with water.  Set on the stove and bring the temperature up to 150F.  Add the 1.5 oz kombu and 2 oz dried shiitake mushrooms and remove from the heat.  Let it steep like a tea for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

While the stock is steeping, roast the chicken bones and pork bones in the oven at 425F until browned – about 45 minutes.  No need to salt or season them.  Reserve the pans after roasting so you can scrape the delicious fond into the stock pot.

Remove the kombu and shiitake mushrooms from the pot and reserve the shiitake.  You can pickle them and use them in your ramen.  

Add the roasted chicken and pork to the pot.  Throw in 1 medium carrot and the roots and white parts of 1 bunch of green onions.  Add a bit of water to the roasting pans and scrape the brown bits into the stock pot.  It’s free flavor!! 

Add more water until the bones are covered, but don’t over-fill the pressure cooker per the manufacturer instructions (leave 1/3 empty).  

Close the lid and let the pressure cooker work for 3 hours on low heat.  This will produce a super-concentrated stock.

Remove the bones and vegetables and strain the stock through a cheesecloth.  Skim the fat off of the top - you’ll get enough fat in the soup from the bacon tare.

The soy sauce Tare: 

In an oven-proof pan, roast parts of a chicken (I used 1 back, 1 thigh, and 1 leg) at 425F until browned.  Deglaze the pan with the 1C sake, 1C mirin, and 2C light soy sauce, scraping up the brown bits on the bottom.  Add the ½ lb of smokey bacon and simmer over very low heat for 1 hour.  You don’t want to evaporate and reduce the volume of the tare, you just want to infuse it with the chicken and bacon flavor.

After 1 hour, remove the chicken and bacon from the tare and strain out anything left.  You can pick the chicken meat and put it in a soup if you’d like.

Pickle the re-hydrated shiitake mushrooms:

Cut off the tough stems from the rehydrated shiitake mushrooms.  Slice the mushrooms and toss them in minced ginger and the different liquids.  I did 1T soy sauce, 1/2T fish sauce, 1/2T vinegar, 1 tsp sesame oil, 1T minced ginger, and 1T sugar.

Assemble the ramen:

Decide what you want in your soup.  I included:

• smoked pulled pork shoulder (from another meal)
• a sous vide egg at 63C for 1 hour - but you can just soft-boil an egg in a pot for 7.5 minutes
• chopped scallions
• pickled shiitake mushrooms
• fresh noodles

Add 1 parts water to 1 part ramen broth and bring to a heavy simmer. 

In the bottom of each serving bowl, mix ~¼ cup of tare (to taste) with the hot broth.  Drop cooked fresh noodles in and arrange the rest of the ingredients around the bowl.

Ingredients (for about 10 bowls of ramen):
Adapted from David Chang's recipe:

Ramen broth:
1.5 oz dried kombu seaweed
2 oz dried shiitake mushrooms
2 lbs chicken bones with some meat left on them
2.5 lbs pork bones with some meat left on them
1 medium coarsely-chopped carrot
1 bunch of green onions (white part and roots only)

Soy Tare:
1 lb chicken parts (1 chicken back, 1 chicken thigh, 1 chicken leg)
1/2 lb smokey bacon
1 cup sake
1 cup mirin
2 cups light soy sauce

Pickled shiitake mushrooms:
Reserved rehydrated shiitake mushrooms from ramen broth
1T soy sauce
1/2T fish sauce
1/2T vinegar
1 tsp sesame oil
1T minced ginger
1T sugar

Ramen garnish:
fresh noodles
pickled shiitake
smoked pork shoulder
soft-boiled egg (or sous vide)
chopped green onions

Song:  James Blake & Bon Iver - Fall Creek Boys Choir

Honey Habanero Teriyaki Glazed Chicken Wings [Zack]

I love making chicken wings.  They're great for any occasion that doesn't involve white clothing (sorry P Diddy).  The most popular recipe on this website is Honey Garlic Sriracha Glazed Wings, so I figured I'd post another favorite wing recipe of mine.  

You start by making a thick, spicy, and salty-sweet teriyaki sauce, and then pour it over roasted chicken wings.  Reduce the sauce to a glaze glaze under the broiler or in a pan, and they're ready to be consumed!

Process:

Lightly salt and pepper chicken wings.  Rub them with a small amount of canola oil and place in an oven at 375F / 180 C.  Cook until almost finished (about 25 minutes based on how close the wings are together), then turn on the broiler to crisp the skin.  Turn the wings over to get both sides golden brown.

While the wings are roasting, de-seed the habanero, and dice it.  Mince garlic and ginger as well.  Saute them all in a sauce pot over medium heat in 1T of sesame oil until fragrant.  Make sure to turn on your fan or the habanero will pepper-spray your house.

Add the soy sauce, rice vinegar, and honey and reduce.  This should take about 10 minutes.  The sauce should be the consistency of warm honey when it's finished.  Take off the stove and let it rest.

Toss the roasted wings in the teriyaki sauce and throw them back under the broiler.  You want the glaze to caramelize but not burn!  If you have not reduced your teriyaki sauce and it's too watery, you can transfer the wings to a pan and the sauce will thicken up more quickly.  This happened to me.

Serve with lots of napkins and enjoy!

Ingredients:
20 chicken wings 1T sesame oil
2 garlic cloves
1 inch ginger, diced
1 habanero, de-seeded (to taste)
1 cup soy sauce
1T rice wine vinegar
2/3 cup honey (to taste)

Song:  Erykah Badu - Hotline Bling

Panko Crusted Shrimp with Honey Garlic Szechuan Glaze [Zack]

You can’t beat bang bang shrimp, but this recipe is close!  If you’re not in the mood for the savory/spicy mayonnaise flavor of bang bang, this sweet alternative is akin to the sauce for General Tso’s Chicken.  You’ll crisp up some shrimp with a combination of corn starch and panko.  Then you lightly toss the shrimp in a honey szechuan sauce.  Coat with sesame seeds and some cilantro, and wow your guests!  These would be a welcome addition to a salad, on top of rice, or on a party platter with tooth pics in them. 

Process:

Defrost your shrimp – I am lazy and buy the de-veined and de-shelled shrimp.  Pour the water off of them and place them on a towel.

Crush your szechuan peppers.  

Mince the garlic.  Add 1T of sesame oil to a sauce pot over medium heat.  Saute the minced garlic in the oil and then add the ground szechuan pepper for 1 minute.  

Spoon honey into the pot, and add the fish sauce and soy sauce.  It should bubble as the water cooks out. 

In a bowl, combine about 50% corn starch and 50% panko.  The corn starch will create a crust and the panko will give the shrimp more texture.

Heat up a frying pan over medium heat and coat the bottom in a light layer of non-flavored oil.  Toss the shrimp in the corn starch and panko mixture.  The crusting will stick to the shrimp because they are a little bit damp.  Cook in the frying pan on both sides until light golden-brown and cooked through.

Check on your honey szechuan sauce.  After 10 minutes, it should stop bubbling so much and the viscosity should return back to the original honey thickness.  

Be careful not to cook the sauce too long, or else you’ll be left with a hard caramel.  If this happens, add a touch of water to return it back to the honey consistency.  Also note, as the sauce cools off, it will noticeably thicken.

Toss the shrimp lightly in the honey sauce.

  

Top with sesame seeds and cilantro and serve hot.

Ingredients (for about 30 medium shrimp):
4 heaping T of honey
2 cloves garlic
3 dried Szechuan peppers
1T sesame oil
1/4 tsp fish sauce
1T soy sauce

30 medium shrimp
panko and corn starch in equal quantities to coat the shrimp
vegetable or canola oil
sesame seeds
cilantro

Song:  Mar - Man x Woman

Thai Veggie Coconut Curry Served in a Coconut [Zack]

I really like coconut curries.  There are a million different recipes online of how to make them.  To avoid the confusion, I always start with a set base of ingredients.  Then I deviate my recipe based on what I want to cook.  I combine a paste of ginger, garlic, and chilies with coconut milk, fish sauce, and soy sauce.  That’s it!

You can get crazy and add mussels (cook until they open), sautéed beef strips (flash brown them in a pan), shrimp (cook in curry until finished), or chicken (flash brown it in a pan first).  The recipe here is a basic one with only vegetables.  I served it in a coconut that I cut in half (directions here on how to halve a coconut).

Process:

Here is a shot of the ingredients:

Grind up cumin seeds, garlic, and ginger in your mortar and pestle.  If you want heat, add 1-2 birds eye chilies.  If you don’t have a mortar and pestle, just use ½ tsp cumin powder and chop the ginger and garlic.

Start a pot over medium low heat, and add 1T of ghee or butter into the pot, along with 1tsp of sesame oil.   Slice the onions into moons, wash and slice the mushrooms, and dice the eggplant and zucchini into ½ inch cubes.

Also, take out your lemongrass and use the back end of your knife to bash it up – it will release more flavor into the curry.

Add all of the veggies into the pot.

Saute until they start caramelizing a bit - about 10 mins.  Add the ginger/garlic/cumin paste, plus the lemon grass during the last minute of cooking, and stir everything around until it becomes fragrant.

Pour the coconut milk into the pot and flavor it with the fish sauce and soy sauce.  Taste and see if you need to add 1/2 tsp of sugar.  Cook for a few minutes to let all of the flavors combine.  If it's too thick, you can add a bit of water to thin it out.  I added 1/2 cup to mine, but it depends on the type of coconut milk you bought.

Serve in a bowl or a half coconut. Garnish with fresh-chopped cilantro, a wedge of lime, and some extra chilies for the brave.

Ingredients:

1tsp cumin seeds
3 cloves garlic
1 inch ginger
1-2 birdseye chilies (optional)
1 red onion
2 cups mushrooms
1 eggplant
1 zucchini
1 stalk lemongrass
1T sesame oil
1T ghee or butter or canola oil
13.5 oz / 1.7 cups of coconut milk
1/2 cup water

1T fish sauce
1tsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp sugar

Song:  Drake - Hold on, we're going home

Hoisin-Glazed Roasted Carrots [Zack]

A few of our friends decided that they were having an outdoor fish bake in January.  This idea would usually be met with skepticism (due to the snow outside), but we were on board immediately!  Hey, the grill is a heat source!

In our attempt to be good friends, we offered to bring over a vegetable side dish.  We originally wanted to make a roasted hoisin eggplant side, but the grocery store gods said "nay."  Instead, we found some fun looking mini carrots with parts of the green stem left on (for nice presentation.)

Not being one to cry over spilled hoisin sauce, we made the carrots and they paired perfectly with the fish.  The carrots were tangy, spicy, and a touch sweet and played nicely with the delicate fish.

Process:

Pre-heat your oven to 400F / 200C.  Wash and peel the carrots.  Place them in a large baking dish along with 1T of butter and 1T of sesame oil.  Roast in the oven for about 15 minutes too cook them through.

While that's going, start a small sauce pan over medium heat.  Peel and dice the ginger, garlic, and birdseye chiles.  Saute the stuff you just diced in 1tsp of sesame oil.  Once they have softened a bit, add in the oyster sauce, hoisin sauce, vinegar, and honey.  Cook for a few minutes to let the flavors combine.

Remove the carrots from the oven and give them a stir with a spatula.  Brush the carrots with the glaze, coating them evenly.

Place the baking dish back into the oven and cook for 5-10 minutes, until the glaze has caramelized.  Serve as a side and enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 lb carrots, peeled
1T butter
1T sesame oil

1 tsp sesame oil
4T oyster sauce
2T hoisin sauce
2T minced ginger
2 cloves garlic
2 birdseye chiles (or 1 if you don't like it too spicy!)
1tsp vinegar
2T honey

Funky carrot jams: Gramatik - Make You Better

Asian Confit Pork Belly [Zack]

Can you recall a time when you were eating ribs and they were so tender that the meat fell straight off the bone?  Have you ever had a piece of cooked bacon where the fat is juicy and slightly crisped?  How about a dish where 5-spice was the star of the show?

If you combine all of those heart-racing memories, that's the definition of a good confit pork belly.  You already know the ratio of meat to fat in pork belly if you have ever seen a piece of uncooked bacon (bacon is made from the belly of the pork).  When the belly is cooked slowly, the meat portion becomes tender like pulled pork.  The fat portions melt in your mouth, and the asian 5-spice flavors sing throughout the whole experience.

It is a perfect appetizer, or the star of a rice bowl with vegetables. You can make this a few days before you entertain and let it sit in the fat in the fridge (see: confit duck legs).

This continued craze over bacon will hopefully cross over to the real thang.  Why?  Because it's somehow way more socially acceptable to have a chunk of confit pork belly instead of a whole plate of bacon for dinner.....

Process:

Divide your pork belly up into 4 individual servings.  Sprinkle with 5-spice powder, coriander, and salt.  Let it rest while you prepare the rest of the recipe.

Get a pot going on medium-low heat with 1T of sesame oil.  Once it has heated up, brown all 4 sides of each of the sections of belly.

Take the pot off of the heat once you have browned everything and add in the rest of your oil until the bellies are fully covered.  Toss in your whole garlic cloves - skin-on is okay.  Place the lid on the pot and put it in an oven at 200F / 100C.

Let it slowly cook for 5 or 6 hours.  Check to see if it's meltingly tender by pricking it with a knife.  If your pork belly had a bone in it, the meat will shrink away, exposing the bone.

You can either serve right away, or put it in the fridge once it has cooled off.  If the meat is submerged, it should keep for a few weeks.  To serve at a later time, you can heat the whole pot up, or put it in a frying pan with a little of the oil to warm it through.

Ingredients:
4 slices pork belly (bone-in is fine as well)
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1.5 tsp 5-spice powder
1 tsp salt
6 whole cloves of garlic
1T sesame oil
~3 cups canola / peanut oil

optional:  top with some sriracha or hot chiles

Creativity options:

• Mexican:  substitute cumin instead of 5-spice, top with a fresh green salsa
• Greek:  continue with the cumin idea, make a feta and yogurt sauce.  OR make friends with a nice butcher and get your hands on some lamb belly
• Italian:  remove the 5-spice, throw a few juniper berries into the oil. Puree rosemary, garlic, and tomato paste together with a bit of olive oil for the sauce.

Song - The Roots - Duck Down

Homemade Beef Jerky [Zack]

Sometimes people are adventurous with their food.  Rarely is your food more adventurous than you are.  I'm proud (and/or jealous) to say that my first batch of homemade beef jerky has traveled to the top of the world.  Here it is at the summit of Aconcagua, Argentina - the highest peak in the Southern and Western Hemisphere at 6,962m.

Our good friends John and Martina decided to ditch out on corporate life and take a 7 month hiatus to backpack around the world, climbing the tallest mountains on many different continents.  Even though we were sick with envy, Lauren and I wanted to get them a proper going away present.  But what do you get people who just sold all of their life-long possessions at a flea market for 1 EUR a piece??

Beef jerky was our answer.  It's great for hikers - the weight to protein ratio is amazing and it gives a much-needed boost of salt.  It would also remind them of us because it's very American - imagine a cowboy sitting under a tree in the shade, hat tipped low, gnawing on a piece of beef jerky.  Cowboys had it figured out - if they let strips of beef dry in the sun, they would became much lighter to carry and wouldn't spoil.

I was surprised at how great homemade beef jerky tasted and how simple it was to make.  In summary, you pour all of the ingredients into a bag, let the meat marinate for 1 day, then put it in a low-heat oven to dry it out until it feels like beef jerky.

It's preferable to use a cheap cut of meat because any fat creates a chance for it to spoil.  Save the rib-eyes for the grill!

Process:

Below a picture of the necessary ingredients:

Trim any fat off of your beef.  Place it into the freezer so it firms up.  It’s a lot easier to slice the meat evenly if you put it in the freezer for about an hour.   It’s important to try to maintain the same thickness for all of the slices of beef because you want even drying.

Dice or chop your ginger, garlic, onion, and chiles.  Place them in a large zip-lock bag.  Measure out your soy sauce, vinegar, honey, sesame oil, and brown sugar.  Stir to mix and pour it into the bag.

Take your steak out of the freezer and make sure it’s firm to the touch, but not a solid brick (or else you won't be able to slice it).  Slice each piece ~1/8 inch thick and place into the marinade bag.

When you are finished, squeeze out as much air in the bag as possible and massage the marinade around the meat. Refrigerate for 1 day.

Take the meat out of the bag and drain off the marinade. Place the meat on a grated oven rack, leaving a little space around each piece.  I put a tray below it to catch the marinade that drips off during the drying process.

Put into the oven at 150 F / 75 C for 3-4 hours.  The time really depends on the thickness of your slices.  If you've ever had beef jerky before, just take it out when it feels like the stuff you get out of the package.  The low temperature will dry out the beef strips and you’ll be left with jerky in a few hours!

Bag it up for your hiker friends, or place it in a covered container.  It should last for a few weeks, but it's doubtful that it will make it through the first evening.

Ingredients:
1/2 inch ginger
3 cloves garlic
2 birdseye chiles
1/2 red onion

3/4 cup light soy sauce (or 1/2 cup regular)
2T rice wine vinegar
1/2 T sesame oil
4 T honey
2T brown sugar

2 lb steak (900g)

Creativity Options:
Add lemongrass and cilantro to the marinade for a Thai feel
Smoky paprika will give a nice deep flavor
Tons of freshly cracked pepper is a great variation

Song:  Robin Thicke - Compass or Map

Asian Sticky Plum Sauce Ribs [Zack]

Ribs are one of my favorite things to eat.  Pete (my former roommate) and I have spent numerous hours planning, dreaming, and cooking ribs.  I have tried making them with 4 or 5 different pre-cooking methods, and have made many different BBQ sauces to accompany them.  I've even competed in a rib-cooking contest against June when I was living in Jacksonville.  


In Belgium, most people / restaurants don't know how to cook good ribs.  They don't get close to Texas or even the ribs we used to smoke in our backyard.  Although this is a bit depressing, ribs are very inexpensive in the grocery store because nobody cooks them.  


Baking covered ribs in the oven is interesting because you can easily control their firmness by varying the cooking time.  All you have to do is pull them out of the oven and check them with a knife or wiggle a bone a bit to tell how well-cooked they are.  For this recipe, I chose to keep these just on the firm side of  "totally-fall-off-the-bone" because that's more in line with the firmness you get at Chinese restaurants.  You do what you like.

Process:


Remove the silver skin from the concave side of the ribs (the bonyside).  This membrane is always left on store-bought ribs for some reasonand it never does you any good.  It not only makes the ribs tougher, and italso locks out flavor!

To remove, stick the point of a knife just under the silver skin tomake a little hole for your finger.  

Then slide your finger between thesilver skin and the meat and start working more of it loose.  

Once you geta good grip on it, slowly pull it off.  Think one of those annoyingstickers that you try to get off the bottom of that new coffee mug all in one piece.

Mix together your dry rub spices in a bowl and dust theribs.  

You shouldn’t cake them withspices, but put enough on so it has a good coating.  If you want, you can cover these up and putthem in the fridge for a day or 2 so it absorbs some extra flavor.

Cover the ribs with aluminum foil and place them into theoven at 250F / 125C for 3 hours or so.  Ican’t tell you an exact cooking time because there are a ton of variables that you’dneed to take into account (for example: the thickness of the ribs, how closeyou put them to each other in the tray, whether you want the meat to fall offthe bone or be a bit more firm).  The wayto test for your desired texture is to pull them out after 2.5 hours and sticka knife into one.  If it slides in veryeasily and you can wiggle an end bone around a bit in the meat, it will befall-off-the-bone tender.  Re-cover and put them back in the oven if you want more tenderness.

Good news: ribs are very forgiving – if you end upovercooking them in the oven and the meat simply falls off the bone when youtry to cut them into individual ribs, you have pulled pork for sandwiches!

While your ribs are cooking in the oven, it’s time toprepare your plum sauce.  

You’ll want tocook this sauce down for at least 30 minutes on low heat, so make sure you planahead on this one a bit.  Dice or slice theplums (skin-on is okay), ginger, garlic,onion, and single chile and place them all into thefood processor.  Pulse the food processorto blend the ingredients until they are smooth. Add in the hoisin and other liquids and blend to integrate. 

Cook the sauce on low heat until it is thick, syrupy, andhas changed color to a deep purple.  Ifit’s thick enough, the sauce will stick to the ribs and the sugars in the honeyand brown sugar will caramelize from your heat source. 

If you have a grill (I’m jealous):

Leave the ribs whole and coat with the reduced plum sauce.  Caramelize them on the grill, then separate toserve.

If you’re stuck using your oven (like me):

Put the ribs on a cutting board and slice between each bone.  

Put the sliced ribs back into your bakingdish and toss with the reduced plum sauce. You want an even coating.  

Set youroven on high broil, and put them on the middle rack.  Keep an eye on them – you want to brown thesauce, not burn it.  Toss them once youget a nice color on one side so you have even browning all over them.

Transfer either method to a plate and top with diced cilantro.  You can serve with a bit of fried rice (2cups day-old rice, ½ sliced red onion, 1 T sesame oil, 1 T soy sauce – cook toheat up).

Ingredients:
2 racks of baby back ribs (serves 2 hungry people or 3 mortals)


Dry Rub:
1 T Garlic Powder
1/2 tsp 5 spice powder
3/4 T seasoned salt
1 tsp fresh cracked black pepper
1 tsp coriander powder


Sticky Plum Sauce:
2 inches ginger
2 cloves garlic
1 birdseye chile
2 T hoisin sauce
1 T soy sauce
4 plums
3 T honey
1 T brown sugar
1 tsp vinegar
1 tsp sesame oil


A funky rib song:  D'angelo - Playa Playa