Pork ribs are one of the most beautiful parts of a pig. The way my mum makes pork ribs is completely different from the classic American style BBQ ribs, but my mum doesn’t make BBQ ribs though which is a bit of a shame. But as she lives in America I think she will eventually give it a go. I taught myself this recipe and method, this is my 5th time making BBQ pork ribs and I have to say that I have improved with each time I made it and I’ve found the best way to get this result when cooking it in the oven. What I did with the marination maybe a bit different from the way others do it, well this is my way!
What I like about my mum’s ribs is the marination that she used. It’s very simple and flavours the ribs all the way through rather than just the outside layer that will be glazed with BBQ sauce. The base seasoning is still an asian seasoning but because of the 2nd base marination which we will use BBQ sauce, the pork ribs taste the way they normally would. The first base is just to help flavour the inner part of the meat and help to keep the meat moist when cooking for a long time in the oven. It will be a lot of waiting time for the marination to complete as well as the cooking time. However it’s definitely worth waiting for and the effort.
Note: ribs don’t have much meat on them so when cooking for a long time it can become dry and hard which will make it hard to eat (not the way anyone likes it). When cooking the ribs in the oven as long as the I do (4 hours), what I like to do is fill 1/4 of the baking tray with water and then place a metal rack in the water filled tray. There are spaces between the water and the rack so don’t worry about your ribs getting boiled and becoming soggy. What I do next is lay the ribs flat on the metal rack and then cover the ribs and the tray with aluminium foil. Covering the tray with foil will contain the heat and the vapour from the boiling water in the tray from evaporating out. The heated vapour helps to keep the ribs moist.
Here is another method if you prefer not to use water. Instead of just the normal seasoning I use for the first base marination, I would also add some oil with it because the oil helps to prevent the meat from getting too hard and burn, especially if the meat gets dried out from the marination. So without using water and the metal rack, spray the tray with oil and then place the ribs in the sprayed tray and cover with foil. The foil will help to keep the excess liquid from evaporating out.
OVEN BBQ PORK RIBS
Prep-Time: over night or 4hrs Serve: 2-4
Cooking Time: 4hrs
Ingredients
2 racks of pork ribs
2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp grounded pepper
3 cups smokey BBQ Sauce
Method
Marinate ribs with salt, sugar and pepper and then massage the ribs until all the seasoning has dissolved. Leave in the fridge to marinate for 1 hour.
After the hour it’s been marinating remove the ribs from the fridge and start marinating the meat with 1 cup of BBQ sauce. Rub the ribs until well coated on both sides. Leave to marinate in the fridge over night or for another 3 hours.
Preheat oven on 160°C Fan Force
Fill 1/4 of water (1/2 cup) in a large size deep baking tray and then place a metal rack in the tray (similar to what you may use when cooking a roast). Lay the ribs on the metal rack and then cover the tray with aluminium foil. Cook in the oven for 3 hrs and 15 minutes.
After 3 hrs and 15 minutes remove the tray from the oven and remove the foil. Glaze the ribs with 1 cup of BBQ sauce or until nicely coated. Return to the oven without the foil and cook for further 35 minutes. After 30 minutes repeat the glazing and cook for further 5-10 minutes. Remove from oven and serve with steak fries or salad.