Chinese Roast Ribs

I've discovered a method of baking pork ribs in the Great American Food by Lesley Allin which I got from our local library. It just involves baking the ribs in a covered pan until tender then browning it further either in the oven or in an outdoor barbecue. A tender baked BBQ back ribs could be had, I thought, with any type of marinade or barbecue sauce as long as the procedure is the same. This was put to the test when I adapted Ainsley Harriott's marinade from his Big Cookout cookbook. Marinade from one cookbook was wedded with cooking method from another and luckily it resulted in a marriage from cooking heaven. ;)


Chinese Roast Ribs

1 sheet pork ribs (about 700 g/1.5 lbs)

*Marinade:
2 garlic cloves - minced
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
2 Tbsp caster sugar
1 Tbsp hoisin sauce
1 Tbsp yellow bean sauce
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp rice wine or dry sherry

1. Mix together all ingredients for the marinade.
2. Put ribs in a roasting pan and pour over the marinade to cover evenly. Cover pan with foil and refrigerate for at least an hour (better yet overnight), turning occasionally.
3. Preheat oven to 200°C/fan 180°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6.
4. Bake ribs with the marinade (in pan still covered with foil) for at least 1 hour or until fork tender, turning over once midway during cooking.
5. After this, remove foil and the cooking of the ribs can be finished outdoors in a barbecue or in the oven.
6. To finish cooking in the oven, lay ribs meat side down and baste with the pan juices. Return to oven and bake uncovered for 25 minutes.
7. Turn the ribs over and again baste well with pan juices and bake for a further 25 minutes or until fall-apart tender. Dish up and serve.