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Romy's Ribs with Filipino Seasonings

Theophan
Theophan Posts: 2,654
I've cooked spares all these years, but for some reason just never cooked baby backs.  I had baby backs at a few rib fests, liked them, but not as well as my own spares.  But I wanted to try something different, so I made this recipe from Steve Raichlen's Barbecue Bible and went ahead and used baby backs as called for.  The citrusy soy ginger marinade and rub were very different than what I've had before, but really delicious.  I'm sorry I didn't snap a photo of them cut.  There was no smoke ring, the meat seemed a little darker than usual, maybe because of the marinade, I don't know, but tender and juicy.

The recipe wanted a "Ginger Plum Sauce" (recipe also in the book) and I didn't feel like it and there were no plums in the store anyway, and I gathered it was supposed to be similar to but better than store-bought Chinese plum sauce, so I tweaked a jar of store-bought with some added lemon grass, fresh ginger, and scallions.  I tried a half-rack with and a half-rack without the sauce, and they were delicious without, but much better with.





Now I'm sort of struggling with baby backs vs. spares in the future.  I was surprised by how good these were, but I still really love spares.  Maybe I'll mix em up once in a while.

Romy’s Ribs with Filipino Seasonings

2 baby back rib racks

Marinade:
2/3 cup soy sauce
1 orange, zest & juice
1 lemon, zest & juice
1 lime, zest & juice
2 stalks fresh lemongrass, trimmed and thinly sliced
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
2 garlic cloves, minced

Rub:
1 tablespoon paprika
2 teaspoons szechuan peppercorns
2 teaspoons coriander seeds
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
2 teaspoons mustard seeds
1 teaspoon fennel seed
1 dried hot red chile (or 1/2 t. cayenne pepper)
2 teaspoons firmly packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoons salt

Optional:
Ginger-Plum Sauce
Scallions for garnish
Toasted sesame seeds for garnish

Directions:

Remove the thin paper skin from the back of each rack of ribs.

Combine all the ingredients for the marinade in a blender; process to a smooth puree.  Pour the marinade over the ribs, turning to coat both sides.  Cover and let marinate 8 hours, in the refrigerator, turning once or twice.

Toast the spice seeds.  Combine all the ingredients for the rub in a spice mill or blender and grind to a fine powder.

When ready to cook, remove the ribs from the marinade and blot dry with paper towels.  Rub the spice mix over the ribs on both sides.

Arrange the ribs on the hot grate over the drip pan; cover the grill and smoke-cook the ribs until the meat is very tender and it has shrunk back from the ends of the bones, 1 ½ to 2 hours.

Comments

  • SciAggie
    SciAggie Posts: 6,481
    I'm like you in that I always cook spare ribs. I need to branch out as well and try some baby backs. Great cook and thanks for posting. 
    Coleman, Texas
    Large BGE & Mini Max for the wok. A few old camp Dutch ovens and a wood fired oven. LSG 24” cabinet offset smoker. There are a few paella pans and a Patagonia cross in the barn. A curing chamber for bacterial transformation of meats...
    "Bourbon slushies. Sure you can cook on the BGE without them, but why would you?"
                                                                                                                          YukonRon
  • jeffwit
    jeffwit Posts: 1,348
    What temp were you at that got those done in 1 1/2 to 2 hours?
    Jefferson, GA
    XL BGE, MM, Things to flip meat over and stuff
    Wife, 3 kids, 5 dogs, 4 cats, 12 chickens, 2 goats, 2 pigs. 
    “Honey, we bought a farm.”
  • bgebrent
    bgebrent Posts: 19,636
    Gorgeous brother and thank you for the run down.  Great eats for sure.
    Sandy Springs & Dawsonville Ga
  • Theophan
    Theophan Posts: 2,654
    @SciAggie: it's worth a try!  I was surprised, and liked these baby backs a lot more than I had expected, somehow.  The last baby back I tasted was at a BGE demo, and it just wasn't very good.  Sort of too bad for showing off the BGE!  So I wasn't expecting much, but these were great.  I'll definitely try baby backs again.  Thanks for the kind words!

    @jeffwit: Sorry, it was Raichlen who said 1 1/2 hours, not me.  I started them around 6 and they weren't done till well after 8, and I kept cranking the temp higher because they obviously weren't going to be be done soon enough of my hunger!  I started off around 250° but I was at 350° for a while before they were done.

    @bgebrent: Thanks for the kind comment!
  • dougcrann
    dougcrann Posts: 1,129
    I have started using my Reverse Flow, weather permitting, for Ribs. I have never tried feeding it anything but the Cherry splits I have. With a stick burner you have to let it run at whatever temperature it likes...and just learn to cook at that temp. Mine, even with small splits, runs between 260*-300*. Last ribs I did on it were done in 4.5 hours. Can say one thing about it...if a smoke ring is your thing a stick burner is hard to beat. Pretty much every rack I have cooked in it has a smoke ring clear thru it...most days the meat has a pinkish tint all the way to the bone...
  • caliking
    caliking Posts: 18,727
    Nice to see a different take on ribs. 

    And add my vote to the spares side. 

    #1 LBGE December 2012 • #2 SBGE February  2013 • #3 Mini May 2013
    A happy BGE family in Houston, TX.
  • Theophan
    Theophan Posts: 2,654
    dougcrann said:
    I have started using my Reverse Flow, weather permitting, for Ribs...
    I've never cooked on a stick burner, but have long felt like that's the "real" kind of BBQ, and probably would be better than a BGE.  But it also seems to me that there's a lot more work and fire tending to do, hour after hour, that the BGE is much more versatile (grilling, baking, smoking) and so much easier about long-term temperature control.  For me, I am sure I'm never going to try the stick burner route, but in some ways I envy people who do.  I bet you make great ribs.  And briskets.  And lots of other stuff...  Enjoy!

    caliking said:
    Nice to see a different take on ribs. 

    And add my vote to the spares side. 
    I imagine I'm going to stick with spares most of the time, and usually cook spares even if the recipe calls for baby backs.  But I have to say I was so pleasantly surprised by these baby backs that I'll certainly try them again, maybe keep doing them once in a while for variety or something.  They really were good.