Last week we made ribs following an old Steven Raichlen recipe which appeared in Bon Appetit in 2009.  The original recipe called for the ribs to be grilled.  At Nick’s suggestion, we slowly roasted them in the oven at 250 degrees and then finished them on the grill.  The original idea (which Nick followed) was to dip the finished ribs in a mixture of 1 tsp. each of kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper and the juice of half a lime.  I enjoyed them with a 50/50 mixture of Thail sweet chili sauce and a Japanese barbeque sauce.

2-1/4 to 2-1/2 lbs. baby back ribs, separated into individual ribs

¼ cup chopped peeled fresh ginger

6 garlic cloves, chopped

1 Tbs. sugar

1 Tbs. kosher salt

1 Tbs. freshly ground black pepper

2 Tbs. honey

2 Tbs. soy sauce

2 Tbs. fish sauce

Combine the ginger, garlic, sugar,  into the bowl of food processor and pulse into a puree.  Add the honey, soy sauce, and fish sauce, and process until blended. 

Put the ribs in zip lock baggies and add the marinade.  Toss and massage the baggies to coat the ribs.  Marinade in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours or up to overnight.

Cooking method 1 is to grill the marinaded ribs.

Cooking method 2 is to put the ribs and marinade into an ovenproof dish tightly covered by aluminum foil and to roast them in a 250-degree oven for 4-6 hours before finishing them on the grill.