(Nope, I didn’t stir-fry them)
Barbecue Ribs. An ironic dish of the Southern United States. Pork ribs, marinated, then cooked by smoking for hours over coals at very low heat. Fire, smoke, meat – my kind of food. I really like the fire bit, with real coals. The problem was I wanted to do this (or something like this) in…. my apartment kitchen.
This post is a dangerous one. This complex dish is the subject of deep emotions, heated arguments and family feuds. Dry rub? Wet marinate? Sauce over the ribs? What kind of wood? Who is the original? The “right” answer depends on exactly where you are in the USA, and who you are speaking to.
I claim neutrality. I am not American, I am not an expert. All I know is that one day, I unearthed some ribs from the freezer. And I wanted, smoky, fall-off-the-bone BBQ ribs. But my problem was – I had to do it without an outdoor BBQ pit. I had to innovate. And thus West met East.
West, is the foundation of this dish, the concept of BBQ ribs, and the use of Rosemary. The rest is all East. I used a dark miso marinate, and left the ribs overnight. Apart from its rich umami laste, the miso plays a part in tenderising the meat. Just before I started cooking them, I sprinkled the ribs with pepper and seven spice powder.
Next, I needed some fire. I started with some pieces of charcoal I fired up on a gas ring.
I waited till they were almost glowing embers.
Now I needed a way to smoke the ribs. And this is where my wok comes in.
East, is my thus, my trusty, decade old cast iron cast work. Yes, cast iron. Not the fancy stuff they use for space shuttle toilet seats. A cast iron wok, the bastion and workhorse of the chinese kitchen. All purpose, virtually indestructible. Usually, the fire is under the wok. This time, it goes into the wok as well.
Once the coals were nice and hot, I put them into the wok (lined with some Aluminium foil to protect it), along with the rosemary. Almost at once, the rosemary caught and gave off a wonderful aromatic smoke.
The ribs are placed on a tray, over the coals. The wok is then covered, so that all the smoke goes trapped within, some escaping gently from edges of the lid.
I kept a low flame under the wok, in that way turning it into a kind of oven, or smoke box. I then left it for as long as I could wait.
All it takes really, is a little coal to generate the smoke you need, as most of it is kept under the lid.
I used a thermometer under the ribs so I could monitor what was happening. By adjusting the gas flame, I could control the temperature. I kept the temperature around 70 degree Centigrade. I thought this should be just about enough to cook the meat, without making it too dry and tough. At this temperature, of course, the meat will not brown.
Hours later, the final step was to fire up the oven grill.
And slide the ribs in to brown. In the meantime, I made up a sauce from the pan drippings. At this point, the ribs are very much cooked, so all that was needed was to brown the top.
And this, was my Sunday Miso-BBQ ribs in a Chinese Wok.
Nice enough, I think.
Additional Notes:
I really don’t recommend this is some fancy, multi-layered space age wok!
Miso is a wonderful marinate. What I have read is that the enzymes in it help to tenderise meat. It seems to work!
Be careful! This involves some real fire. I used only a little charcoal, only for the smoke. The real heat come from the gas under the work.
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