HOISIN BBQ RIBS RECIPES

Steps:

• To make the rub, mix together brown sugar, salt, 5-spice powder, Szechuan peppercorns, white pepper, and garlic in a small bowl.
• Remove the membrane from the back of the rack, and trim the ribs of excess fat. Rub each rack liberally with the rub. Wrap ribs in foil or place in a large container and store in the refrigerator overnight (optional).
• Remove the ribs from the fridge while preparing the smoker or grill. Fire up smoker or grill to 225 degrees, adding chunks of smoking wood chunks when at temperature. When the wood is ignited and producing smoke, place the ribs in the smoker or grill, meat side up, and smoke until the ribs have a slight bend when lifted from one end, 5 to 6 hours.
• In the last 1/2 hour of cooking, baste the top of each rack with barbecue sauce and continue smoking to caramelize sauce. Remove from smoker, slice, and serve.

Steps:

• 1. Preheat the oven to 160°C/325°F/gas 3.
  2. Sprinkle the ribs with the five-spice and a good pinch of sea salt and black pepper, drizzle with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, then rub all over. Arrange the ribs in a large roasting tray. Break apart the garlic bulb and scatter over the unpeeled cloves, then halve and add the oranges.
  3. Cover the tray tightly with tin foil, and roast in the middle of the oven for 3 hours, or until tender and cooked through.
  4. Meanwhile, for the salad, trim the spring onions, radishes and fennel, and deseed the chillies, then finely slice it all lengthways and place into a bowl of ice-cold water to make it super-crisp. Pick in the coriander leaves and put aside.
  5. Make a quick salad dressing by mixing the sesame oil, rice wine vinegar and soy together. Peel and finely grate in the ginger, then taste and season to perfection with black pepper.
  6. Remove the tray from the oven and move the ribs to a board. Carefully squeeze the sticky orange juice back into the tray. Squeeze the soft garlic flesh out of the skins and mash it up, scraping up all the sticky bits from the tray.
  7. Place the tray over a medium heat on the hob or over your barbecue, let it start to bubble, then pour in the hoisin sauce. Let it tick away for a few minutes, or until thick and shiny, then remove.
  8. Now, dunk each rack of ribs in the glaze, using your woody herbs as a brush to generously coat them all over, and transferring to the cool side of the barbecue as you go. Cook for another 10 minutes or so, covered with the air valve open.
  9. Meanwhile, cook the jasmine rice according to the packet instructions, then fluff up and divide between your plates. Drain and dry the salad veg, then toss with the dressing and plate up. Pile the sticky ribs on top, get stuck in, and get messy!