Daryl’s Ribs, in the HOUSE!
Ok, I have to admit I had my doubts about Daryl’s Ribs, but they were completely unfounded! Flouting many of the conventional rules of rib cooking, Daryl’s Ribs are quick, easy, and came out absolutely delicious.
I trimmed the ribs and saved all the bits to put in some collard greens, and then I made the marinade according to Daryl’s recipe that I previously posted here, except that I used more garlic, and added a some chopped ginger. Sorry, but I just cannot follow a recipe exactly. I did make sure to give them some vicious fork-poking all over. I let them sit in the fridge for several hours, and then put them on an oiled broiler pan…
I gave them about 10+ minutes on each side under the broiler, til they were blackening up:
Then I cooked them in the oven about 20 minutes, maybe just a little more, at 350. After that, I took them out and let them sit for 30 minutes or so while my yams and parsnips finished cooking, and then heated them back up for a few minutes before serving. Dished it up with some collards and yams and parsnips, and I was ready to eat!
The ribs were sticky with caramelized sugar, and the ginger was very present. The fat and sugar combo was really really pleasing, melting in the mouth, and I enjoyed sucking the flavor out of my mustache hairs. Sorry for the detail about that. I was really surprised at how tender and succulant these turned out, especially in light of the fact that everybody always says that the key to cooking ribs is slow cooking at low temperatures. This is definitely a keeper recipe, and especially great for how quick it is. Daryl, you deserve some props for this satisfying and very tasty meal. Thanks!
1) Instead of nutmeg, the (original?) recipe called for a Chinese spice conglomeration called Five Spice. Don’t go out to buy some, because you don’t use too much. We’ve had a bottle for over thirty years and it’s not even 1/3 used up. If you want the ingredients, Google it or try cinnamon, nutmeg, fennel, five star anise, and Szechuan peppercorns. However, one site says there are seven ingredients, but the point is that Chinese recipes are jumping-off points, not phamaceutical formulas, more like traffic laws in the East, where traffic is like water, as opposed to in the West, where it’s more like individual beans.
2) The sources of the “original” recipe–the places I got it from–were the Time-Life series of cookbooks, this one about Chinese food (over 30 years ago); cooking at a Chinese restaurant in Lake Tahoe in the early 60s (the boss was and cook was Wally Wong); watching and helping my parents (one born in Texas, the other in Guangdong province) cook; and experimenting with garlic {you can never have enough, as the French, Chinese, Chinese Americans, and Esquimos say]. And not in that order.
3) Bon appetit, the French say. Don’t wait, say the Chinese, and don’t be shy.
1) Thanks for the clarification! Do you mean “East/West”, or “East Coast/West Coast”…?
2) Are you talking about that huge set of “Foods of the World” cook books? I love them…Alissa has a complete set of them which I always steal from her when I visit. I am slowly moving them all from her house to mine. I have recently been really enjoying the Creolo/Acadian one. I just looked and I don’t have any Chinese ones, so I will and steal those next! I mainly have the spiral bound recipe books, but I think that big hardcover “story” books are really fun to read. That was a great series.
I fully agree with your Garlic Statement. I pretty much always double the quanity of garlic a recipe calls for. If we pass some recipes back and forth we could probably end up with some massive amounts of garlic for dinner!
3) I like it….