BBQ Pork Ribs

Pulled pork and spare ribs have been on my cooklist since forever. Every time my parents went to the butchers I'd beg them to buy pork shoulder or pork ribs. Unfortunately the butcher could never adequately understand what I wanted and I'd end up with really pathetic cuts. This time when I personally visited the butcher, I asked for pork chops. And the butcher produced this wonderful rack of ribs that he was about to massacre to cut out chops! I think I screamed a little when he got cleaver to chop it. After precise instructions, I exited with a bagful of pork ribs, and the biggest smile on my face :)



While I'm a champion rib hog (pun intended), I've never made ribs before. My friends recently gifted me The Joy Of Cooking by Irma Rombauer. It is THE cookbook for home cooks.  The Joy of Cooking is to home cooks as Larousse Gastronomique is to chefs (and I have both :D). Besides the awesome recipes, it is a treasure trove of culinary knowledge.



So when I got my hands on this fabulous cookbook, the first thing I looked for is a barbecue rib recipe. And it's finger licking good!



Makes enough for 4 

8-10 pork ribs with the fat included
2 cups BBQ sauce*
1 cup pineapple juice

*I made barbecue sauce from scratch and I suggest you do too. It takes just 15 mins and is so much more flavourful than the store bought crap.



Pre-heat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius. In a large baking dish, arrange the pork ribs. Whisk the BBQ sauce and pineapple juice and pour over the ribs. Turn them so they are evenly coated in the sauce. Cover with aluminium foil and bake for 3hrs. Remove the foil and increase the oven temperature to 200 degrees Celsius, and bake for another 1hr, turning them once after 30mins. Once done, remove the ribs and let it rest for 15mins. Spoon the fat off the sauce. Drizzle the sauce over the ribs and serve with some mashed potatoes and toasted bread.

  

Honey Sesame Chicken

There is this restaurant called PF Changs. You may have comes across it if you've travelled abroad. In my eyes, it can do no wrong. It makes lip smacking chinese food and one of my favourite dishes is the honey sesame chicken.



Its the most amazing combination of sweet and tangy. I can pop these like pop corn! Makes for an amazing starter. I've tried to rip off PF Chang's dish here. I know I come close, and if I don't, this chicken is still pretty good. I'll leave it up to you to decide though.



Serves 4:

300gms boneless chicken breasts cut into cubes
1 cup cornflour
Salt & pepper to taste
5 cloves of minced garlic
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp honey
3 tbsp vinegar, preferably rice wine or cider vinegar
2 tbsp ketchup
1/2 tbsp sesame oil



Heat oil in a large saucepan. In a large bowl, season chicken with salt & pepper. Add in cornflour and toss to combine. Cook chicken in pan till fully cooked and golden brown.

Set another saucepan on low heat. Add in the rest of the ingredients & stir. Add the chicken & cook for 2-3mins or till all the pieces are evenly coated.



Sprinkle some sesame seeds or spring onions and serve with noodles.