Barbecued Spareribs
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INGREDIENTS 2 pounds spareribs in one piece
MARINADE
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine, or pale dry sherry
1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
1 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons chicken stock, fresh or canned
Canned plum saucePREPARE AHEAD
With a cleaver or large, sharp knife, trim any excess fat from the spareribs. If the breastbone is still attached, use a cleaver to chop it away from the ribs and discard it. Place the spareribs in a long, shallow dish, large enough to hold them comfortably.
In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, honey, hoisin sauce, vinegar, wine, garlic, sugar and chicken stock. Stir until they are well mixed. Pour the sauce over the spareribs, baste them thoroughly and let them marinate at room temperature for 3 hours (6 hours if refrigerated), turning them in the marinade and basting them every hour or so.
TO COOK
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
To catch the drippings of the spareribs as they roast, and to prevent the oven from smoking as well, fill a large shallow roasting pan or baking dish with water and place it on the lowest rack of the oven. Insert the curved tips of 2 or 3 S-shaped hooks - such as curtain hooks or 5-inch lengths of heavy-duty wire or even unpainted coat hangers bent into shape - at each end of the spareribs. As if hanging a hammock, use the curved ends of the hooks to suspend the ribs from the uppermost rack of the oven directly above the pan of water. Roast the ribs, undisturbed, for 45 minutes. Then raise the oven heat to 450 degrees and roast about 15 minutes longer, or until the spareribs are crisp and a deep, golden brown.
To serve, place the ribs on a chopping board and, with a cleaver, separate the strip into individual ribs. If the ribs are large, chop them each in half crosswise. Serve hot or cold with plum sauce.
Will serve 4 to 6