Barbecued American-style pork ribs

SERVES 2

For this recipe your barbecue must have a lid, as the first part of the cooking process involves slow-roasting by indirect heat. The second stage will be direct-heat grilling. I love to do these ribs on the barbecue because of the added smokiness that you can’t get from cooking them slowly in the oven. You can buy American-style ribs in every supermarket and butcher shop now – just keep an eye out for good meaty ones, as sometimes the meat-to-bone ratio can be more skewed towards the bone. I love to buy my American-style ribs at Chinese butchers as they always leave lots of meat on the ribs.

3 spring onions (scallions), white part only, finely sliced

1 tablespoon sesame oil

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 teaspoon dijon or wholegrain mustard

1 teaspoon chilli paste

3 tablespoons hoisin sauce

3 tablespoons mango chutney – I use hot mango chutney when I can find it

½ teaspoon sea salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

125 ml (4 fl oz/½ cup) Coopers Sparkling Ale

2 racks of American-style pork ribs, 600–700 g (1 lb 5 oz–1 lb 9 oz) each

Combine all the ingredients except the ribs in a bowl and mix well. I then like to pop it in the microwave for about 30 seconds to warm the ingredients up, allowing them to combine thoroughly. This also encourages all the flavours to come out and mingle.

Cut each pork rack into three sections and place them in a deep baking tin or roasting tin that they will all fit into. Pour the marinade over the ribs and turn them, making sure that each portion is well coated. Cover and marinate for an hour or two.

Preheat your barbecue or Weber kettle barbecue to moderate, about 170°C (325°F). Put the tin of ribs in the barbecue, with heat on either side of the tin, but not under it. Close the lid and cook for 1½ –2 hours, checking and turning every 30 minutes. Every barbecue is going to hold heat and cook differently, so just keep an eye on it. When the ribs pull away from the bone easily and the meat is juicy and tender, they are done.

Now take the ribs out of the tin and grill them directly over medium–high heat for about 10 minutes, turning and basting the ribs with the marinade from the tin. This will caramelise the outside of the ribs and give them a little char or ‘bark’, and keep the inside fork-tender. Remove from the heat, pile on a plate and eat.

My wife and I usually have a Greek salad with this dish. The recipe for that is in my first cookbook – Mercurio’s Menu.

Beer Notes

A malt-driven ale is always good with this marinade