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Dark chocolate roasted pork spare ribs
From Cookipedia
Chocolate is often been used in South American cooking especially in meat dishes containing chillies. However, you do need to use a high quality bitter dark chocolate, Cadburys Dairy Milk just won't work!
This recipe is a variation of a recipe I found in The Extraordinary Cookbook, a marvellous source of recipes and ideas by Stefan Gates.
Ingredients
- 1.5 kg (3 lb) pork spare ribs, skin removed and cut into separate ribs
marinade
- 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
- 150 g tomato purée
- 50 g dark chocolate; Green & Blacks Organic Chocolate or similar
- 1 fresh red chilli, finely chopped. [A crushed dried chilli or even a teaspoon of chilli flakes would do just as
well]
- 3 cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated - home made lazy ginger is good here.
- 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed.
- 4 whole star anise - (whole 'flowers', not single petals)
- 2 tablespoons of runny honey - [up to 30 seconds in the microwave turns any honey runny]
- 4 tablespoons of dry sherry
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Mise en place
Either:
- Fire up the barbecue
- Preheat the oven to 200°C [400°F - Gas Mk 6]
Method
- Heat the oil and add the ginger and garlic and sauté for 3 or 4 minutes until the garlic starts to take some colour.
- Add the chilli and star anise and mix in.
- Tip in the remaining ingredients and stir until the chocolate is meted and well mixed.
- Season to taste.
- Place the ribs in a large Lock and Lock-style container, pour over the marinade, close the lid and give it a really good shake to coat the ribs - I find its quite a good idea to leave them in a cool place for an hour to allow the flavours to penetrate, it's not mandatory though.
barbecuing
- Lay the ribs on the barbecue grill and cook for 30 minutes turning now and then
oven-roasting
- Lay the ribs on two roasting trays, leaving a space between each rib
- Roast uncovered for 30 minutes, turning once
Serving suggestions
Discard the star anise pieces before serving.
Serve with jacket potatoes or potato wedges and a green salad. A squeeze of lime worked rather well to counteract the richness of the ribs.
Chef's notes
Follow the RSPCA Think Pig Checklist to make sure that your pork has come from pigs that have been reared to higher welfare standards.
