Baby Back Ribs With Tamarind Food

BABY BACK RIBS WITH TAMARIND GLAZE

Steps:

• Ribs:
• Place ribs in a large Dutch oven or other heavy pot. Add ginger, orange wedge, star anise, apple juice, salt, half of chiles, and 1/4 cup brown sugar. Pour in water just to cover pork and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Reduce heat so liquid is at a very gentle simmer, partially cover pot, and braise, turning racks a few times, until meat is fork-tender and nearly (but not quite) falling off the bones, 1 1/2-2 hours. Chop remaining chiles while ribs are cooking and set aside.
• Carefully transfer ribs to a rimmed baking sheet and let cool. Cut between ribs to create 2-rib pieces.
• Meanwhile, crank up the heat under the Dutch oven to high and add ketchup, vinegar, tamarind concentrate, honey, remaining 1/3 cup brown sugar, and reserved chopped chiles to braising liquid. Cook, stirring often, until glaze is thick enough to coat a spoon (it should be reduced to 1-1 1/2 cups), 30-45 minutes. Strain into a large measuring cup; discard solids. Let settle so oil rises to surface. Pour off oil into a small bowl; set aside.
• Salad and assembly:
• Prepare a grill for medium heat; oil grate. Working one at a time, dip ribs into glaze to coat. Grill ribs, turning several times, until glaze is lightly charred, about 5 minutes total. Transfer ribs to a platter; season with salt. Drizzle with remaining glaze and reserved oil.
• Toss cucumber, onion, chile, and lime juice in a medium bowl to combine; season with salt. Scatter salad over ribs and top with micro cilantro. Serve with lime wedges.
• Do Ahead
• Ribs can be braised 1 day ahead. Let cool in liquid; cover and chill.

BABY BACK RIBS MARINATED IN TAMARIND SAUCE

Steps:

• Place tamarind pulp in a bowl, and add boiling water. Let soak for 15 minutes. Pour through a fine sieve; discard solids. You should have 2 cups liquid.
• Stir together tamarind liquid, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, and brown sugar until sugar has dissolved.
• Place ribs on a roasting pan or a rimmed baking sheet. Pour marinade over ribs, and cover pan with plastic wrap. Marinate in refrigerator overnight, flipping ribs once while marinating.
• Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Let ribs stand at room temperature for 20 minutes. Cover pan tightly with parchment and then foil, and cook until meat pulls away easily from bones, 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours. Transfer ribs to a rimmed baking sheet; tent with parchment and then foil.
• Pour pan juices into a saucepan, and skim off excess fat (you should have about 3 cups juices). Boil the juices over medium-high heat until reduced to about 1 cup, about 20 minutes. Pour 1/2 cup sauce into a small bowl.
• Preheat the broiler. Brush both sides of ribs with sauce in bowl. Broil ribs until sauce is bubbling and blackened in places, about 2 minutes. Brush broiled ribs with remaining sauce in pan. Let stand 5 minutes. Cut into 1-rib servings, and arrange on a platter.

TAMARIND GLAZED BABY BACK RIBS

Steps:

• Preheat your oven to 300 degrees F.
• Sprinkle the ribs with salt and pepper and place them meaty-side up on an aluminum foil-lined rimmed baking sheet or shallow baking dish. Roast for 30 minutes and then drain off any accumulated fat from the baking sheet. Turn the ribs over and increase the oven temperature to 400 degrees F. Return them to the oven for an additional 30 minutes.
• While the ribs cook, make the glaze. Drain the aji panca and place it in a blender along with the tamarind paste, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, orange juice and garlic. Puree to make a thick paste, scraping the jar as necessary. Set aside 1/4 of the glaze for serving.
• After the ribs have cooked at 400 degrees F for 30 minutes, begin basting them with the glaze every 15 minutes until the ribs are tender, about 1 hour, turning the ribs meaty side up again after 30 minutes. Remove the ribs from the oven, brush with the reserved glaze and serve.

STICKY TAMARIND RIBS WITH SWEET AND SPICY KALE MANGO SLAW

Steps:

• For the ribs and rub: Tear two sheets of aluminum foil (large enough to fully wrap each rack of ribs) and place each on a rimmed baking sheet. Place a rack of ribs on top of each. Mix together the dark brown sugar, chili powder, curry powder, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper and cayenne in a bowl. Reserve 1 tablespoon rub mixture. Evenly divide the remaining rub between the two racks of ribs and cover all surfaces of the fronts, backs and sides of each. Wrap tightly in the aluminum foil. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours and up to overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.
• Bake the ribs 20 to 30 minutes. Reduce the heat to 250 degrees F. Continue to cook until the meat is tender, about 1 1/2 hours.
• For the sauce: In a medium saucepan over medium heat, heat the olive oil. Add the onion and saute until translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in the ginger and the reserved spice rub and saute an additional minute to allow the spices to bloom. Add the ketchup, chicken broth, dark brown sugar, tamarind paste, Worcestershire sauce and garlic powder, and stir to combine. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes.
• Remove the ribs from the oven and preheat the broiler to high.
• Remove the ribs from the foil and place them on the baking sheets. Spoon 3 tablespoons of the liquid that has gathered in the foil into the sauce and stir to combine. Brush the ribs generously with a few tablespoons of the sauce. Place under the broiler, rotating the baking sheet if necessary, until the sauce begins to brown and thicken, 3 to 4 minutes. Repeat with the remaining ribs. Transfer the ribs to a cutting board and brush with the sauce once again. Serve the ribs with additional sauce and the Slaw.
• For the dressing: In a small bowl, whisk together the lime juice, oil, vinegar, granulated sugar, ginger, salt, garlic and black pepper until emulsified.
• For the slaw: In a large salad bowl, combine the kale, cabbage, mango, bell pepper, scallions, chile, peanuts, cilantro and mint.
• Add the dressing to the slaw and toss to combine.

PRESSURE COOKER STICKY TAMARIND BABY BACK RIBS

Steps:

• Cut the ribs into chunks of 2 or 3 ribs, depending on their size, and place them in a large bowl. Toss with 1 teaspoon salt, and set aside while you prepare the sauce.
• In a small bowl, combine the tamarind, orange juice, honey, soy sauce, lime zest and juice and star anise. Set aside.
• Using the sauté function, heat the oil in the pressure cooker. Stir in the shallots and cook until they are starting to brown, about 5 minutes. Stir in the ginger and garlic and cook until fragrant, another minute, then stir in the tamarind mixture. Bring to a simmer, and then scrape the sauce into the large bowl of ribs. Toss gently to combine.
• Arrange the ribs standing up along the outer edge of the pressure cooker, making a ring with the meat side of the ribs facing out. Continue with the remaining ribs, arranging them to make concentric circles. Pour any remaining sauce over the ribs, cover and cook on high pressure for 32 minutes. Allow the pressure to release naturally.
• Heat the broiler.
• Transfer the ribs, meat-side down, to a rimmed baking sheet. Turn the pressure cooker to the sauté function and cook to reduce the sauce until it's thick, about 15 minutes; spoon the fat off the top when finished. Taste the sauce, and adjust the seasoning or add more honey if necessary; then brush the ribs with the sauce. Broil the ribs until they are charred in spots, 1 to 3 minutes. Then flip them over, brush with more sauce, and broil on that side until charred. Serve immediately, with more sauce on the side.