Pressure Cooker Sticky Tamarind Baby Back Ribs Food

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.

PRESSURE COOKER HOT HONEY RIBS

Steps:

• Add the sweet and hot smoked paprika, mustard and garlic powders and several generous grinds of black pepper to a small bowl and mix to combine.
• Remove the ribs from the packaging and pat them dry with paper towels. (The easiest place to do this is the sink.) Turn the ribs over to remove the membrane that covers the back of the ribs: Grasp one end of the membrane with paper towels to keep your hands from slipping and pull; the membrane should pull right off in one or two sheets. (If it is not easy to pull off, you can skip this step.) Season the ribs all over, front and back, using about 1 tablespoon of salt per rack of ribs. Coat the ribs in the spice mixture, patting it all over both sides of the ribs.
• Put 2 cups of water into a 6- or 8-quart electric pressure cooker. Fit a steamer basket or trivet into the pot over the water. If you don't have one of those, roll up sheets of aluminum foil to make foil snakes about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Coil the foil snakes into the bottom of the pot, covering the bottom of the pot with the coil. Make sure the top of the coil is just above the water level. This makes your own steamer trivet. Coil the ribs in the pot with the meaty sides facing the sides of the pot and the bones pointing up, standing them in a ring of concentric circles. Close the lid and cook on high pressure for 18 to 22 minutes. (See Tip)
• Meanwhile, make the hot honey: Combine the honey, chiles and lime peel in a small saucepan over medium heat. Let the mixture get very hot, until it simmers and then starts to foam, about 2 minutes. Remove it from the heat, pour it into a small heatproof bowl and set aside. (The honey can be made several days in advance. When it cools, cover it, and store it at room temperature.)
• When the cook time is over, turn off the pressure cooker and let the pressure release naturally for 15 minutes, then release the remaining pressure manually. Open the lid. The ribs should be very tender, but not falling apart. They are done when the meat shrinks back from the bones, the bones wiggle easily and a fork can easily shred an edge of the meat. If the meat is not tender, pressure cook on high for 1 to 3 more minutes, then immediately release the pressure manually.
• Line a sheet pan with foil. Using tongs, transfer the ribs to the sheet pan, meaty side up. Heat the broiler. Remove the lime zest from the honey (leave the chiles in) and stir the lime juice and apple cider vinegar into the honey mixture. Using a spoon, drizzle the honey all over the ribs, using about half the honey but leaving the chiles in the bowl.
• Broil the ribs until they are caramelized and sizzling, and lightly charred in spots, 2 to 3 minutes. (Check the ribs every 30 seconds or so to prevent burning, and rotate them to make sure that all the surfaces get caramelized.) Season the ribs with salt, then drizzle more of the hot honey and chiles over the ribs, to taste. Serve with any remaining hot honey on the side.

INSTANT POT STICKY HOISIN BABY BACK RIBS

Steps:

• Cut meat between bones into individual ribs; season with kosher salt and pepper. Let sit at room temperature at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour.
• Whisk hoisin, honey, soy sauce, rice wine, ginger, and five-spice powder in cooker insert. Toss ribs in sauce to coat, then fit as many as possible in a single layer; set remaining ribs on top. Lock on lid, making sure steam release valve is in the proper sealed position. Select "Manual" and program for 12 minutes at high pressure.
• As soon as the time has elapsed, turn off cooker, "Quick Release" the steam, and unlock lid. The ribs should be tender enough to easily pierce with a sharp knife. Transfer ribs to a platter.
• Select "Sauté" and let cooking liquid simmer until reduced by about half, 10-15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, prepare a medium direct fire on a gas or charcoal grill (or preheat broiler). Brush ribs with sauce. Place ribs on grate directly over fire, meaty side down. Close lid and grill until browned and crisp in places, about 5 minutes (or transfer them to a baking sheet, meaty side up, and broil the same way).
• Return ribs to platter. Top with sea salt. Serve with remaining sauce alongside.
• Cooks' Note: For a fruitier spin on the sauce, substitute pineapple or orange juice for the honey and use a pinch of cayenne or crushed red pepper flakes instead of the five-spice powder.