Sriracha Hoisin Ribs
Most people regard Memorial Day as the start of the summer vacation season in the U.S. This year for us I think it would be more accurate to call it the start of summer wedding season. After attending our first of the year yesterday we have four more to look forward to in the coming months. Not wanting to let the fun stop, we are driving to Chicago for the day to see the Nationals play the Cubs. It’s been a few years since I was at Wrigley Field and almost 12 years to the day since I went to my first game there.
Summer is of course also synonymous with barbecue. Every summer I have a few cravings to grill things but because we don’t have a space for even a small one, I have to settle for our stovetop grill pan or the oven. I’ve made some version of oven baked ribs each of the past few years and kicked off summer early a few weeks ago with these.
The past few times I have made ribs I’ve gone the more traditional route in terms of seasoning. I began to stare at our pantry for ideas and the gigantic bottle of sriracha we had just bought seemed like a good place to start. Is there ever a bad time for sriracha?
When buying the ribs I kept going back and forth between if I wanted to buy one or two racks of ribs. I went with two because I figured if I was going through the trouble of making these we should get a few meals out of it. That was definitely the way to go, and we ended up making some amazing broth with the leftover bones.
We are moving in August to a nicer and bigger apartment but still not one with a patio or space for a grill. So for the time being it is nice to know that you can get delicious fall-off-the-bone ribs even in your home oven. These only take a few hours so if you are thinking of an impromptu Memorial Day BBQ, give these a try!
- 2 racks of baby back or spare ribs (about 6 lbs total)
- 2 Tbsp Kosher or Sea Salt
- fresh cracked Black Pepper to taste
- 2 C Apple Juice (other non-pulp fruit juices will be ok too)
- 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
- 4 medium cloves Garlic, crushed or minced
- 2 Tbsp finely grated Ginger (@ 3” knob)
- ⅔ C Hoisin sauce
- ¼ C Sriracha Sauce
- 1 Tbsp Fish Sauce
- ¼ C Apple Cider Vinegar
- Heat oil in a small pot over medium heat. Add garlic and ginger and cook 1-2 minutes or until light golden.
- Add in hoisin, sriracha, fish sauce, and apple cider vinegar and stir well. Cook for 5 minutes and then remove from heat and set aside to cool.
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Rinse ribs and pat dry. Season with salt and pepper.
- Create aluminum foil 'boats' for the ribs. Double up sheets of foil that are large enough to enclose each section of the ribs and then place on a baking sheet. You may find it easier to cut the racks of ribs in half and create 4 boats total, rather than two boats each containing a whole rack.
- Place ribs in boats meaty side up and divide apple juice between the boats.
- Seal the foil boats closed around the ribs and be careful to not break the foil. If you do place another piece of foil around the tear.
- Bake in the preheated oven for one hour. Remove from oven, carefully open the foil, and brush with glaze.
- Return to oven but leave the foil open (with the sides standing up to keep the juices around the ribs).
- Bake for another 45 minutes. Glaze ribs again, then return to oven for another 45 minutes.
- Heat oven to broil and place oven rack 2 or 3 levels down from the top. Brush ribs with glaze again and broil for 2 minutes or until slightly singed.
- Slice ribs into sections and serve with vegetables and rice if desired.
