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Korean-marinated pork ribs
Costillar de cerdo, gochujang
Racks cooked low and slow wrapped in foil until the meat gives, then glazed with gochujang and finished over live coals so the edges catch. Sticky, hot, faintly sweet.
Ribs are a two-stage job and people try to do them in one. The long, gentle cook is where tenderness comes from; the fire at the end is only for colour and char. Glaze too early and the sugar in the gochujang burns black before the meat is anywhere near ready.
Ingredients
- 2 racks of pork ribs, about 1.2 kg each, membrane removed
- For the rub: 2 tbsp brown sugar, 1 tbsp salt, 1 tbsp smoked paprika, 1 tsp black pepper, 1 tsp garlic powder
- For the glaze: 4 tbsp gochujang, 3 tbsp honey, 3 tbsp soy sauce, 2 tbsp rice vinegar, 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil, 4 cloves garlic grated, 20 g ginger grated
- Spring onion and toasted sesame seeds to finish
Method
- Pull the silvery membrane off the back of each rack with a paper towel for grip. It never softens and it stops everything else getting in.
- Mix the rub and cover both racks with it. Leave two hours at room temperature, or overnight in the fridge.
- Wrap each rack tightly in a double layer of foil with a splash of water inside, and cook at 140C for two and a half to three hours. They are ready when you can push a skewer through the meat between the bones with no resistance.
- Whisk the glaze ingredients together and warm gently until it just loosens. Do not boil it.
- Open the foil, drain off the liquid, and let the racks cool slightly. They will be fragile; handle them with two hands or a tray.
- Brush with glaze and cook over medium coals, five to eight minutes total, glazing again each time you turn. Let some edges properly char.
- Rest five minutes, cut between the bones, then toss the cut ribs in whatever glaze is left in the pan. Spring onion and sesame over the top.
Serve it with. Grilled corn, and something sharp and crunchy: pickled cucumber or a raw cabbage salad.