Sticky pork spare ribs
The secret the rib joints don't tell you: great ribs are cooked twice. Slow and gentle first until tender, then lacquered over the coals until sticky and burnished.
The secret the rib joints don't tell you: great ribs are cooked twice. Slow and gentle first until tender, then lacquered over the coals until sticky and burnished.
Ingredients
- 1.5 kg pork spare ribs
- 125 ml tomato sauce
- 60 ml soy sauce
- 60 ml honey or smooth apricot jam
- 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- Black pepper
Method
- First cook: wrap the ribs in foil with a splash of water and cook in a 160 °C oven (or kettle braai, indirect) for about 1½ hours, until tender but not falling apart.
- Whisk everything else together into a basting sauce.
- Finish over medium coals: 10–15 minutes, basting and turning every few minutes, building up sticky layers until glossy and charred at the edges.
- Cut between the bones and serve with a stack of serviettes you will run out of anyway.
Engineer's view
Read left to right: ingredients merge into steps, steps merge into supper.
| Ingredient | Process → | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Pork spare ribs 1.5 kg | Wrap in foil + a splash of water | 160 °C oven or kettle (indirect) · ±1½ h → tender | Finish over medium coals · 10–15 min · baste & turn → sticky lacquer, charred edges |
| Tomato sauce 125 ml | Whisk together → basting sauce | → | |
| Soy sauce 60 ml | |||
| Honey or apricot jam 60 ml | |||
| Worcestershire sauce 2 tbsp | |||
| Garlic 2 cloves | |||
| Smoked paprika & pepper 1 tsp | |||
Which fire? Hold your palm at grid height and count: 4 seconds is hot, 6–8 medium, 10+ gentle. The full fire-craft lives in the Fire & Wood guide.
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