Mei’s Ginger-Glazed Baby Back Ribs Recipe

Excerpted from ‘Company: The Radically Casual Art of Cooking for Others’ by Amy Thielen

Comments

Published October 03, 2023

Kristen Teig

Serves 6 to 8 (the recipe is easily doubled) for the ribs

Years ago, I worked in a Chinese restaurant in New York City, where I spent my days prepping in the basement next to a guy named Mei (pronounced moy) who worked the seven-foot-tall gas-fired barbecue oven. I watched Mei make these poached and caramelized pork ribs day in and day out for a year, and I think this recipe for gingery char siu sauce comes pretty close to his version — minus the small spoonful of red dye number 5 he used to tint his ribs neon red. Add it if you’re looking for drama. The Chinese chile bean paste called toban djan or doubanjiang is not so optional. The spicy, salty, umami-rich paste, made from long-fermented hot chiles and soybeans, adds backbeat to an otherwise straightforward sweet glaze.

These ribs poach in a light soy brine on the stovetop for two largely hands-off hours. They come out tender and moist and as defatted as a rib can be before heading into the oven for their appointment with the sticky-sweet glaze. Incredibly easy, these ribs can be scaled up to feed an actual throng — graduation parties, reunions, what-have-you. You can make as many ribs as you have pots to cook them in.

Lee Kum Kee (LKK) makes a good, if somewhat mild, toban djan, and it is a fairly common find in large grocery stores. For more traditional Sichuan heat, head to an Asian market and look for jars labeled doubanjiang or Sichuan chile broad bean sauce. Toban djan varies widely by brand, so keep watch on the spiciness and saltiness of the finished dish.

And note that this simple rib-poaching technique can be used to cook other cuts of pork and poultry you intend to glaze with any kind of sauce, Asian-inspired or not. Chicken legs, pork butt steaks, halved ducks, game birds . . . let your imagination run wild.

Ingredients

For the ribs

2 racks baby back ribs (4 pounds)
½ cup light soy sauce
8 dried red chiles
One 4-inch piece ginger, sliced (unpeeled
is OK)
1 teaspoon fine sea salt, plus more to taste
1 orange, halved

For the ginger glaze

2 tablespoons finely grated ginger
¼ cup rice wine vinegar
¼ cup toban djan (or doubanjiang; fermented Chinese chile bean paste)
²⁄³ cup packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons light soy sauce
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

Directions

book cover that says company the radically casual art of cooking for others; cutouts of food, drinkwear and bowls on cover

W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Cook With Amy

One more recipe from Company: The Radically Casual Art of Cooking for Others for AARP members to try:

Fun House Baked Potatoes

These open-faced buttery baked potatoes paired with onions and bay leaves are crisped to perfection and great for serving a big group.

Read about Amy Thielen’s cookbook, Company: The Radically Casual Art of Cooking for Others.

Wash the ribs under cold running water and cut each rack in half. Put them in your largest pan (I use a two-handled roaster set across two burners) and add water to generously cover, about 3 quarts. Bring to a simmer and skim off and discard the foam that rises. Add the soy sauce, chiles, ginger slices, and salt and simmer the ribs for about two hours, until they’re tender but not quite falling apart. As they cook, the ribs will rise above the surface of the liquid, so you’ll want to turn them over every 30 minutes or so, or keep them submerged with plates. When they’re tender, transfer the ribs to a platter and discard the poaching liquid (or save and reduce later to make ramen broth).

Meanwhile, make the glaze: Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan, bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar, and then simmer until thick and sticky, about 15 minutes. Check the consistency by dropping some sauce on a plate and pinching it between your fingers. Taste for seasoning. Depending on your brand of toban djan, you may want to add another tablespoon or so to pump up the heat.

Preheat the oven to 425ºF. Place the ribs on a rack set over a foil-lined baking sheet. Paint the ribs thickly with the glaze and roast for 10 minutes. Reapply the glaze, mopping up any excess that pooled onto the pan with your brush and brushing it back over the ribs. Return to the oven to roast, stopping halfway through to reapply the glaze again, until the sauce fuses onto the surface of the meat and caramelizes to a dark, ruddy red-brown, another 20 minutes or so.

Remove from the oven and let the ribs cool for a few minutes, then slice between the bones and stack them loosely on a large platter.