Barbecued Babyback Ribs Chinese Style

Did I ever mention that I love ribs? Although barbecued ribs are offered in some Chinese eateries and BBQ meat hawkers in Singapore, I tend to find them lacking. First of all, it's hard to find one that actually tastes good and secondly, if you do, they tend to use a very scrawny cut of rib with not much meat on it at all. After getting quite fed up with these mediocre ribs, I decided to make my own. This is a simple but slightly time-consuming dish to prepare. The only time-consuming bit is the basting of the ribs every 10-15 minutes when it's in the "charring" phase.

Ingredients:
1. Slab(s) of babyback ribs
2. Sugar
3. Honey
4. Salt, hoisin sauce, oyster sauce, pepper, soy sauce, five-spice powder


Method:
1. Marinate the ribs with sugar, salt, hoisin sauce, oyster sauce, pepper, soy sauce and five-spice powder to taste
2. Put the ribs on a rack, wrap it in good quality aluminium foil and roast it in a non-fan-forced oven for 45 minutes at 150DegC (for a slab of about 1kg)

3. Make basting sauce:
a. Pour all the marinade juices from the ribs into a shallow pan over low heat
b. Add honey and stir until you obtain a slightly thick consistency
c. Set aside for basting

4. After 45 minutes, remove foil wrapper and roast at 180DegC (still non-fan-forced), this is the "charring" stage

5. Baste the ribs every 10-15 minutes

6. Repeat step 5. until desired charred texture is obtained

Hint:
1. Some barbeque rib experts believe in removing the membrane covering the rib-bones (aponeurosis) for the marinade to flow in better, but I leave it on because I like its crunchy and chewy texture
2. I marinate my ribs for at least 24 hours for the flavor to truly seep in
3. I used four basting sessions to obtain the texture and finish for this round
4. Be very careful during the "charring" stage that your ribs do not get burnt, the basting helps keep it moist
5. To obtain a slight reddish look I actually used some colored sugar which I had leftover from the days of my cotton candy (fairy floss) machine haha
6. The basting sauce thickens quite abit when cooled so don't let it get too thick when you're making it

Serve HOT!

Observe the glistening fine honey glaze that has formed exteriorly. Wrapping it in foil for the first 45 minutes allows the ribs to be cooked without losing too much juice. Increasing the temperature and basting the glaze later on seals it externally to ensure not too much juicy goodness is lost as well.

Ahh, looks good from behind as well.

Ok, everybody sing together now!

"I want my babyback, babyback, babyback, babyback, babyback, babyback, babyback, babyback, babyback, babyback ribs!"

D