Oven Baked Thai Ribs

This recipe made its first appearance at our Iron Chef competition a few years ago. The secret ingredient was chilies and Peter and I did dishes from around the world using chilies. I think my favorite were the oysters with a Vietnamese sauce. Spicy, salty, sour and sweet. It’s perfect for oysters. But anywho… back to the dish at hand. Oven baked ribs really couldn’t be easier. The ribs are baked for an hour and then basted in the oven for another hour. When you’re finished you’ve got dark spicy tender baby back ribs. I’m sure this recipe would work well for just about any rib, but I like it with baby back ribs.

3lbs pork ribs

1 teaspoon vegetable oil
3 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon grated ginger
1 cup Mirin wine
1 tablespoon curry paste
1 tablespoon finely chopped lemon grass
1 lime zested and juiced
2 tablespoons soy sauce
fish sauce to taste

Line a sheet pan with aluminum foil and place the ribs and ½ cup water into the pan. Cover the pan with foil and bake for one hour. While the ribs are baking prepare the basting sauce. In a medium saucepan heat the oil. When in it’s hot add the garlic and the ginger and cook it quickly. Add the mirin, curry paste, lemon grass and cook until the mixture is reduced by half. Remove from the heat and add the zest, juice, soy sauce and fish sauce.
After one hour remove the foil and brush the ribs with the sauce. Baste the ribs about every 10 minutes or so for about other hour. Remove from the oven and cool slightly then cut the ribs and serve them warm.