Baked Pork Ribs
In my opinion, the best option for a country barbecue, or “shashlik” outdoors, is baked pork ribs. This versatile way of cooking gives wonderfully tasty meat, aromatic and spicy, fit for an elegant table or a cloth spread right on the grass. People affectionately call this dish baked pork ribs.
Pork ribs are very popular for cooking, especially in Asian and European cuisines. The carcass is cut in a special way to get fairly large pieces of ribs from the belly to the back, partly with cartilage and a thick layer of rib meat. When baking ribs, though, the meat over the bones is usually partly trimmed off, simply because there is a lot of it. Baked pork ribs are best made from bones covered with a not-too-thick layer of meat and a small amount of fat.
At home, a barbecue grill is rarely an option. In a city apartment, the most accessible way to bake pork is a gas or electric oven. Pork ribs are easy to make in the oven and bake very well. Many will say that the unique smell of a campfire is missing and some of the charm is lost. To get that smell and taste, the meat is often finished with a torch and brushed generously with barbecue sauce or “liquid smoke”.
Pork ribs are very simple to cook in the oven and need no special preparation. Traditional recipes often steam the meat in a so-called baking bag. But if the meat and bones are not very thick, the pork turns out great without this trick. Baked ribs also rarely need to be marinated beforehand, because the meat is fatty and tender enough.
It is best to bake pork ribs with a minimum of spices and almost no salt. An hour before cooking, just rub them with spices and keep them in the fridge, and the meat will absorb the flavor perfectly. No marinade is needed. That way the pork keeps the taste of natural roast meat and doesn’t release its juices, so juiciness is practically guaranteed. In the final stage, the surface of the ribs is covered with a slightly spicy, sweet and savory glaze and baked until crusty.
Ingredients
2 servings
- Pork ribs, 6 pieces 1 piece
- Pork fat 1 tsp
- Salt, black pepper, sweet and hot red pepper, granulated garlic, dried aromatic herbs to taste
- Brown sugar, balsamic vinegar, soy sauce for the glaze
- Cucumbers, tomatoes, herbs, lettuce leaves for serving
Step-by-step recipe
To cook for two, buy a piece of ribs cut from the middle of the carcass, 2-3 ribs per serving. The top of such a piece usually has a fairly thick layer of fatty pork. It is best to cut this part off with a sharp knife and save it for other dishes, as it makes an excellent bigos. Baked pork ribs can also be made from a whole piece with the meat on, but they are tastier if the layer of meat on the bones is not too thick, so it bakes through better.
Mix the spices in a cup or small bowl. You can take a little coarse salt, literally a quarter of a teaspoon, or cook with no salt at all. Mix the salt with 1 tsp dried sweet red pepper (2 g) and 1 tsp dried aromatic herbs: savory, oregano, basil. Add a pinch of hot pepper and granulated garlic, and a little ground black pepper, preferably ground in a mortar just before cooking.
Trim the large pieces of fat from the ribs, leaving just a little to grease them before baking. Rinse the meat and pat it dry with paper towels. If you can, remove the pleura, the thin smooth layer of connective tissue lining the ribs on the inside. It is not suitable for cooking at all and always stays tough and inedible. Sprinkle the meat with the spice mixture and rub it in well. Wrap the ribs in plastic wrap or foil, then put them in the fridge for 45-60 minutes.
Meanwhile, render the reserved piece of pork fat into liquid lard. Let it cool a little. Preheat the oven to 210-220 °C. Take the meat out of the fridge and pat it dry again. Brush the whole surface of the meat with a thin layer of pork fat and put the ribs in a suitable ceramic or glass baking dish. It is best to place the ribs bone side down: the curved bones lift the meat off the bottom of the dish, so contact with the bottom is minimal. That way the ribs don’t need to be turned during baking.
Put the dish with the meat in the preheated oven. Pork heats up quite quickly, which you can hear from the sound of the sizzling fat. Baked ribs release very little liquid, so watch that the fat doesn’t start to burn. After about 30-40 minutes, allowing for the time the meat takes to heat up, the ribs will be almost done.
Make the glaze, which is easy. In a small saucepan, mix 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar, 1 tbsp light soy sauce and 2 tsp brown sugar (9 g). Add a little hot pepper and dried aromatic herbs. Put the pan over low heat and bring to a boil. Stirring constantly, cook off the liquid until the mixture is as thick as honey. It should be stretchy.
Take the meat out of the oven and brush it with the glaze using a silicone brush. Brush only the outer side, where the meat is. If the glaze is too thin, it may run a little down the meat. It is important that the mixture doesn’t drip onto the bottom of the dish, or it will burn.
Put the ribs back in the oven. After 10-15 minutes the glaze will bake and harden as the sugar caramelizes. Take the dish with the baked pork out of the oven and cut the slab in half between the ribs. You can cut the other ribs halfway in the same way so they don’t fall apart.
Serve the pork ribs on a plate or a special serving board. Baked pork usually needs no side dish. Just lay the meat on a few lettuce leaves, some sliced vegetables or a simple cucumber and tomato salad, and fresh herbs. You can serve a sauce or pepper lutenitsa separately, plus fresh bread or lavash and a glass of wine. And enjoy!
Calories and macros
960 kcal
Serving ≈ 250 g
- Protein50 g21% of kcal
- Fat79 g75% of kcal
- Carbs10 g4% of kcal
100 g380 kcalProtein 19.9 gFat 31 gCarbs 3.9 g
Calculated from the recipe ingredients, excluding salt and spices. Data: USDA and Matvaretabellen.
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