Dish #48: Chipotle-glazed pork ribs

Recently, a recipe for ribs landed in my inbox that 1) did not require hours of cooking and 2) did not require either a broiler or a grill, neither of which I have access to at home.

The full details are over on Epicurious, but here of the steps to show you that it’s quite straight forward:

1. Acquire pork ribs. This might be the hard part if, like me, you live in a country that loves pig but doesn’t really do ribs.
2. Simmer the ribs for 30 minutes in a 1:5 vinegar:water brine, along with a bit of salt, an onion and a head of garlic.
3. Meanwhile, prepare the glaze.
4. Coat the still-warm meat in the glaze, wrap in cellophane, and chill until cold. You can do this the day ahead.
5. In a 425°F (220°C) oven, with the rib directly on the rack, add more glaze every 5 minutes for 20 minutes.
6. Done. These babies need to cool a bit since the molten glaze will burn you otherwise.

CONFESSIONS:

I chilled the ribs without the glaze, since I overlooked that bit. They turned out great anyway.

I had my oven much hotter since I miscalculated the temperature. They turned out great anyway.

I made a full recipe of glaze, and only prepared a half recipe of ribs. I saved half the glaze in order to make ribs again later in the week. Okay, this part is less confession and more of a brag.

Dish #49: Vietnamese sticky rice breakfast with mung beans

I’ve made us Vietnamese sticky rice breakfast before, but this was the first time I made it with mung beans added. I got the method from Hot Sour Salty Sweet.

The verdict: we like it better without the mung beans. At least, not with the beans cooked with the rice. They give the rice a mealy texture and diminishes the stickiness. Next time, I’ll make the beans as a garnish only.

ps: I am out of sesame seeds so we drizzled tahini on. Works!

The mung beans make the whole thing mealy, but also more filling.

Tally

Items used up: none
Items added: none
Items partly used: nine
Items used from the “Just use already” category: none