Vietnamese pork ribs with smacked cucumber salad
By:
Jess Meyer
Former deputy food editor, delicious.
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Published: 18 Aug 22
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Updated: 18 Mar 24
Cooked with Vietnamese spices until soft and tender, these pork ribs are coated with a umami-rich caramel for deliciously sticky results.
How about Vietnamese summer rolls to start?
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Serves 2-3
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Hands-on time 25 min. Cooking time 3 hours, 10 min
Ingredients
- 150g caster sugar
- Juice 2 limes, plus 1 more lime, cut into wedges, to serve
- 4 tbsp fish sauce (we like Squid brand)
- 2 racks British outdoor-reared pork spare ribs (about 1kg)
- 2 tbsp light soy sauce
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- 2 lemongrass stalks, bashed and roughly chopped
- 1 small red chilli, finely chopped, or large pinch chilli flakes
- 2 banana shallots, finely sliced
- 2 star anise
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 tbsp chilli-garlic sauce or sriracha (see Easy Swaps)
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- Handful coriander leaves to serve
For the salad
- 2 cucumbers
- 1 small red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 1 tbsp light brown sugar
- 2 tsp rice vinegar
- Juice 1 lime
- 2 tsp fish sauce
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 50g roasted unsalted peanuts, roughly chopped
- Handful mint leaves, roughly chopped
Method
- In a medium pan, combine the sugar, juice of 1 lime and 3 tbsp water. Cook over a low-medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Increase the heat to high, then continue to cook, swirling the pan carefully so the sugar cooks evenly, until the mixture becomes a deep amber caramel. Once the caramel is nice and dark, remove from the heat and immediately add 60ml water (be careful, it will splutter and bubble up). When the bubbling subsides, stir in the fish sauce, then set aside to cool a little.
- Heat the oven to 140°C fan/gas 3. Put the rib racks in a roasting tin. Mix half the fish sauce caramel with the soy sauce, garlic, lemongrass, chilli and shallots and rub over the ribs. Add the remaining lime juice, star anise, cinnamon stick and 100ml water to the tin, cover the ribs with a sheet of damp baking paper, then cover the tin with foil. Cook for 3 hours or until very tender, teasing open the foil and paper, then turning the ribs halfway through. Alternatively, cook in a slow cooker on high for 4 hours or low for 6 hours (see Make Ahead).
- While the ribs cook, make the salad. Halve the cucumbers lengthways and scrape out the seeds with a teaspoon. Whack the cucumbers a few times with a rolling pin, hard enough so they split and break up a little, then roughly chop into bite-size pieces. Sprinkle with 1 tsp salt, then set aside in the fridge for 30 minutes. Drain and rinse the cucumbers, then toss with the rest of the salad ingredients. Set aside in the fridge to marinate while you finish the ribs.
- Turn up the oven to 220°C fan/gas 9. Remove the ribs from the roasting tin (or slow cooker) and lay flesh-side up in a baking tray lined with foil. Mix the remaining fish sauce caramel with the chilli-garlic sauce and sesame oil, then liberally brush over the rib racks. Return to the oven for 8-10 minutes or until sticky and slightly charred.
- Slice the ribs between the bones, sprinkle with coriander leaves and serve with the salad, any remaining glaze on the side and lime wedges for squeezing.
Recipe from August 2022 Issue
Nutrition
Nutrition: per serving
- Calories
- 846kcals
- Fat
- 45.2g (13g saturated)
- Protein
- 55.8g
- Carbohydrates
- 52g (47.8g sugars)
- Fibre
- 3.8g
- Salt
- 8.7g
delicious. tips
Easy swaps: We used Huy Fong chilli-garlic sauce. Sriracha or other chilli sauces will work well too.
Prepare the ribs to the end of step 2 up to 1 day ahead. Cover and store in the fridge until ready to finish. Remove from the fridge ½ hour before continuing with the recipe.
Rib racks have a tough, silvery membrane (silverskin) on the bony side, which should be removed before cooking. Ask your butcher or give it a go yourself (it’s easy). Gently loosen the edge by sliding a dinner knife (not too sharp) under – you should then be able to peel it off in a single piece.