Ribs…again!

Since I’ve already done two posts on ribs, I thought I’d just post up the links to the recipes I used for my latest experiment: spicy oven-baked pork ribs.

For the dry rub: http://billbrady.wordpress.com/2010/06/18/fathers-day-favorite-barbecued-pork-ribs/

Note: I would normally try to get this dry rub onto the ribs the night before, although I marinated the ribs this time for about 2 hours before I started cooking – tasted great!

Also, those a bit wary of spice but who still want that “kick” should maybe halve the amount of chili and cayenne, or omit one of those from the mix.

For the sauce: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Sticky-Spicy-Ribs-234660

I set the ribs on top of a water bath (oven tray + tin toil + water + oven rack + ribs) and then wrapped the entire tray in tin foil. That goes very carefully into the oven at 200 (celcius) for about 2 hours. After that, take off the tin foil on the outside and baste the ribs in the sauce. I basted each side twice over an hour.

For some reason I get such intense cravings for ribs so this will definitely not be my last post on ribs!

Kind of cooking but not

When I went to Chengdu in the province of Sichuan, China last year, I had the experience of “cooking” hot pot. I write “cooking” with quotation marks because you are cooking raw ingredients yourself but all it involves is the lifting of a hand and some awareness as to how cooked your food is. All the flavour comes from the stock that is bubbling away the entire time, which means everything pretty much all tastes the same. For me though, hot pot is probably more about the experience and time spent with family and friends than the food.

Of course, this wasn’t the first time that I had eaten hot pot – I’ve had it several times before, both at home and in China – but this was my first real “Sichuan” hot pot, meaning: extremely spicy. Also, up until this point, I had only ever eaten the food dipped with sesame or peanut sauce; in Sichuan, they dip the food in sesame oil as a way of masking the spiciness.

An abundant and simple way to enjoy time with your companions and indulge in a bit of gluttony.