Not These Ribs...Those Ribs

If it's one thing my family never does, it's overuse a joke. If something was hilarious once, it will be hilarious a hundred times more. Last year I went to Hawaii with my parents and one of my sisters. My parents, rebels that they are, love the coffee shop called the "Bad Ass Coffee". Neither of my parents are particularly known for swearing. Especially my mom, who if you make her mad in traffic she will call you a "doe-head", but if you make her really angry she might call you an "idiot". I think this is why they love the Bad Ass Coffee so much, it gives them a sense of being "wild".

So we're in Hawaii, and my parents realize that the Bad Ass Coffee that they always go to, is no longer there. Great disappointment ensues. One day when we were driving around, my parents spotted where the Bad Ass Coffee had moved to. We go inside, and gave our order to the Bad Ass Coffee maker. At this point my mom tells her about how upset they were when they couldn't find the first one, and thought they wouldn't be able to partake in the coffee. The cashier replies "Thanks gods you found us". This has lead to us saying "thanks gods" for the rest of the trip, and actually still to this day. We find it hilarious.

Another common joke in my family is always mentioned when someone is making ribs. My aunt "Tante", whenever someone asked what she was making for dinner, if her answer was ribs she would follow that by saying "not these ribs...those ribs". You probably aren't getting how this is a joke. It's hard to get it, unless you can see her as she says this. To help I used my awesome skills in Paint (photoshop is for sissies) to demonstrate.

First she says "Not these ribs" as she points to her ribcage:

No, my aunt is not a Bruce Willis look-a-like. I used him as a model, since sometimes I think this blog could use a little "brucing up".

She then says "those ribs" while pointing to the actual ribs that are about to be consumed.

I suppose this could actually be more eye roll inducing, than actually hilarious, but we still do it. Every time. Let's get to some food. Thanks gods there was a point to this story eh?. I made ribs the other night. I have been known to make ribs before, usually I do them up in the wife. This time I tried a little something different. My Aunt C had mentioned that she had made a recipe that appeared earlier in my blog, and now she had a bottle of fish sauce she didn't know what to do with. The latest issue of Everyday Food had several recipes in it that included fish sauce, and I concluded that it couldn't just be a coincidence.

The recipe is actually for chicken wings, but they did mention that you could substitute the wings for pork ribs. (Not these ribs....those ribs).

I can't find the recipe on Everyday Food's website, so I am writing it out:

Sticky Ribs

Ingredients:

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup fish sauce

1/4 cup lemon juice

2 tbsp soy sauce

a 1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and smashed

1 Serrano chili

pork ribs, cut individually

The steps are written in my words, not EF's

1) Preheat oven to 300 F

2) Mix the sugar, fish sauce, lemon juice, soy sauce, ginger and chili in a bowl. I didn't peel and smash the ginger, I cut it into slices and didn't bother with peeling it. The peel will not hurt you. I also just cut the chili in half and threw it in, without bothering to seed it.

3) Place the ribs in a 9 x 13 baking dish. They should no longer be together in a row of ribs, but rather all single ribs.

4) Pour the sauce on top of the ribs, and mix a bit so the ribs are coated. Cover with foil and bake for an hour.

5) Remove the foil. At this point the ribs are grey and kind of gross looking. Turn the oven up to 450 F, and bake for another 40-45 minutes. At this point the ribs will have browned, and the sauce will have turned into a glaze.

6) This wasn't in the recipe, but I did it anyways. I removed the ribs and put them on a plate. I poured the sauce into a saucepan (after discarding the ginger and chili pieces) and boiled it down for a couple minutes, and then spooned it onto the ribs.

I served it with jasmine rice. I made the rice according to package directions. When it finished cooking I added a mix of carrot, red bell pepper (or capsicum), and peas that I had sauteed a little in a pan with a bit of olive oil. To this mix I added some of my sauce I made the other night for the fried rice and chicken. (The mix of mirin, soy sauce, Chinese cooking wine, honey and rice vinegar)

The ribs were so good. I could have ate the whole rack in one sitting. I didn't, but I wanted to. You must make these! They were so flavorful.

The following dessert I made on a different night. This is loosely based off of bananas foster.

I took a pineapple, peeled it, and cut it into pizza topping sized chunks. I put a 1/4 cup of brown sugar, and about half of a 1/4 cup of Captain Morgan's Spiced Rum in a saucepan and heated it over medium until it was thick and bubbly. I tossed in about half or so of the pineapple chunks and stirred to coat. Easy, and oh so very delicious. Not kidding, this was magical.

I feel slightly embarrassed to admit this, but I drank all of the sauce that was in the bottom of the bowl. Yes, I realize it was a 1/4 cup of brown sugar. To be completely honest, this dessert would have been really really good with a bit of ice cream. Thanks gods I didn't have any in my freezer, because the 1/4 cup of sugar was already bad enough for my health.