Special black spare ribs, delicious and spicy Szechuan style

Ingredients for 6 servings:

• 2 kg spare ribs, raw, from pork, approx. 15 meaty ribs
• 1 liter of water
• 10 g beef broth, instant
• 4 tbsp tamarind syrup
• 200 g soy sauce, sweet
• 100 g salty soy sauce (kecap asin)
• 3 tbsp hoisin sauce
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 4 small chili peppers, red
• 1 m.-sized carrot(s)
• 20 g celery
• 8 small onions, red
• 4 medium-sized garlic cloves, fresh
• 2 tomatoes, fully ripe
• 20 g lemongrass, fresh or frozen
• 30 g ginger, fresh or frozen
• 4 kaffir lime leaves, frozen in Asian shops or dried via Amazon
• 2 Salam leaves, frozen in Asian shops or dried via Amazon
• 6 tbsp soy sauce, sweet
• 8 tbsp sauce (sweet and sour sauce, Thai style 4, see my recipes)
• 4 tbsp honey
• 2 tbsp tamarind syrup
• 4 small chili peppers, green
• 1 small red chili pepper(s)
• 6 tbsp tomato juice
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp, heaped tapioca flour
• 1 tbsp rice wine (Arak Masak)
• 6 carnations
• 6 cardamom pods
• n. B. flowers and leaves
• e.g. Dill, fresh
• n. B. Chili pepper(s), red
• n. B. Pepper, red, cut into fine rings

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 2 hours 30 minutes; Total time approx. 3 hours

with dark, sweet and spicy honey BBQ sauce

Have the butcher cut the spare ribs lengthwise along the bones and then halve them crosswise. Each piece should be about 8 to 10 cm long. Wash the spare ribs and drain well. Place all the liquid ingredients for the hot marinade in a 4-liter saucepan. Wash the solid ingredients and chop them to the size of a thumbnail. Remove the stems from the red chilies and halve them crosswise, leaving the seeds on. Trim the ends of the small red onions and the garlic cloves, peel them, and quarter them. Halve the tomatoes and remove the green stems. Halve the tomato halves lengthwise and cut them into thirds crosswise. Peel, wash, and thinly slice the ginger. Remove the root stem and any brown and dark green leaves from the lemongrass. Thinly slice the white or light green parts. Use the leaves whole. Place all the ingredients in the saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the spare ribs and simmer with the lid closed for 120 minutes. Allow to cool. Carefully transfer the ribs to a roasting pan. Reserve 200 ml of the hot marinade and discard the rest. Dissolve the tapioca flour in the arak. Heat the other ingredients for the dark BBQ sauce in a small saucepan, thicken with the arak and tapioca mixture, and pour over the ribs. Bake in the oven at 180°C for 30 minutes, basting the spare ribs with the sauce every now and then. Garnish 6 serving plates with the spare ribs and side dishes. Serve hot and enjoy. The side dishes for the meal pictured above were mixed salad, jacket potatoes with butter, and cap cay vegetables. Note: In Szechuan, the ribs are cut to about 4 to 5 cm long so that they can be easily picked up with chopsticks and placed in the mouth.