I used to be considered somewhat of a “baby back ribs expert” in my family. Back in high school I had an obsession with barbecue baby back ribs. I didn’t have a DIY smoker or anything like that. Nope, I just had my mom’s trusty oven (the one that locked the turkey in it on Thanksgiving, but that’s a story for another day) and store-bought barbecue sauce. Still it was enough to impress my family and that was good enough for me.
I can’t remember the last time I bought jarred barbecue sauce. It was probably back in high school. These days I lean more towards marinades instead of sauces — one of my favourite marinades is Korean kalbi. Kalbi is sweet, savoury and addictive. It’s usually used with cross-cut beef short ribs, but it tastes pretty good with pretty much any grilled meat and especially good with baby back ribs.
Speaking of BABIES, I’m excitedly awaiting my new baby nephew’s arrival. My sister-in-law is in labour as I type and I’m wishing her a speedy and smooth labour. I’m definitely making her some celebratory ribs when she’s up for it. Congrats Kevin, Kim and Isaac! I love you guys SO MUCH!
Kalbi Baby Back Ribs Recipe
makes 1 rack of ribsRibs
- 1 rack of baby back ribs
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 pear, minced with juices or finely grated
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 8 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 onion, minced or finely grated
- 1/4 cup honey
Garnish
- sliced green onions
- toasted sesame seeds
- toasted sesame oil
If there’s a thin membrane on the back of your ribs (when the ribs are placed meaty side down) loosen and remove. Place the ribs in a deep baking dish, meat-side down. Combine the soy sauce, brown sugar, pear, sesame oil, rice vinegar, garlic and onion in a small bowl. Pour over the ribs making sure all surfaces are coated. Marinate for at least 4 hours or overnight.
When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 325°F. Remove the ribs from the marinade (reserve the marinade) and wrap the ribs (again, meat side down) tightly in foil. Place the ribs on a deep baking sheet and bake for 2 and a half to 3 hours. When the ribs are done, they should be fork tender.
Fifteen minutes before the ribs are done cooking, take the reserved marinade and add the honey. Bring to a boil over high heat and then turn down and reduce until the sauce is sticky and slightly thick. Remove the ribs from the oven and carefully unwrap the foil. Carefully place the ribs back onto the baking sheet (they should be very tender so be careful when moving them) and brush on some of the reduced marinade.
Turn the oven to broil and broil until a deep brown, 3-5 minutes. Remove from the oven, flip so the ribs are meat-side up and brush on the marinade. Broil until deep brown, about 3-5 minutes. Keep an eye on the ribs as they are broiling as oven temperatures vary. Remove from the oven, slice and garnish with sliced green onions, toasted sesame seeds and a drizzle of toasted sesame oil. Enjoy!
What can be served on the side with these? Going to start making them tonight!
you food pix r so beautiful. maybe you should have an article on how you done ur food photography ^^
These were a huge winner tonight for my friends and family. Thank you for the creative inspiration to bring this amazing goodness to the table. I’m a chef, and I generally exhibit all the bad habits that our field has to offer- like not following recipes very well. However, your ability to write a recipe that, when followed, is some of the best instruction I have ever listened to. There are quite a few things that you have posted that have been adopted as standard operating procedure. I took some creative license today with this recipe, just to adapt to life and the timing considerations it that can bring- the results were amazing. They all asked me for the recipe, so I just emailed the link to give credit where it is due. Funny and good note- the ribs were so popular that I started to run out of food. I had some commercially prepared Carniitas which I simply warmed up in some remaining sauce- turned out just as well as the ribs! If I had any leftovers, they would make an insane taco with some kimchi and other garnish. This was an extroidanarily long way of saying “thank you” for all the efforts you go through to write and describe a great recipe. I go through the process of creating recipes for my clients on a regular basis, and wish that I had your skills to communicate it as well as you do.
joshua,
thank you so much for taking the time to write – i really appreciate it. lots of times, only the negative comments make it through, so this just warms my heart to hear that you and your friends and family really enjoyed this recipe! :)
I am going to make four racks for the Super Bowl this weekend. Do you think it would be ok to put all the marinade components into a blender and plus it so its still relatively chunky, not yet fully pureed? Thanks!
yes, that would definitely work, just try to keep the pear and onions on the slightly chunky side! sounds like it’s gonna be a tasty superbowl! :)
I made these for a dinner party on Saturday night, and they were absolutely perfect. Thank you so much for the recipe and cooking method!
I want to make these this weekend for Father’s day. How sweet are they?
hi lg,
they’re on the sweet side, but super sweet. if you want to cut down on the sugar, take the sugar out of the marinade, but keep the honey. hope that helps!
Ok. Thanks for the advice.