Upcycled | Asian Inspired Barbecue Ribs

It's Saturday, let's take it easy, Love!

My husband said in response to my litany of things to do for the weekend.  "We could do grocery shopping later, for now, let's just relax"

While he and my son "relax" by watching re-runs of How I Met Your Mother or the re-cap of the latest N.Y. Yankees' victory, I found myself sorting the laundry.  This was when I realized how much I have changed living here in America.  It's "wild" to know that I am now wired to think that doing laundry is "relaxing".  Or washing dishes can be calming, as I shared in my last post.  I have turned to be so domesticated!!!   

You see in the Philippines, I rarely washed dishes.  I never did laundry.  If you think I'm sort of a princess, no I'm not.  But that's just how it was in the Philippines, and it still is for a majority of the people that I know.  You have an army of helpers doing stuff for you... like for each chore (laundry, cleaning, etc.) there is someone assigned to complete these tasks daily.  In fact, one of my former helpers asked me on my last visit how I am surviving in this country without them. "Take me with you Ma'am", she suggested.  

But there is no need.  We all evolve, or better yet, we upcycle ourselves to adjust to a new environment. I enjoy my life in my new home. If I didn't move here with my family, I couldn't imagine myself blogging about home-cooked food... What's there for me to share when I would probably have someone else cook for me.  Then I would not have made it to the Babble's Top 100 Mom Food Bloggers (ahem, it's a shameless plug but it is Babble, an online magazine's annual search). I'm proud to be mentioned in the same league as the famous food bloggers like Deb of Smitten Kitchen and Jenny's Dinner: A Love Story.  But most of all, I am proud to be the only Filipina in the list.  

Thank you Babble, for this is a great honor.    And to celebrate, I made this Asian Inspired Barbeque Ribs using my old barbeque sauce recipe from the Philippines.  I shared this marinade here previously.  But just as I upcycled myself, I upcycled the marinade and added Lee Kum Kee's Chiu Chow Chili Oil to give some kick to it.  This chili oil contains chili, garlic, sesame oil and soy sauce.  Along with the hoisin sauce, this makes for a perfect blend to provide flavor and heat to the ribs.

Asian Inspired Barbeque Ribs

Ingredients:

5 lbs. of St. Louis Ribs

10 cloves garlic minced
1 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp Hoisin sauce (you could add more if needed)
1 tbsp Chui Chow chili oil (again, you could add more if you want it hot)

Mix the garlic, sugar, hoisin and chili oil in a bowl to make the barbecue sauce.  Once mixed, spread the sauce on each side of the slab.  Apply the sauce thoroughly around the meat and leave it for an hour.  It's even better if you could leave it overnight.  Make sure to refrigerate the meat if you decide to leave it overnight.

Set your oven to 350 degrees.  Put the ribs on a pan with its arch up (like an inverted U) and cover it with aluminum foil.  Bake it for an hour. 

Remove the pan from the oven and remove the foil.  Make sure to use kitchen mitts because it will be steaming hot.  Bring back the pan and broil it on high for 5 - 10 minutes until the sugar caramelizes and will give the slab of meat a nice crust.  Please be careful not to burn the meat, remove from the oven once the top caramelizes and has a dark brown color.

Enjoy!

P. S.
If you are in St. Louis, I am excited to tell you that I will be hosting a cooking class, Everyday Asian: Spring Roll Marathon.  The class will be at Whole Foods in Brentwood on Thursday July 19 at  6:30 pm. Click here to register.  It will be a fun cooking activity... that's a promise!  I hope to see you on Thursday... I am sooo excited!