Even though I lived in Texas most of my life, I don't think I can be considered a true Texan. Actually, I know I can't. I've been told "Ugh, you're so French" by a vast majority of Texans I know. (Yet, the French I know say "Ugh, you're so American". They should really convene and make up their minds. Although the Americans are right - French Father, German-Jordanian Mother, American by birth). Anyway, I digress. Back to the matter at hand; amazingly tender BBQ ribs with their coleslaw sidekick and how they came to be in my kitchen.
So, as we have established, I'm not a true Texan. But after 16 years there, I came to develop certain culinary addictions. One of which is ribs, and there is only one restaurant to blame. Houston's. This restaurant makes the most mouth-watering, meat-falling-off-the-bone, tangy, ribs I have ever had. Along with crunchy, creamy, coleslaw, matchstick fries, and a honey mustard sauce worth killing over.
This evening I decided to attempt these ribs. ("Attempt" being the operative word. I don't want to even pretend I could create the ribs which have been practically cooked by God himself.) After scouring the internet for the most effective recipe, I came to the conclusion that I wouldn't choose one, I would just take the best bits from all of them. (side note: I tend to do this for almost everything I cook. Recipes are more like guidelines than strict, factual instructions, right?)
I started by removing the membrane on the underside of the ribs. Slide a blunt knife between the membrane and the fat/meat/bone, and pull up. It takes patience, but knowing what goal lies ahead, anything is possible. Next, I marinated the pork short ribs in apple juice for one hour. I wanted a sweet, fruity flavour to linger in the meat. The taste was definitely there, but next time I make this recipe, I think I will plan ahead and have more patience, thus marinating them longer for that extra oomph. Then I laid them in a roasting dish, pouring in about one centimetre depth of the apple juice, and covering it tightly with aluminium foil. This is very important, as they need to be steamed in the apple juice, so make sure it is really airtight. At 150 degrees Celsius, cook them for one hour. When this hour is over, take the dish out of the oven and remove the foil. When I did this, steam came billowing out, and I wish the same for you, dear reader, as this means that they have been steamed.
At this point, I took a large enough sheet of aluminium foil that I would be able to completely envelop the ribs. With tongs, relocate the ribs from the roasting dish onto the aluminium foil and smother them in BBQ sauce. Really drown them. Contrary to humans, pork ribs like to be drowned. Once you have properly done this (I used a brush), then we need to envelop them really tightly in the foil. Once again, make it airtight. Pour out the leftover liquid from the roasting dish and lovingly we will place our envelopes in it. After cooking them for two hours at 150 degrees Celsius, the meat was quite literally falling of the bone. It was difficult to move them, and required a lot of T.L.C.
We're almost there! Now for the final touch. As in the above picture, the BBQ sauce has been cooked and soaked into the meat, but we want more than that! Lay the ribs on aluminium foil (this can get messy, better to just throw away the foil than scrub a pan for 10 hours) and smother them in BBQ sauce again. Don't deprive them, remember that they like to drown. Next, stick them in the broiler for 3-5 minutes on each side. In my oven, I really need to keep an eye on anything I broil, as it can burn very quickly, which would be simply sob-worthy at this point. After this, they should have a sweet, sticky blanket of sauce, and be ready to make you sufficiently messy!
As for the sidekick, it is really simple, and can be prepared while you are waiting for the ribs to cook. Shave half a head of cabbage into thin strips, grate two carrots, mince half an onion, and dice 100ml of sweet pickles. Throw all of this in a large bowl. For the sauce, I mixed 100ml of mayonnaise, 25ml apple cider vinegar, and 50ml of BBQ sauce (adjust as you see fit, I always do). Mix all together, add salt and pepper to taste and yeehaw! You have ribs & slaw!
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