Dragon Ribs

Since 2012 is the year of the Dragon I thought it would only be proper to celebrate with ribs. Sure I'm a month late for the official Chinese New Year but perfection takes time.

The Meat

1 slab of Baby Back Ribs

The Spices

1 tbsp Dark Brown Sugar

2 tsp Paprika

1 tsp Kosher Salt

1 tsp Garlic Powder

1/2 tsp Turmeric

1/2 tsp Coriander

1/4 tsp Dry Mustard

1/8 tsp Curry Powder

1/8 tsp Ground Cinnamon

Combine all ingredients in a bowl or shaker.

The Curry powder is a substitute for Chinese 5 Spice powder since I didn't have any. I liked the way it turned out so I probably won't change it.

The Sauce

1/3 cup Ketchup

1/4 cup Dark Brown Sugar

2 tbsp Hoisin Sauce

1 tbsp White Vinegar

1 tbsp Teriyaki Sauce (thin variety)

1 tbsp Soy Sauce

1 tbsp Minced Garlic (approx. 3 fresh cloves)

1 tsp Dragon Spice mixture from above

Combine in a small sauce pan and cook on medium for 10 minutes. Be sure to stir the sauce so it does not burn and reduce heat accordingly. Remove from heat and let sit for 5 minutes. Place in a container and refrigerate.

Let's do this!

Remove ribs from the cryovac package and rinse under cold water. Pat dry with a few paper towels. Sometimes the ribs will stink after removing from the package. The smell should dissipate after rinsing. Remove the membrane from the back of the ribs by starting at the narrowest end. Using the tip of a knife pry up a small section of membrane. Grab the liberated piece of membrane with a paper towel and pull firmly. If you're awesome you were able to get the entire membrane off in one pull. Make sure all the membrane is off.

Sprinkle a light coating of rub to the bottom of the ribs. Use a metal or plastic spoon to press the spices into the meat.

Flip over and trim off any excess fat or silver skin. I do not take off too much fat since these will be at a higher temp that normal smoking. Apply a generous amount of rub to the top. Let sit for 30 minutes while you set up the grill. Before placing the ribs of the grill give the top 1 more hit of rub.

For these ribs I used my Weber One Touch Gold. You can set up almost any charcoal grill in a similar way. Using 2 bricks wrapped in foil block off at area for the coals as shown in the picture below. Place a sheet of foil with the ends folded up on the other side to catch the drippings.

Add unlit lump charcoal and 1 handful of dry Cherry wood chips on top. Light 1/8 of a chimney of lump charcoal. When the coals are fired up dump them on 1 corner of the unlit coals. Replace cooking grate and lid. The bottom vents should be slightly opened with the top vent open all the way and placed over where the meat will be.

Once the grill is up to 300 degrees place the ribs above the foiled section. Close the lid and set a timer for 90 minutes. There is no peeking for the 1st 90 minutes. Not to add wood or coals or to show them off. The temps on my grill got up to 350 degrees and that was just fine.

After 90 minutes you can lift the lid and do whatever fire maintenance might need to be done. At this time I added a very small handful of cherry wood chips. Remember smoke is not the dominate flavor for these ribs. I also propped the ribs up on a rack so they could self baste.

I you don't have a rack you can use another foil covered brick to lean them against. Cook for another hour. After 2.5 hours wrap the ribs in heavy duty foil as shown below. Add 1/4 cup of water to the foil package before closing. Make sure the package is tightly sealed . Place on grill for 45 minutes. At this time I needed to add some unlit lump. I also opened the bottom vent up a little to raise the temp back to 350 degrees.

Remove the foil package from the grill. Open one end and pour out any remaining liquid. Be careful there will be steam, delicious smelling steam. Do not try to grab the steam out of the air. It is hot and will burn you. Stay focused so you don't drop the ribs. Place ribs back on the grill minus the rack. Close the lid and cook for 30 minutes. The temp should be around 300 degrees.

15 minutes before serving sauce the ribs first on the under side and then on top. I placed half of the prepared sauce in a small pan with 1 tbsp of water to thin it out and let it heat up on the grill for a few minutes before applying it to the ribs.

The ribs should be tender but not falling off the bone.