Thai Ribs And Legs Recipes

THAI PORK RIBS (SII KHRONG MUU TAI NAAM)

Steps:

• Paste: Prepare ingredients to make the paste. Peel and thinly slice galangal and turmeric; thinly slice cilantro roots. Trim lemongrass stems, then discard tough outer layers; slice into thin coins. Slice chiles into ½-inch pieces. Peel garlic cloves, then roughly chop.
• Place the mortar and pestle on a towel to keep it sturdy. Chef Ricker advises adding ingredients from hardest to softest texture when making a paste. Place dried chiles into the mortar along with a pinch of salt; pound until chiles are flaky. Add peppercorns and continue pounding, followed by galangal, turmeric, and cilantro root. As the ingredients are added, a rough paste will begin to form. Continue by adding lemongrass, garlic, and green chiles. When all of the ingredients have broken down to a rough pulp, the paste is ready. Makes about ⅓ cup.
• Ribs: Place rack meat-side down on a cutting board. Cut into individual ribs and place in a bowl. Stack lime leaves, roll like a cigar, slice very thinly (this is called a chiffonade), and set aside. Season ribs with a pinch of salt, fish sauce, sugar, and MSG (optional); toss to coat with your hands. Add the paste and 1 teaspoon sliced lime leaf, reserving the rest for garnish, and massage the ingredients into the ribs until they're evenly coated. Let rest uncovered at room temperature, 1 hour.
• Add oil to a pot over medium-high heat; when it's smoking, add ribs meat-side down in an even layer. Turn heat to medium-low (to prevent paste from burning) and brown the ribs, 6-8 minutes.
• While ribs are browning, add 5 pounds ice cubes to the bowl, along with enough water to cover the ice. When ribs are browned, turn them over and reduce heat to low. Place the bowl with ice slurry on the pot so it completely seals off the top. The steam will rise and condense on the cold surface of the bowl, then drip back onto the ribs, creating a self-basting cooking environment.
• Garnish: While ribs are cooking, trim and thinly slice the scallion. Roughly chop cilantro. Fold sawtooth leaves in half and julienne into ⅛-inch slices. Mix together scallion, cilantro, and sawtooth and set aside, along with remaining lime leaf.
• After 15 minutes, remove bowl from pot and turn the ribs over. Pour out melted ice slurry and replenish with another 5 lbs ice cubes and water. Add a pinch of salt to the ice water to keep it cold a little longer. Place bowl over pot and continue cooking, 15 more minutes.
• After 30 minutes of total cooking, remove the bowl. Continue cooking ribs uncovered to reduce the cooking liquid in the pot, 5 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning by adding salt, sugar, and fish sauce; remove from heat. Place ribs on a serving platter, and spoon paste from the pot over them. Garnish with chopped herbs (scallions, cilantro, sawtooth) and lime leaves. Serve.

THAI STICKY CHICKEN & RIBS

Steps:

• To make the marinade, put the chillies, coriander stalks, garlic, ginger, turmeric, soy sauce, fish sauce, sugar and honey in a food processor. Whizz to a rough paste. Cut each chicken thigh into 2 pieces down the side of bone (so one side keeps the bone). Put all the chicken and ribs in a ceramic dish or suitable plastic container and pour over the marinade. Turn the meat over so it is coated, cover and put it in the fridge until needed (up to 24 hrs).
• Make the sauce. Put the sugar in a pan with 250ml water, bring to the boil, simmer for a few mins to make a sugar syrup, then stir in garlic, vinegar, lime juice, fish sauce and chilli. Cool, then stir in coriander. Will keep for 24 hrs in the fridge.
• Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Lift the ribs into a baking dish, cover with foil and put in the oven for 1 hr. Add the chicken pieces around the ribs, turn up the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6 and cook, uncovered, for 20 mins or so until the chicken is cooked through. By now the surface of the ribs and chicken should be quite brown and the marinade slightly sticky; if it isn't, put the lot under the grill - but keep an eye on it.
• Cut the ribs into sections and pile onto a platter with the chicken, drizzle over some sauce and serve the rest alongside with the salad and some steamed rice.

FRAGRANT THAI DRUMSTICKS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6 and line a baking tray with foil. Mix the chilli sauce with the orange zest and juice, garlic, curry paste and ¼ tsp salt. Add the chicken and coat really well.
• Arrange the drumsticks on the foil, spaced apart. Coat the chicken with any marinade left in the bowl, then roast for 35-40 mins until tender. Wrap in foil or pack into a food container.

THAI-STYLE BARBECUED BABY BACK RIBS

Steps:

• Mix all the marinade ingredients together in a small bowl and blend well. Put the ribs into a zip-lock bag or shallow dish and pour the marinade over the meat. Cover if necessary and refrigerate the meat overnight turning occasionally.
• About 30 minutes before cooking, remove the ribs from the refrigerator. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place a roasting pan half full of water in the bottom third of the oven.
• Remove the ribs from the marinade and reserve the marinade. Shake off the excess marinade and place the ribs on a rack in a shallow roasting pan. Put the pan in the top third of the oven and roast for 1 - 1 1/2 hours, basting the ribs from time to time with the reserved marinade. The ribs are done when they begin to pull away from the bone and the bone tips are exposed. The internal temperature of the thickest part should be 155 to 165 degrees F. Towards the end of the cooking, you could then add them to the grill to get a caramelized grill marks/crust(what I will do when I make these yummy sounding ribs), but be sure to move them often so as not to let them burn from the sugar in the sauce/marinade.