Pork ribs, pickled veg, sesame and forest honey
This is such a fun dish to have as a starter, a snack or as part of a buffet table. We’ve finished the dish off with a stunning new product, Pouatu Mānuka’s Forest Honey. Simply warm it through gently and drizzle on at the end to keep all the beneficial properties.
Ingredients
- 1 rack of pork ribs
- 100ml light soy
- 75ml mirin
- 25ml rice wine vinegar
- 570ml chicken stock
- 2 tbls demerara sugar
- 4 star anise
- 4 bay leaf
- 150g ginger peeled and cut into rounds 0.5 cm thick
- 2 red chillies cut in half and deseeded
- 1 bunch spring onions greens tops reserve the whites for the finished dish
- 1 tsp Chinese Five Spice
Pickled vegetables:
- ½ red pepper
- ½ yellow pepper
- ½ green pepper
- 1 large carrot
- 300ml sushi seasoning
- 2 tbls demerara sugar
To finish:
- 1tbsp Pouatu forest honey
- 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds
- The white of the spring onion
- Picked coriander
Suggested Wine Pairing
Method
For the ribs:
- Cover the ribs with water and bring to the boil, turn the heat down to a simmer and cook for 3mins
- Drain the water off and refresh under cold water
- Into a heavy bottomed pot add the ribs and the rest of the ingredients on the ribs list of ingredients from the soy to the five spice
- Bring up to the boil and turn down to a very gentle simmer and cook until tender (approximately 45mins)
- Take 250ml of the cooking liquor and reduce in a clean pan until it becomes a little syrupy. Keep to one side to finish the ribs
For the pickled veg:
- Julienne the vegetables into small batons the size of matchsticks and put into a heat proof container
- Bring the other ingredients to the boil and as they come to the boil pour them over the vegetables. Cover with a lid or cling film giving the bowl a little shake to make sure the liquid is covering everything. Allow the bowl and contents to completely cool.
To finish:
- Brush the ribs with the sticky reduction and reheat, either on a char-grill, under the grill or in the oven, just be careful that you don’t burn the glaze.
- Cut up the ribs, drain off the amount of pickled vegetables and plate, sprinkle with the toasted sesame seeds and make a little salad with the finely sliced whites of the spring onion and some picked washed coriander
Tip:
If you can, cook the ribs in one piece. If your pan isn’t big enough, cut them in half to cook them. Once cooked, cool them in the fridge overnight then cut them into single pieces. This way you can cut them nice and neatly and keep all the meat on each rib.
