Spicy Sticky Pork Ribs #FoodieExtravaganza

Meaty pork ribs, kecap manis (AKA sweet soy sauce) and fresh hot chili peppers are cooked slowly till the ribs become tender and the sauce is sticky and more-ish. You will be licking your fingers after these guys. 

I’ve been making almost the identical dish with chicken wings for a very long time. Since the summer of 1998, in fact, when I first made it as a snack while watching the FIFA World Cup when Brazil, the country we were calling home at the time, came in second. It was tragic.

But I love pork too and couldn’t stop thinking about the possibility of this same treatment of ribs. I just had the feeling that fatty pork ribs would be fabulous.  This month my Foodie Extravaganza group is sharing pork recipes for National Pork Month so this was the perfect time to try it out.

And speaking of fabulous, I was right. If you are a fan of pork, make sure you scroll down to see all the other Foodie Extravaganza recipe links as well.

Ingredients
3 lbs 13 oz or 1.74kg pork ribs (More or less – that’s what my two packs held.)
2 1/2 cups or 590ml kecap manis or sweet soy sauce
(or substitute: 1 1/2 cups normal soy sauce plus 1 1/2 cups packed or 300g dark brown sugar)
4 small red chilies or 2 teaspoons crushed red chilies

Optional garnish: some chopped green onions

Method
Cut your pork ribs apart.

Chop your chilies into little bitty pieces.

Put your ribs into a large pot that allows sufficient stirring room. If you use a non-stick pot, you will be able to get the ribs really, really sticky, but it’s not essential.

Toss in the chopped chilies and pour in the kecap manis. Add a half cup or 120ml of water.

Cook over a low to medium flame, covered, for about 30-40 minutes. If you don’t have a lid for your large pot, fashion one out of heavy duty foil. It is essential that the ribs be covered for at least the first 20-25 minutes so that they cook though.

Stir the ribs gently, occasionally.

As you keep cooking them, the ribs will give off some liquid and bubble up. The kecap manis will thin as it heats up.

Just keep stirring and cooking until the liquid starts to evaporate.

At this point, take the lid off and watch the ribs carefully and stir more often, still gently though, as you don’t want the meat to fall off the bones.

Keep cooking and stirring until all the liquid is gone and the ribs are nice and sticky.

They aren’t the prettiest in the photos because they look black and the light bounces off their shininess but they are divine. You simply must eat these with your hands, so you can chew on the bones and lick your fingers afterwards.

Enjoy!

Many thanks to this month's host, Lauren at From Gate to Plate. Check out all the wonderful pork recipes we've got for you this month!

• BBQ Pulled Pork with Mac and Cheese Flatbread by From Gate to Plate 
• Chili Verde Pork Posole by Culinary Adventures with Camilla 
• Freezer-friendly Spicy Pork Burrito by Brunch with Joy 
• Healthy Sausage and Rice by Fearlessly Creative Mammas 
• Italian Sausage No Crust Quiche by Cookin' and Craftin' 
• Jamie Olivier's Pork Roast with Crackling by G'Gina's Kitchenette 
• Mojo Shredded Pork with Black Beans and Rice by Our Good Life 
• Parmesan Spinach Stuffed Pork Loin by Cooking with Carlee 
• Pork and Apple Pie by A Day in the Life on the Farm 
• Pork Chops with Spiced Apples by Sew You Think You Can Cook 
• Pork Meatball Mini Subs by The Freshman Cook 
• Pork Schnitzel by Making Miracles 
• Spicy Sticky Pork Ribs by Food Lust People Love 
• Sweet and Sour Pork by Tara's Multicultural Table 
• Thai Basil Meatballs with Peanut-Basil Sauce Two Ways by Caroline's Cooking

Foodie Extravaganza is where we celebrate obscure food holidays or cook and bake together with the same ingredient or theme each month.

Posting day is always the first Wednesday of each month. If you are a blogger and would like to join our group and blog along with us, come join our Facebook page Foodie Extravaganza. We would love to have you!

If you're a reader looking for delicious recipes check out our Foodie Extravaganza Pinterest Board! Looking for our previous parties? Check them out HERE.



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Spicy Sticky Wings

The Super Bowl is coming up, as it does every year.  And we watch it with pleasure, sometimes taping it when that’s an option, but we have also been known to wake up at all hours and even head to a sports bar at 4 a.m. if that’s the only way to watch, since we’ve been living overseas.

But more important that the Super Bowl in our house, is the World Cup.  According to my husband, soccer is the real football (and he has a point since, save the goalie, players can’t touch the ball with their hands inside the boundary lines) and the World Cup, played only every four years, well, that’s the real championship.

For Cooked in Translation this month, our theme is Wildly Delicious Wings, so I am going to share with you a dish I created for the World Cup in 1998.  We were living in Brazil where everything stops when the home team is playing and, frankly, not much gets done when any game is on.  The weather was beautiful so we had all the doors and windows open and whenever a player scored, we could hear the cheers or jeers from all the neighboring houses and we just knew that every eye in town was fixed on a television, watching football.  For our part, throughout the Copa, as it’s called there, we took turns hosting, watching with a group of friends, all bringing snack foods and cold beverages and wearing our lucky shirts (or underwear or socks or whatever we were wearing when our country team won last.)  Superstitions abounded!  These were lucky wings and we have eaten them often since.

Next year the World Cup will actually be in Brazil and there is talk around our house of going.  If anyone invites us to stay, I promise to make all the snacks!  I’ll even buy the cold beer!

Still have my shirt so I'm ready!

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs or 1.125kg chicken wings (about 22 whole wings)

1 1/2 cups or 355ml kecap manis or sweet soy sauce

(or 1 cup normal soy sauce plus 1 cup packed dark brown sugar)

2 small red chilies or 1 teaspoon crushed red chilies

1/2 small head cabbage (optional for serving)

Method

Cut your wings into three pieces, discarding the tips or, better, boiling them up for chicken stock to be used in another dish.

Chop your chilies into little bitty pieces.

Put your drumettes and whatever that other part is called into a large pot that allows sufficient stirring room.  If you use a non-stick pot, you will be able to get the wings really, really sticky, but it’s not essential.

Pour in the kecap manis and the chilies.  Cook over a low to medium flame, gently stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, slice your cabbage very finely and spread it around on the serving plate.  I have to admit that we don’t usually eat this, except for the parts that end up having sticky kecap manis on them, but the cabbage stops the wings from sticking to your plate, and saves you the indignity of licking it to get all the good stuff off.

As you keep cooking them, the chicken wings will give off some liquid and the kecap manis will thin as it heats up.  Just keep stirring and cooking until the liquid starts to evaporate.

At this point, watch the wings carefully because they can be prone to burning because of the sugar in the kecap manis. (Turn the fire down to low if necessary.) Stir more often, still gently though, as you don’t want the meat to fall off the bones. Keep cooking and stirring until all the liquid is gone and the wings are nice and sticky. 

Place the wings on the cabbage to serve.  Sit in front of your television and watch your favorite ball game. (This past weekend, it was the Australian Open.)  Cold beer optional but highly recommended.

Enjoy!