Asian-style Ribs

Ribs ribs ribs! The first time I made ribs I baked them in the oven... and I was pretty stressed out by the end of the day because after all of my brushing and basting and slow-cooking, they were a tad dry. There is nothing worse than dry pork ribs! However, last summer I purchased a slow-cooker and ever since then I've never had a worry in my mind about dry ribs. 

If you don't own a slow-cooker, I highly recommend taking the plunge -- I bought mine, a very basic 3 qt. slow-cooker with either low or high settings for about $30, and next time I will lay down the big bucks for a self-shut off and timer. 

You can change up the sauce if you don't like Asian-style ribs, but these are especially delicious alongside Veitnamese spring rolls, salad with sesame ginger dressing, or sauteed veggies with soy sauce.




NOTE: Start making these ribs 7 1/2 hours before you want to serve them! About 7 hours and 15 minutes go to actual cooking time, so just reserve about 5 minutes at the start, a few minutes at the 6 hour mark to fiddle around, and a few more minutes at the 7 hour mark to transfer them to the oven.


Ingredients:

• 1 rack of ribs (or more, depending how large your slow-cooker is)
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon sriracha
• 2 tablespoons garlic chili paste
• 3 cloves of garlic, pressed or finely minced
• 1 teaspoon of grated fresh ginger (or half teaspoon dry ground ginger)
• 4 tablespoons sweet chili sauce (or any other asian sauce like hoisin or teriyaki)

Directions:

1. Cut up the ribs into large sections, and fit it all into the slow cooker. 
2. In a small bowl, mix the soy sauce, brown sugar, sriracha, garlic chili paste, garlic, ginger and seasonings until combined. Pour over the ribs in the slow-cooker.
3. Turn the slow-cooker on low heat and let the ribs cook untouched for 6 hours. 
4. After 6 hours you can rearrange the ribs to get the top ones down into the sauce, making sure to spoon sauce over all of the ribs first. Add more soy sauce if it is getting low. 
5. Preheat the oven to 450 F and slow-cook the ribs on high for another hour. Transfer the ribs to a foil-lined and lightly greased baking sheet, spreading them out to be in a single layer. Brush the sweet chili sauce over the ribs on the top-side (this is where you can use your imagination and use whatever asian-style sauce you like).
6. Bake on the top third of the oven for 15-25 minutes, depending on how crisp you want the ribs to be.

Enjoy!