Fatty Cue Style Ribs

After an amazing dinner at the new Fatty Cue in the West Village, I couldn't wait to have another savory and sweet rib. I tweeted about it the next day asking for a recipe and was directed here. I'd already bought some baby back ribs from Faicco's that morning, so I decided to adapt the recipe to baby backs. I had a trip to Kalustyan's for the more exotic ingredients. They were a big hit! So juicy and tender, and the meat really shines through, so make sure to get some meaty ribs. (If you live in Manhattan, it's worth a trip to Faicco's - their baby back ribs are the meatiest and juiciest I've ever had.) Don't be scared of all the fish sauce - you really don't notice it in the final product. It just gives the ribs a great umami flavor.

Serves 6-8
Ingredients:
2 racks of baby back ribs
2 cups fish sauce
6 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
1 medium shallot, peeled and sliced
1 tbsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup sugar

2 tbsp ground Indonesian Long Pepper (can use black pepper if you can't find this, try Kalustyan's if you live in NY)
6 oz palm sugar (also at Kalustyan's)
1/2-1 tsp liquid smoke (unless you have a smoker and can smoke your ribs)

Directions:
First, make the brine. Combine 1 1/2 cups fish sauce with the garlic, shallot, black pepper and sugar in a large pot. Add at least a gallon of water, then cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove from the heat, place in a nonreactive container and chill.

Ribs in the brine

Refrigerate the ribs in brine for 6-12 hours.

Ready to go in the oven

About 3 hours before you want to eat, preheat the oven to 225. Remove from the brine and pat dry. Put on a baking sheet and sprinkle liberally with the Indonesian Long Pepper (use black pepper as a substitute). Bake for 2-3 hours.
Before you remove from the oven, make the glaze. Combine the palm sugar and 3/4 cup water in a small pot over a medium flame, and heat until the sugar melts. Combine that simple syrup with the remaining 1/2 cup fish sauce. Add the liquid smoke to taste. Be careful! You don't want to use too much.

After being cooked at 225 for about 3 hours, before the grill

Grill the ribs until they have a nice brown and a little bit of char. Put back on the baking sheet (everything has been cooked, so no danger of raw pork there) and brush both sides liberally with the glaze. Cut and serve! (Be sure to have a few extra napkins!)

These ribs are a great change up from saucy BBQ ribs. Don't get me wrong, I love those too, but it's fun to mix it up sometimes. My next ribs will be Jamaican Jerk style.