Grilled Root Beer Pork Ribs

This is a recipe I found that sounded interesting, and my thoughts were like a roller coaster throughout the process of this thing… The root beer thing sounded good, but then when we got the Asian fish sauce, and had to marinate the ribs overnight in this, I was wishy-washy… like don’t waste both of them marinating in something that smells like that! The fish sauce clearly grossed us out, but we ended up marinating them anyway. Overnight… This stuff smelled pretty bad. Even Rocky mentioned something about it smelling gross.

Anyways, the next day, we pulled them out, cooked the ribs, and made the BBQ sauce. The ribs ended up being great! I couldn’t believe it. The barbecue sauce was something else too. Just reduced root beer with a vanilla bean and its seeds, and a buncha pepper?! After it was done reducing, add the lime juice, and you had a surprisingly SPICY, SWEET sauce. I really loved it! The recipe calls for finely ground long pepper – but we can’t get that around here, so we used black pepper. Also, this is my first time using vanilla beans (and fish sauce, obviously)! Yum!!

1. In a medium saucepan, bring 2 bottles of the root beer to a boil with the fish sauce, garlic, cracked black peppercorns and shallots. Remove from the heat, cover and let steep for 25 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a large roasting pan and add the ice. Add the rib racks, cover and refrigerate overnight.
2. Preheat the oven to 325°. Remove the ribs from the marinade and scrape off most of the solids. Transfer the ribs to a large rimmed baking sheet. Cover with foil and bake for about 2 hours, until the meat is very tender but not falling off the bones.
3. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, combine the remaining 2 bottles of root beer with the vanilla bean and seeds and long pepper [black pepper] and boil over moderately high heat until reduced to 2/3 cup, about 25 minutes. Add the lime juice and simmer for 2 minutes. Discard the vanilla bean.
4. Light a grill. Grill the ribs over high heat until richly browned, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer the racks to a carving board and cut in between the ribs. Serve the ribs with lime wedges, passing the root beer sauce at the table.

 Original recipe from FOOD & WINE: Annual Cookbook 2012 (click to buy for cheap!)

Grilled Root Beer Pork Ribs

2014-12-14 21:09:58

Serves 6

These Root Beer Pork Ribs include root beer in the marinade AND the barbecue sauce. The sauce is a root beer reduction + pepper + vanilla bean.

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Prep Time

20 min

Prep Time

20 min

Ingredients

4 (12-ounce) bottles root beer

1 cup Asian fish sauce

1 head of garlic, cloves crushed

1/4 cup black peppercorns, cracked

2 large shallots, thinly sliced

16 cups ice

2 large racks of pork spare ribs (about 5 pounds each)

1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped

2 Tbsp. finely ground long pepper (see Note) or black pepper

1/4 cup fresh lime juice plus lime wedges, for serving

Instructions

1. In a medium saucepan, bring 2 bottles of the root beer to a boil with the fish sauce, garlic, cracked black peppercorns and shallots. Remove from the heat, cover and let steep for 25 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a large roasting pan and add the ice. Add the rib racks, cover and refrigerate overnight.
2. Preheat the oven to 325°. Remove the ribs from the marinade and scrape off most of the solids. Transfer the ribs to a large rimmed baking sheet. Cover with foil and bake for about 2 hours, until the meat is very tender but not falling off the bones.
3. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, combine the remaining 2 bottles of root beer with the vanilla bean and seeds and long pepper and boil over moderately high heat until reduced to 2/3 cup, about 25 minutes. Add the lime juice and simmer for 2 minutes. Discard the vanilla bean.
4. Light a grill. Grill the ribs over high heat until richly browned, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer the racks to a carving board and cut in between the ribs. Serve the ribs with lime wedges, passing the root beer sauce at the table.

Notes

1. Long pepper, a fragrant relative of black pepper from Indonesia, can be found at specialty food stores and online at salt traders.com.

Adapted from Food & Wine, Contributed by Zak Pelaccio

Adapted from Food & Wine, Contributed by Zak Pelaccio

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