Red Miso Slow Cooked BBQ Ribs

As the proud owner of a new FoodSaver vacuum sealer (my review will be up soon), I have spent the last week playing around with it and sucking the air out of everything in my path. I had used the zip lock bags, the jar sealer, sealed up potato chip bags, and made a custom bag to marinate some flank steak in as well as using another one to freeze some soup. The only thing left to do with it was to take the quick marinator out for a spin and, as luck would have it, my door on my mini freezer in my basement was left ajar overnight and so a rack of pork side ribs was almost completely thawed out and I had to use them asap.

That decision was made for me, ribs it would be.

I was fancying some sort of miso flavoured meat so I whipped up this marinade, threw the meat and the marinade in the marinator container and let the machine work it's magic. I would usually leave these ribs in the fridge overnight but, to be honest, my fridge is almost always packed and I hate having to move everything around to make room for a big rack of ribs so the idea of getting the same results in under 15 minutes right before they go in the crockpot was very appealing. Remembering to marinate meat the night before is also not really my strong suit and, to be honest, lately I am just happy if I can stay awake long enough to do anything productive between supper time and bedtime.

I am thrilled to report that I couldn't tell the difference between ribs that marinate overnight and these ribs. If you don't have one of these machines, you will just have to suck it up, move all of your junk around to make room for them and do it the night before.

The BBQ sauce was a last minute concoction and is full of flavour, has enough sugar to caramelize beautifully and the gochujang gives it just the slightest hint of heat.

Red Miso Slow BBQCooked Ribs

    serves 4

1 kg pork side ribs

Marinade:
1/3 cup red miso
1/4 cup mirin
1/4 cup sake
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 tbls freshly grated ginger (or jarred ginger puree)

BBQ Sauce:
3 tbls red miso
3 tbls gochujang
2 tbls brown rice syrup (or honey or corn syrup)
1 large clove garlic, chopped
1 scallion, chopped
1 tbls sesame seeds
1 tbls sesame oil
1 tbls rice vinegar
2 tbls water

chopped scallion and toasted sesame seeds for serving.

Give your ribs a rinse and dry them off with a paper towel.

Mix all of your marinade ingredients together - use a blender or food processor if you like - I use my magic bullet.

Marinate the ribs overnight in the fridge
OR
I used my FoodSaver Quick Marinating attachment in the morning before I put the meat in the crock pot. If you use the FoodSaver, cut your ribs into chunks that will fit in your container (mine was cut into three pieces), pour the marinade over it and let the FoodSaver work it's magic in a few minutes time.

When it's time to cook them, remove the ribs from the marinade and, with your hand, remove the excess marinade and set the ribs on their edge, meaty side against the walls of the crockpot like this:

Cook on low for 8 hours and walk away.

BBQ sauce

You can make the BBQ sauce up to a couple of days ahead of time. Just put all of the ingredients into a mini food processor if you have one and whiz until smooth. Again, the magic bullet is also perfect for these small batch purees. If you had it in the fridge, take it out at least an hour ahead of time to let it come to room temperature.

Preheat the broiler and position the rack on the second rung down from the top.

When the ribs are done, carefully remove from the crock pot and put them on a parchment lined baking tray (you can also use a baking rack that you sit on top of the parchment lined baking tray if you like). They will be very well done, so they might fall apart a bit.  Brush the ribs with the BBQ sauce and broil until the sauce bubbles up. Brush on another layer of BBQ sauce and repeat another time or two until you get a nice, caramelized coating of sauce.

Serve with chopped scallion and toasted sesame seeds scattered over the top.