Spicy Peanut Ribs for Single Girls

Spicy Peanut Ribs

These Spicy Peanut Ribs are an awesome change from the typical barbecued ribs we all love to serve on Memorial day.  They're an easy recipe for single girls that have got no dude to man the grill since they're made in the oven.  If you're a woman who is a proficient grill master please don't be insulted.  It was more of an attempt to make light of my own fear of dealing with the grill and the fact that I lost my husband last May.  

Now as far as the recipe itself, the idea for this recipe might seem strange at first.  But if you’re a fan of chicken satay this idea isn't a far stretch.  Think about how easily chicken and pork can be interchanged in most recipes and the potential for this dish becomes clearer. 

But it was still a crap shoot.  And we all know that sometimes the best laid plans fail.  But I’m happy to say that the final dish did not disappoint.  The spice rub easily hits the sweet, spicy and salty notes necessary to keep things interesting.  And the sauce met those marks and raised the bar with the acidity of rice wine vinegar added to the mix.  But the real star of the sauce was a spicy peanut butter called The Heat Is On by Peanut Butter and Co.  That stuff is addictively delicious.  But if you can’t get your hands on it, be sure to check my recipe notes for “Plan B”.

Spicy Peanut Ribs

Prep time: 30 min

Cook time: 3 hrs 30 min

Ingredients:

• 3-4 pounds of ribs (silver skin removed)

Rub Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp smoked paprika
• 1 tbsp Chinese five spice (a mixture of anise, ginger, cinnamon, fennel and black pepper)
• 1-2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• ¼ tsp of cayenne pepper

Peanut Sauce Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp butter
• 5 chopped scallions
• 1 tsp grated ginger
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• ½ cup peanut butter ( I used The Heat Is On …by Peanut Butter and Co)
• ½ cup water
• 2 tbsp of Bragg’s liquid aminos (or gluten free soy sauce)
• 4 tbsp honey
• ¼ cup rice wine vinegar (or cider vinegar)

Video Tutorial

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 °F (or 165 °C) and place the ribs onto a foil lined baking sheet sprayed with nonstick spray.
2. Stir together the spice rub ingredients then sprinkle it over the ribs and massage it well to coat all the  surfaces.
3. Roast them for 1 hour then remove them from the oven, turn them over and roast them for an additional hour.
4. In the meantime to make the sauce, in a small saucepan melt  the butter, add the scallions, ginger and garlic and sauté over a low heat for 2 or 3 minutes until they soften.
5. Add the peanut butter, water, liquid aminos,  honey and rice wine vinegar.
6. Stir to combine and allow it to slowly simmer for about 5 minutes.  If at any point the sauce looks too thick while it simmers add a little more water to thin it. 
7. Once the ribs have baked for 2 hours remove them from the oven, lower the oven temperature to 250°F, brush them with sauce on both sides and bake them for 30 minutes at the lower oven temp.
8. When they come out of the oven brush on more sauce before serving and garnish with chopped scallions, peanuts and red pepper flakes. 

Notes: 

• If you are using regular peanut butter in place of the spicy peanut butter that I used in the recipe, I’d add 2 tbsp of sriracha sauce.