Once again, this is a dish inspired by one of Chef Prateek Sadhu’s culinary masterpieces, which I had the good fortune of tasting at NAAR on my last visit, and it has given me immense satisfaction to use this de-boning technique for pork ribs for the very first time, and to then be able to trim them down to the perfect proportion of meat and fat.
Moreover, this isn’t difficult at all to do, and I am about to show you just how easy it is. That said, it takes two days, since the meat must be pressed down overnight. This particular rack of pork rib is local, from Artisan Meats (www.artisanmeats.in), but by the time I post this, I am hoping to have checked another source, since these often run out of stock at Artisan … I will add to this text when I do.
Since Sadhu had served his ribs with a black sesame sauce, I decided to serve mine with a Japanese white toasted sesame sauce called Goma Dare, which can be knocked up in a minute and is absolutely delicious … and now onto the making we go.
First and foremost, is a dry rub for the pork … this quantity is enough for at least 2kg of pork ribs; the rack I have used is 500g, and enough for three portions of 3 to 4 slices each, as a main course that is part of a 5 course menu. I am showing you a full main course plate, as part of a 3 course menu, but for this you will be using ¾ of the 500g rack, as a lot of bulk is lost during the trimming.
Ingredients
DRY RUB QTY FOR UPTO 2KG OF PORK RIBS
- ½ cup soft brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 1 tablespoon cumin powder
- 2 teaspoons black pepper
- 1.5 tablespoons salt
I have a pre- prepared mixture of the onion, garlic and cumin powder, so I have used that, and simply mixed it with the other ingredients; unfortunately I forgot to take photographs of the process, but I think you will manage fine without. IMAGE 1 is of the dry rub ingredients and the pork rack.
Method
Next, preheat the oven (bottom convection setting) to 150°C, with the oven tray on the lowest shelf, but keep the rack on which the pork will sit outside. Then wash and dry the pork rack using a cloth towel (STEP 1), and then using a sharp knife, make incisions along each bone to loosen the sinewy silver skin and also allow the dry rub to penetrate (STEPS 2 & 3). Peel off any silver skin that comes off easily (STEP 4).
Then rub all over with the dry mix (STEPS 5, 6 & 7), and wrap tightly in two layers of silver foil (STEPS 8 & 9), place on rack and into oven on the level just above the tray, for the next 3 hours (STEP 10). Check every hour to see if there are cracks in the foil and re-wrap if there are. You can also put the rack in a baking dish directly onto the tray, in which case it will cook faster, but then the tray must be on the middle shelf of the oven, and it will take anywhere between 2 to 2.5 hours, at which point, the bones of the rack slip out without any resistance.
At the end of the three hours, take the pork out of the oven, let it cool down, then unwrap and pull each one of the bones out (STEPS 11 & 12), leaving a succulent piece of meat (STEP 13).
Then re-wrap tightly in foil (STEP 14), place in a dish (STEP 15), press down a weight on top (STEP 16) and refrigerate overnight (STEP 17).
The following day, take out the rack, which will have compressed beautifully (STEP 18), place it on a chopping board, trim the edges using a sharp knife (STEP 19), and then slice into ¼ inch slices (STEPS 20 & 21), and trim each slice of the rough edges and excess fat (STEPS 22 TO 25). Reserve at room temperature for reheating before serving, and next knock up the sesame sauce. IMAGE 2 is of the sesame sauce ingredients.
Sesame Sauce
YIELD: 6 PORTIONS OF THREE TO FOUR SLICES OF MEAT PER PORTION
- 15g toasted white sesame seeds (please refer to tuna tartare recipe to see how to toast)
- ¼ cup tahini
- ¼ cup water
- 30ml light soya sauce
- ½ tablespoon soft brown sugar
- ½ tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
Simply place all the ingredients in a blender, pulse into a wonderful emulsification and then pour into a bowl and reserve at room temperature for immediate use (STEPS 1 TO 4). This sauce cannot be heated, so if it has been refrigerated, bring it to room temperature for use.
Now to finish: pre-heat your oven to 200°C (bottom heating convection setting), with the tray on the middle shelf, then place your pork slices on silver foil and lightly wet with water (STEP 5), wrap tightly in the foil and place in the oven for 12 to 15 minutes to reheat (STEP 6). In the meanwhile, melt some butter (ordinary Amul salted butter will do) (STEP 7), then take out the heated ribs and brush with the melted butter (STEP 8).
Then finally, using a spoon, drop and spread a thick layer of the sesame sauce across your serving plate (STEP 9), overlap the pork slices on top (STEPS 10 & 11), garnish with micro-herbs, serve and watch your guests savour every bite! (FINAL IMAGE)
Above: Final Image