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Oriental Assassin ribs
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The Oriental Assassin Ribs

Come on you daredevils! Try to battle these spicy oriental Assassin ribs if you got the balls? Or do you pass before trying?
Course Appetizer, Main Course
Cuisine asian, Oriental, Thais
Keyword asian style, babyback ribs, low and slow, pellet, Pork Belly Ribs, reverse seared, smoked, spareribs, thais, Traeger
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 2 hours 30 minutes
Nat pekelen 12 hours
Total Time 3 hours
Servings 4 people

Equipment

  • BBQ with lid
  • Gastro norm reservoir for the wet brine
  • coffee grinder (if you can't find Kaffir lime powder and star anise powder)
  • Smokewood or pellets (in this case Traeger Texas beef blend)

Ingredients

  • 2 slabs of ribs
  • Oriental assassin hot sauce Recipe: see link in instructions
  • spring onion at taste garniture
  • hot pepper at taste garniture
  • Fresh cilantro at taste

For the wet brine

  • 2 l water
  • 150 gr salt
  • zeste of 1 kaffir lime
  • 1 thumb ginger thinly sliced
  • 1 stuk lemongrass smashed and roughly chopped
  • 2 cloves of garlic mashed
  • 2 twigs thai cilantro or regular cilantro
  • 1 spring onion smashed an roughly chopped

For the Rub

  • 2 parts salt
  • 2 parts pepper
  • 2 parts sugar
  • 2 parts paprika powder
  • 1 part ground star anise
  • 1 part ground dried kaffir lime leaves

Instructions

Wet brine (one day ahead)

  • Remove the ribs from the fridge and remove the membrane with a bold screwdriver or knife.
  • Get the zeste of 1 kaffir lime and remove the white parts (when necessary, cause these taste bitter). Smash the lemongrass, spring onion and thai cilantro. Roughly cut them.
  • Grate or slice the ginger in thin strips and add it to a pan with the smashed garlic and other ingredients. Heat gently for a minute to release their flavors before you quench with water.
  • Add the salt and mix thoroughly until al salt has dissolved. Cool the wet brine down and put the ribs in the brine for at least 12 hrs.
  • When brined pat the ribs dry with a paper towel and put back in the fridge for at least one hour to let them dry on the surface a bit more.

Making the rub

  • While the ribs are drying in the fridge you can ground the star anise and kaffir lime leaves into powder with a coffee grinder.
  • Add these ground ingredients to a bowl with the other rub ingredients. 1 part can be a tsp., Tbsp. or even a cup depending on the amount of rub you want to make.
  • Mix thoroughly by hand to break any clumps. Rub the ribs thoroughly.

BBQ time

  • Prepare your BBQ/smoker for an indirect session at low temperature. For this recipe I've used some kind of reverse sear. I've smoked the ribs for 2-2.5 hrs. on 75°C using a blend of pecan, oak and mesquite. If you can't get your BBQ temperature low enough you can opt for a temperature to max. 120°C. This is still low and slow but keep in mind the ribs will bake faster and will have less time to absorb the smoke.
  • While smoking the ribs you can start making your Oriental Assassin hot sauce following this recipe.
  • After 2-2.5 hrs. Baste the ribs with a thin layer of the Oriental Assassin hot sauce. And raise the BBQ temperature to 200°C.
  • Grill the ribs on this temperature for a couple of minutes to caramelise the sugars in the sauce. Pay attention not to burn the sugars or they will turn bitter.

Now your Oriental Assassin ribs are done you can cut them and garnish with some freshly chopped cilantro, hot peppers and/or spring onion. Have a nice meal!