Lemongrass Pork Ribs

Our approximation of the Kaosarn ones we like so much.

For the Ribs:

Makes 4-6 servings (depending if you have them as a starter or main)

• 1 kg pork ribs, cut into bite-sized pieces
• cornflour to dust before frying

Marinade:

• 2 stalks lemongrass
• 5 cloves garlic
• 2 tbsp peppercorns
• 1 tbsp palm sugar (can substitute with brown sugar, but this adds a really deep honeycomb flavour, plus it’s fun to scrape)
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 2 tbsp oyster sauce
• pinch of salt

Instructions

1. Peel and roughly chop lemongrasss and garlic
2. With a mortar & pestle, pound the peppercorns, lemongrass, garlic, palm sugar, fish sauce, oyster sauce and salt until you get a paste. It’s easiest to do it in this order, starting with the dryer ingredients and adding the wetter ones once you have a more pliable consistency. Adding the salt at the beginning can also help to break down the fibres, especially if you use a crunchy sea salt. Yes, you could also use a food processor, but you lose the sense of ceremony.
3. Marinate the ribs for at least an hour (the longer the marinade, the better the flavour!)
4. Shallow fry in a wok (you need a good bit of oil so that the ribs are semi-immersed) for a few minutes on each side until golden brown and cooked through (try not to overcook, tough ribs are never fun 😦 )

For the dipping sauce:

These ribs are really good on their own, but the tangy-sweet dipping sauce takes them to new heights. We haven’t got this totally right yet (as in, it’s still not as good as the one at Kaosarn), so we’re not giving exact quantities, but have a play and see what you come up with!

• equal quantities of:
  • fish sauce & lime juice
• smaller amounts to taste:
  • sugar
  • mirin (Japanese rice wine – this is key)
• Finely chopped chillies to garnish (ideally the Thai birdseye ones)

Tags: Doug & Lucinda, Thai