DESCRIPTION
These Asian beef ribs start with a Chinese five-spice powder rub and are finished with a maple-soy sauce. Rich and meaty. And yes, finger licking good.
The simple cucumber and sesame salad is the perfect accompaniment to a rich and meaty dish. If you don’t want to fry your own wontons, buy a container of crunchy Chinese noodles at the grocery store and use those instead.
Ingredients
Scale
For the Ribs
- 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 2 Tbsp. vegetable or grape seed oil
- 4 tsp. Chinese 5 spice powder
- 1 ½ tsp. garlic powder
- 1 ½ tsp. salt
- ½ tsp. red pepper flakes
- 5 lbs. beef ribs (about 12 ribs, do not cut apart the racks)
- 2/3 cup maple syrup
- 1/3 cup ketchup
- 1/3 cup Cabernet Sauvignon
- 1/3 cup low-sodium soy sauce
- 1/3 cup Dijon mustard
- 2 Tbsp. butter, cut into pieces
- 1 tsp. lime juice
For the Cucumber and Sesame Salad
- 1 Tbsp. lime juice
- 1 Tbsp. vegetable or grape seed oil, plus more for frying the wontons
- 1/8 tsp. sesame oil
- Salt
- 1/8 tsp. grated ginger
- 1 12-in. English Cucumber
- ¼ cup spring onions, chopped
- 1 Tbsp. sesame seeds, toasted
- 8 wonton wrappers
Instructions
For the Ribs
- Preheat oven to 300°F.
- In a small bowl combine the brown sugar, grape seed oil, 5 spice powder, garlic powder, salt, and red pepper flakes. Put the beef ribs on a large rimmed baking sheet in a single layer. Rub on both sides with the 5 spice mixture. Bake uncovered for 1 hour, meatiest side up. Cover the pan tightly with foil and bake for another 1.5 hours. Allow ribs to cool.
- Meanwhile, in a small sauce pan combine the maple syrup, ketchup, wine, soy sauce, mustard, and butter. Cook stirring continuously over medium heat until it reaches a simmer. Remove from heat. Stir in the lime juice.
- Cut the meat into individual ribs. Brush all over with the sauce. Cover and refrigerate until ready to grill (up to 24 hours).
- Prepare grill for medium direct heat cooking. Put ribs on grill. Cook, turning occasionally until meat is warmed through and has begun to char in places, 7-12 minutes.
For the Cucumber and Sesame Salad
- Make the salad dressing by whisking together the lime juice, vegetable oil, sesame oil, 1/8 teaspoon of salt, and the ginger in medium-sized bowl. Make sure that the ginger is well-dispersed.
- Cut the cucumber lengthwise into quarters and then slice into ¼ inch slices. Add the cucumbers to the dressing in the bowl along with the spring onions and the sesame seeds. Set aside.
- Line a large plate with kitchen towel. Set aside. Pour ¼ inch of oil into a large frying pan. Heat it over medium heat. While it warms, cut the wonton wrappers into ¼ inch slices. Toss them around to separate the strands.
- Dip one wonton strand in the heating oil. If it bubbles up immediately, the oil is ready. Add all of the wonton strands in a single layer. As they start browning use tongs to turn them and move them around a bit. As they brown, transfer them to the kitchen-towel-lined plate. It will take about 15-25 seconds total for them all to be ready. Sprinkle the crispy wontons with 1/8 teaspoon of salt.
- When ready to serve, put the wontons over the cucumber salad.