Miso Pork Ribs with Korean Glaze

During the coronavirus pandemic, local companies around my area have been adapting - as I'm sure they have around the world. My favourite being local restaurants temporarily turning into takeaways (which I obviously support, triple fried chicken burger with triple cheese and triple bacon anyone?). A very close second favourite conversion, is butchers doing deliveries. Every couple of weeks, me and my housemate place an order for the likes of sausages, steaks, burgers, koftas and beef mince. This week, we decided to get a rack of ribs for our Saturday night dinner and the butchers did not disappoint. We got a rack of very meaty ribs. 

This recipes has everything - a deep, rich flavour from the miso paste; umami from the dried mushrooms; a kick of heat from the gochujang; a slight saltiness from the low sodium soy; sour notes from the rice vinegar; and a floral sweetness from the honey. 

Couple of notes before we begin:

• Shittake mushroom powder - dried mushrooms can easily be found in Asian supermarkets, then blitz to a powder in a blender or grinder. Alternatively, they can be skipped. 
• Gochujang - this is a fermented Korean chili paste. Again, it's readily available in Asian supermarkets but if you can't find it, try substituting with a combination of chili sauce and tomato ketchup.
• Low sodium soy sauce - don't be tempted to use regular soy sauce! It'll be too salty.

1 rack of pork ribs (about 500g)

2 dried shiitake mushrooms, ground to powder

50g red miso paste

For the glaze:

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 onion, sliced

3 garlic cloves, chopped

2cm piece of ginger, chopped

1 tbsp gochujang (Korean red chilli paste)

3 tbsp low sodium soy sauce

3 tbsp rice vinegar

2 tbsp honey

Fresh coriander, chopped to garnish

Preheat the oven to 150C.

Rub the groud mushroom powder all over the ribs - patting it in to adhere. Then smoother them with the miso paste. 

Wrap the ribs in tin foil and baking parchment, creating a little parcel that will trap the steam and help keep your ribs moist. 

Place on a roasting tray in the middle of the oven and cook for 1 1/2 hours - check after an hour to make sure they're not drying out. 

Meanwhile, make the glaze by sweating the onion in the oil for 10 minutes over a medium low heat. You want them to become soft and translucent. 

Add the garlic and ginger and cook for another minute. 

Go in with the soy sauce, gochujang and rice vinegar, bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Then stir in the honey and allow to cool slightly. 

Using a jug blender or hand blender, blitz the glaze until smooth. 

Taste the glaze and adjust accordingly. 

After 1 1/2 hours, pull the ribs out of the oven and unwrap them - be careful of any steam. 

Brush on the glaze (I used half and froze the rest for another time, but you can go mad and use it all).

Turn the oven up to 200C then return the ribs to the oven for 10 minutes - watch them closely so the glaze doesn't burn. 

When ready, slice those tasty ribs up, garnish with coriander and serve with a beer.