Grill season is here!! Summertime is the best when the sun is out until late into the evening, you’re hanging out with friends in the backyard, and you’re cooking up a storm on the grill with a drink in hand! 

Sadly in our current apartment we don’t have a space to keep our own grill, so we often go over to friends houses to grill out. However the good news is that you don’t have to have a grill to make amazing ribs – which is one of our favorite things to make in the summer! The way my mom has always done ribs is to slowly bake them in the oven until they are falling off the bone, and that’s how I make my ribs! 

Over the last year or so I have been introduced to different Korean ingredients and I am obsessed with the flavors! For these Korean spareribs the base of the bbq sauce is Gochujang – a Korean chili paste which is one of the backbone ingredients to Korean cooking. And then there’s Kimchi! The bubbly fizzy fermented wonderment is horrendous to some people, but I can’t get enough of it! Kimchi essentially means “salted vegetables” and you can pretty much ‘Kimchi’ anything, however the traditional and most common Kimchi is made out of napa cabbage and typically seasoned with a coarsely ground red pepper known as gochugaru, plus garlic, ginger, and some kind of fermented or fresh seafood. I buy the Seoul Kimchi from our local Fred Meyer and it’s the absolute best. The kimchi dressing I made for this slaw is a perfect companion to these melt in your mouth Korean spareribs! I adapted these recipes from bon appétit’s grilling issue! Definitely give them a try!

Fall-off the Bone Korean Spareibs with Kimchi slaw

ingredients

Ribs
– 2/3 cup apple cider vinegar
– 1/2 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
– 6 Tbsp. gochujang (Korean hot pepper paste) 
– 1 can of chipotle chiles in adobo (less if you don’t want as much heat) 
– rack of pork spareribs (about 4 lb.)

Spicy Kimchi Slaw
– 8 scallions
– 1/2 cup kimchi, plus 1 tbsp. juice from jar
– 2 tbsp. seasoned rice vinegar
– 1 tbsp. Sriracha
– 2 tsp. fish sauce
– 2 tsp. toasted sesame oil
– 1/4 cup vegetable oil
– 1 small head of napa cabbage
– 1 6″ piece daikon, peeled and cut into matchsticks
– 2 cups store bought shredded carrots
– salt for seasoning
– toasted sesame seeds and cilantro for serving

What to do

1. Place a rack in middle of oven and preheat to 350°. Whisk vinegar, brown sugar, gochujang, and adobo in a medium bowl until sugar is dissolved. Transfer half of sauce to a small bowl and set aside for serving.

2. Season ribs all over with salt and pepper. Place rack on a double layer of foil and wrap up. Set on a rimmed baking sheet; bake until very tender but not falling apart, 2½–3 hours. The last 30 minutes of cooking remove top foil, baste generously with bbq sauce and let continue baking. Remove from oven, baste with more sauce and serve extra gochujang bbq sauce for serving. 

3. The last 30 minutes of the ribs cooking, make your Spicy Kimchi Slaw. Remove dark green tops from scallions and thinly slice; set aside. Blend scallion bulbs, kimchi, kimchi juice, vinegar, Sriracha, fish sauce, and sesame oil in a blender until smooth. With motor running, very slowly stream in vegetable oil; blend until dressing is thick and airy. Set aside.

4. Tear off leaves from cabbage until you get down to the crunchy white part. Rip outer leaves into 2″ pieces. Thinly slice core crosswise until you have about 6 cups; reserve remaining cabbage for another use. Toss in a large bowl with daikon, carrots, and reserved scallion tops. Season with salt; pour reserved dressing over. Toss to coat, transfer to a platter, and top with sesame seeds and cilantro.