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Prep time
5 minutes
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Cook time
3 hours
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Serves
3 to 4
Author Notes
These ribs aren't going to look and taste like the sticky, saucy, lacquered ribs of Southern yore—they're a bit cleaner in taste. As you've basically steamed them in their own juices, they'll be fall-off-the-bone succulent, and in this you may find a new appreciation for the flavor of pork as it should be: not drowned in a saccharine BBQ sauce, but rather powdered with a smoky-sweet, savory invisibility cloak that lets the meat be meat. —Eric Kim
Test Kitchen Notes
Featured in: My Lip-Smacking BBQ Ribs & the Secret Spice Blend That Makes Them Sing. —The Editors
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Ingredients
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2 pounds
pork baby back ribs
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4 tablespoons
Magic Spice Blend, recipe follows
- Magic Spice Blend
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1/3 cup
dark brown sugar
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3 tablespoons
kosher salt
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3 tablespoons
smoked paprika (you can use regular sweet paprika if you don't like the taste of smoked)
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1 tablespoon
garlic powder
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1 tablespoon
freshly cracked black pepper
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2 teaspoons
cayenne pepper
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1 teaspoon
celery seed, crushed in the palm of your hand
Directions
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Preheat the oven to 250° F. Season the ribs on both sides, generously, with the Magic Spice Blend.
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Wrap the ribs tightly in aluminum foil (I always use heavy-duty), place on a sheet pan flesh-side down, and bake for 3 hours. I like to eat this with white rice.
- Magic Spice Blend
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Spoon all of the ingredients into a Mason jar and shake.
Eric Kim was the Table for One columnist at Food52. He is currently working on his first cookbook, KOREAN AMERICAN, to be published by Clarkson Potter in 2022. His favorite writers are William Faulkner, John Steinbeck, and Ernest Hemingway, but his hero is Nigella Lawson. You can find his bylines at The New York Times, where he works now as a writer. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram at @ericjoonho.
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