Chinese Barbecued Ribs

Oh goodness these tasted so good. The flavors of the soy sauce, hoisin sauce, and ginger really gave the sauce a Chinese taste. The ribs were perfectly tender and sticky. There are a few steps involved and yes it's not a quick meal to make but the time spent on these is well worth the time and effort. Smoking the ribs with tea bags seemed odd to me before I tasted them. It's a subtle smoked flavor that you can't place the flavor of until someone tells you. If you can't find St. Louis style ribs use baby back ribs and check for doneness after one hour.

Chinese Barbecued Ribs
Cooks Country June/July 2010

2 racks pork spareribs (2 1/2 to 3 lbs each) St. Louis Style
8 black tea bags
1 1/2 cups ketchup
1 cup soy sauce
1 cup hoisin sauce
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup dry sherry
6 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
1 1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1 cup red currant jelly

Cut rib racks in half. Cover tea bags with water in small bowl and soak for 5 minutes. Squeeze water from tea bags and tightly seal in foil packet. Cut vent holes in top of packet.

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 300 degrees. Whisk 1 cup ketchup, soy sauce, hoisin, sugar, sherry, garlic, ginger, sesame oil, and cayenne in large bowl; reserve 1/2 cup for glaze. Arrange ribs, meaty side down, in large disposable roasting pan and pour remaining ketchup mixture over ribs. Cover pan tightly with foil and cook until fat has rendered and meat begins to pull away from bones, 2 to 2 1/2 hours. Transfer to large plate. Pour pan juices into fat separator. Let liquid settle and reserve 1 cup defatted pan juices.

Simmer reserved pan juices over medium heat until reduced to 1/2 cup, about 5 minutes. Stir in jelly, reserved ketchup mixture, and remaining ketchup and simmer until reduced to two cups, 10 to 12 minutes. Reserve one third of glaze for serving.

Open bottom vent on grill. Light about 100 coals; when covered with fine gray ash, carefully pile on one side of grill. Arrange foil packet directly on coals. Set cooking grate in place and heat, covered, with lid vent open halfway, until tea begins to smoke heavily, about 5 minutes. (For gas grill, place foil packet directly on primary burner. Heat all burners on high, covered, until tea begins to smoke heavily, about 5 minutes. Leave primary burner on high and shut other burners off.) Scrape and oil cooking grate. Arrange ribs, meaty side down, on cool side of grill and cook, covered, until ribs are smoky and edges begin to char, about 30 minutes.

Brush ribs with glaze, flip, rotate, and brush again. Cover and barbecue, brushing glaze every 30 minutes, until ribs are fully tender and glaze is browned and sticky, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Transfer to cutting board, tent with foil, and let rest 10 minutes. Serve with glaze.