Try these pull-apart pork ribs with smoky piri-piri spices and a sticky barbecue sauce. Cook them on a barbecue if you like, or in the oven
Prep:10 mins
Serves 4
2 racks baby back pork ribs (600-700g each)
STEP 1Tip all the marinade ingredients into a mini chopper or blender along with a large pinch of salt and blitz until smooth. If there’s a thin membrane on the back of the ribs, peel this off as best you can. Smear half the marinade over the ribs, then transfer to a large plate, cover and chill for at least 2 hrs or up to 24 hrs.STEP 2If you have a lidded or kettle barbecue, set it up for indirect cooking (with coals on one side and a drip tray under where you’ll be cooking the ribs). If you can read the temperature on your barbecue, it should be at about 150C. Or, heat the oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. If slow-cooking on the barbecue over the drip tray, first pour 500ml water into the tray, lay the ribs on the grill rack above, cover the barbecue with its lid and cook the ribs for 2-3 hrs, turning occasionally and topping up the tray with water if needed. If you’re starting the ribs off in the oven, put them in a roasting tray, cover tightly with foil and bake for 2 hrs-2 hrs 30 mins until the bones are exposed and the meat is tender. While the ribs are cooking, tip the rest of the marinade into a small saucepan and simmer for 10 mins until thick and gloopy –this is the sauce to serve with the ribs. When the ribs are cooked, leave to cool a little and tip any cooking juices into the barbecue sauce. The sauce and ribs can be prepared up to two days ahead, left to cool then kept chilled.STEP 3Remove the ribs to a board and remove the drip tray from the barbecue, if using. Set the barbecue up for direct cooking, light some new coals or set a gas barbecue to medium. Return the ribs to the grill, then brush generously with the sauce. Working quickly, grill the ribs, basting with more sauce as soon as they start to char and turn every minute until well-coated, charred at the edges, caramelised and sticky. Serve each person a half-rack of ribs with any extra sauce on the side.
