Pork Ribs with Blood Plum Sauce

The hubby grew up on a farm just out of town and on it was a lone blood plum tree.  His Grandpa tried to get him to eat them when he was a youngin’, and of course he protested because he had no idea what they were and kids are just fussy.  But Grandpa wouldn’t have a bar of it and shoved a blood plum in his mouth and told him to try it (not that he had much choice at this stage).  Obviously Grandpa knew what he was talking about and the hubby immediately fell in love with them.

In recent years, the hubby started brewing his own liquor and had a thought one day to source some blood plums to soak in the alcohol for a little bit more of a grown up trip down memory lane.  Once the first batch of blood plum liquor had been made, the hubby had the wondrous idea of using it in a sauce for some pork ribs he had sitting the freezer after recalling one of his favourite combos in Chinese cuisine being pork and plum sauce.  Hence, his Pork Ribs with Blood Plum Sauce were born.

This is one of the easiest recipes he has up his sleeve and the results are mouth watering – well so I am told and I am often forgotten about when these are on the menu.  In addition to the pork ribs you will need garlic, salt, pepper, smoked paprika and olive oil.

The ribs we use are from the hubby’s favourite pork supplier Trunkey Bacon and Pork and have lots of meat on them compared to some of the other ribs he has tried around town.  Place the ribs into a large roasting tray rub in the salt, pepper, smoked paprika, crushed garlic and oil into each side of the ribs.  Depending on how much you like garlic, feel free to add more or less of it and the same goes for the paprika.  This recipe is pretty flexible.

Cover the pan with cling wrap and place in the fridge for 12-24 hours to marinate.

When you are ready to start cooking them, prepare the sauce for which you will need blood plum liquor (which can be substituted for plum jam which may add some more sweetness to the sauce so you may need to reduce the amount of brown sugar), malt vinegar, brown sugar, mustard powder, cinnamon and ground ginger.  Once again, you can play with the spices to suit what you like.

Place everything into a pot and heat on the stove until the sugar has dissolved and then bring to the boil for two to three minutes, taking care that it does not boil over and make a big mess.  Pour the sauce gently over the ribs until they are completely coated.

Cover the tray with foil and place into a preheated 200°C/180°C fan forced oven.  The ribs need to be covered so they can braise over the next two to two and a half hours.  About half way through, take the ribs out, turn them over and baste the meat with the sauce.  Cover back up with foil and return to the oven.

When the meat is tender and virtually falling off the bone, transfer the ribs from the pan onto a plate and again cover with foil and let them rest.

Pour the sauce, which is now full of meat juice, back into a pot and bring it to a boil then allow it to simmer to reduce the sauce until it is nice and thick.  This can take between five to ten minutes generally.

To go with the ribs, the hubby generally serves a green salad and sometimes chips (which are of course needed to soak up the sauce).  Transfer the thickened sauce to a gravy boat or jug and pour it liberally over the ribs.

This is definitely one for you meat lovers, or those who have a meat lover in their life.

Enjoy!

Print Recipe

Pork Ribs with Blood Plum Sauce

An original recipe by Cath's hubby.

Course

Main

Cook Time

150 minutes

Servings

hungry people

Ingredients

For the ribs and dry rub

• 1 full set pork ribs
• 2-3 cloves garlic more or less to taste
• 100 g smoked paprika more or less to taste
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• To taste salt and pepper

For the sauce

• 1 cup blood plum liqueur
• 1 cup malt vinegar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 1/2 tsp mustard powder
• 1 1/2 tsp ground ginger

To serve

• Green salad with a light dressing
• Thick cut chips

Course Main Cook Time 150 minutes Servings hungry people Ingredients For the ribs and dry rub 1 full set pork ribs 2-3 cloves garlic more or less to taste 100 g smoked paprika more or less to taste 1 tbsp olive oil To taste salt and pepper For the sauce 1 cup blood plum liqueur 1 cup malt vinegar 1 cup brown sugar 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1 1/2 tsp mustard powder 1 1/2 tsp ground ginger To serve Green salad with a light dressing Thick cut chips

Instructions

1. Place the ribs into a large roasting pan. Crush the garlic cloves and place onto the ribs. Sprinkle over the smoked paprika, salt, pepper and a little olive oil to help the spices rub into the meat evenly.
2. Turn the ribs over and repeat the process on the other side.
3. Cover the pan with cling wrap and place in the fridge for 12-24 hours.
4. When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan forced.
5. Prepare the sauce by placing the blood plum liquor, malt vinegar, brown sugar, mustard powder, cinnamon and ground ginger into a pot. Heat and once the sugar has dissolved allow bring it to the boil for 2-3 minutes.
6. Gently pour the sauce over the ribs until they are coated. Cover the pan with foil and place into the preheated oven.
7. After 1-1.5 hours, remove the ribs from the oven and turn them over, basting the underside with the sauce. Recover with foil and return to the oven for another hour or until the meat is tender and falling off the bone.
8. Transfer the ribs to a plate, cover with foil and allow them to rest.
9. Pour the sauce from the pan back into a pot and bring to a boil on the stove. Reduce to a simmer for 5-10 minutes until the sauce has thickened. Transfer to a gravy boat or jug.

To serve

1. Place a section of the ribs on a plate with a serving of green salad and chips.
2. Pour over the thickened sauce and serve immediately.