Recipe: Sticky Asian beef ribs with savoy cabbage pancakes and bok choi

Ingredients

Ribs
2kg beef back ribs (ask your local butcher to cut them)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
125ml (½ cup) Tamari soya sauce
30ml (2 tbsp) chilli oil
60ml (¼ cup) hoisin sauce

Caramel sauce
500ml (2 cups) water
200g castor sugar, sifted
50g butter, cut into cubes
5 small red chillies, sliced (optional)

Savoy cabbage pancakes
420g cake flour, sifted
2 large eggs
625ml (2 ½ cups) water
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
½ red onion, peeled and finely chopped
30ml (2 tbsp) fish sauce
15ml (1 tbsp) chilli oil
1 small carrot, grated
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Leaves of 4 baby savoy cabbages, washed

Bok choi
100g bok choi
30ml (2 tbsp) olive/avocado oil
45ml (3 tbsp) sesame seeds
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

To serve
Handful Asian rice crackers, to serve

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C. For the ribs, season them with salt and pepper. Mix the soya sauce, chilli oil and hoisin sauce together in a bowl. Pour half of the sauce over the ribs and coat thoroughly. Set aside the remaining sauce.

2. Place the ribs in a roasting tray, cover with foil and roast, 45 minutes. Remove the foil, turn the oven setting to grill and grill until golden brown, 10 – 15 minutes.

3. For the caramel sauce, heat the water and sugar together in a saucepan over medium heat, without stirring, until it turns caramel in colour, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat when a quarter of the syrup turns a dark straw colour.

4. Carefully whisk in the butter, taking care not to burn yourself. The mixture should be a light-caramel colour. While the mixture is still warm, whisk in the remaining beef sauce until mixed through. When the beef comes out of the oven, coat with the soya-caramel sauce and sprinkle with red chilli slices, if desired.

5. For the pancakes, whisk all of the ingredients together, except the savoy cabbage leaves, until mixed through. In a non-stick frying pan over medium heat, place a savoy cabbage leaf on the pan, quickly pour about 80ml (1/3 cup) pancake mixture over to cover the cabbage leaf and fry, 2 – 3 minutes on each side. Repeat with the remaining leaves and batter.

6. For the bok choi, heat a non-stick pan over high heat and fry in the oil until tender, 2 – 3 minutes. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and season to taste.

7. Serve the ribs with the savoy cabbage pancakes, bok choi and Asian crackers.

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