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Iga Babi Bali (Balinese Sticky Glazed Pork Ribs)
![Iga Babi Bali (Balinese Sticky Glazed Pork Ribs)](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2020/10/28/dining/27leerex3/merlin_177925245_298f9eac-2a24-4157-bf8f-4172cea58091-articleLarge.jpg?width=1280&quality=75&auto=webp)
- Total Time
- 2½ hours
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- 8long red chiles (about 5 ounces), such as cayenne, trimmed, roughly chopped and deseeded, if you prefer less heat
- 12garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
- 1(5-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
- 4shallots, preferably Thai, or 2 small banana shallots, peeled and roughly chopped
- ½cup rice vinegar or white wine vinegar
- ½cup plus 1 tablespoon store-bought or homemade kecap manis (see Note for recipe)
- Scant ½ cup palm sugar or brown sugar
- 1teaspoon flaky sea salt
- 2racks (1½-pound) pork spare ribs
Preparation
- Step 1
Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare the marinade: In a food processor, blend all the ingredients except the pork with ½ cup water until smooth.
- Step 2
Line a roasting pan with four long layers of foil in the shape of a cross (two overlapping horizontal strips and two overlapping vertical strips), with enough excess foil spilling over the sides to wrap the ribs. Lay the ribs onto the foil in a single layer and pour over ½ the marinade, massaging it into each rack. Wrap the ribs with the foil and roast in the oven on the top or middle shelf for 2 hours.
- Step 3
While the ribs roast, pour the remaining marinade into a small saucepan and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer the sauce until it has thickened to the consistency of gravy and is deeply flavorful, 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.
- Step 4
To check if the ribs are done, test an end rib: When you tug the end bone, the meat should start slipping off the bone. If they are not yet tender, return them to the oven and continue cooking until tender, testing every 10 minutes.
- Step 5
Once the ribs have finished roasting, remove the roasting pan from the oven and turn on the broiler. Open the foil and brush some of the reduced marinade onto the ribs, reserving the rest as a dipping sauce. Broil the ribs for 5 to 7 minutes, uncovered, until they darken and the marinade caramelizes. Serve immediately, with the remaining marinade in a dipping bowl.
- To make your own kecap manis, in a medium saucepan, bring ¾ cup light soy sauce or gluten-free tamari with 1¼ packed cups palm sugar or light or dark brown sugar to a simmer over medium. Reduce heat to low and cook until mixture thickens to the texture of maple syrup, about 5 minutes. Let cool. Cover and refrigerate for up to a few weeks. Makes about ¾ cup.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
I made this with beef short ribs and got rave reviews from the whole family. I used 5 oz of Sriracha instead of the chili’s just because it was what I had on hand.
We are are having a Zoom Super Bowl party so I’m currently making my fourth batch of these ribs. I’ve learned that if you want the ribs to be truly sticky do not use the watery marinade to brush the ribs. Use some of the leftover kecap manis instead brushed on in thin layers about once every 10 minutes over a half hour period. I found that a pound per person was a good serving for a limited menu potluck.
I made the sauce once but the recipe twice. 1.5 pounds ribs wasn't very much (went by weight) and was just 1 rack. I ended up using the leftover sauce to marinate 2 more full racks. The second time, I scraped off the marinade, heated it up, and at the end of the cooking the two racks, poured off the liquid (there was a lot), defatted, and used the broth to augment the sauce. It felt like I could keep going with the sauce forever! But we stopped here. Very tasty ribs.
Had to use a combination of various peppers-a jalapeño and gosh knows what others-and did not have exactly the right other items, but it turned out wonderfully and got rave reviews. The homemade kecap manis was revelatory and now with leftovers I will look for other ways to use it.
Very good but make sure your minions remember to eat the bones otherwise they choke on them. Prep can be intense but this pairs well with sticky rice and a spicy cucumber salad. The kecap manis is especially good on top of the rice
Must admit I’ve lived in Bali for many years and never seen anyone eating ribs; I lived in a village there, and we never ate them there. However, I’d bought diced up Pork spare ribs and wanted to make Babi Kecap - which definitely is Balinese (often served at celebrations such as weddings). I have made it from memory but was keen to try it with this sauce this time around. I combined the ingredients from this recipe and the Pork belly tea sandwich recipe roughly and it was just yum.
For 600gms Pork (pound and a half) - three serves: definitely do at least halve recipe ingredients for sauce if making Babi (pork) Kecap (pron. Ketchup). Spare ribs or diced pork belly works best because you need some fat to keep everything nice and moist. Do brown the meat cubes first and scrape up caramelisation when adding sauce ingredients. I added two birdseye chillies (hot), added water to just cover cubes, a teaspoon of powdered chicken stock, little fish sauce and lime juice. Reduce.
I really enjoyed this recipe. I had to sub in thai red chiles for the long red chiles (if doing this, reduce weight by a lot as red thai chiles are hot -- I used about 5 of the little red thai chiles). Only had regular shallots available. But these were among the best ribs I've tasted. Yum!!
I added fresh mango to the sauce, and the result was spectacular. Fun recipe, simple and delicious.
This was an absolutely brilliant recipe, the sauce is so delightfully fragrant, have made these several times now, the whole family love them and I've tried them with friends who also loved them.
Excellent recipe with a really outstanding sauce. Followed recipe, but regular shallots as no Thai shallots. Had to make my own kecap manis, which is really good BTW. I did up the amount of the kecap manis in the blended sauce for a sweeter taste. Personal preference. Cook time is very accurate. Many thanks Ms. Stewart.
We are are having a Zoom Super Bowl party so I’m currently making my fourth batch of these ribs. I’ve learned that if you want the ribs to be truly sticky do not use the watery marinade to brush the ribs. Use some of the leftover kecap manis instead brushed on in thin layers about once every 10 minutes over a half hour period. I found that a pound per person was a good serving for a limited menu potluck.
I made the sauce once but the recipe twice. 1.5 pounds ribs wasn't very much (went by weight) and was just 1 rack. I ended up using the leftover sauce to marinate 2 more full racks. The second time, I scraped off the marinade, heated it up, and at the end of the cooking the two racks, poured off the liquid (there was a lot), defatted, and used the broth to augment the sauce. It felt like I could keep going with the sauce forever! But we stopped here. Very tasty ribs.
@ coffeespoon - my interpretation of the recipe caused me to purchase 2 racks weighing a total of approximately 3 pounds and yes, I, too found myself with leftover sauce. The sauce is amazingly good and I plan to make and use it on other grilled meats.
Absolutely amazing! I couldn’t find cayenne peppers so used a mixture of Serrano and Fresno snd it was super spicy and delicious. Added more of the sweet soy mixture and it was almost like a spicy teriyaki. My new favorite rib recipe!
This being the year 2020, our quasi-regular pilgrimages to Ubud, Bali, was not possible. With all of us missing the people and food, I made these ribs for dinner one day. They were amazing, and took us back to Bali with every bite. I reduced the chilli (still good!), and would recommend going easy on the garlic if it errs on the side of forward (Australian garlic is). We wrapped the ribs in foil, and popped them in a kettle BBQ at 130C for 2-3 hours. Served with the reduced sauce and salads. YUM
Put this on anything, perhaps everything - awesome!
I made this with beef short ribs and got rave reviews from the whole family. I used 5 oz of Sriracha instead of the chili’s just because it was what I had on hand.
This is my new favourite rib recipe. It was delicious. We drained the juices off the pan after the first hour, opened the tinfoil and bumped the heat up to 450 to brown the ribs. The broiler step at the end was essential for the final touch.
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