A week ago, Dr. C, our son, and his girlfriend went to the Big Island of Hawaii for a short break. We had some electronic certificates with United, and ironically the Big Island was the best deal. The photo is some amazing deliciousness that we had at the Red Water Cafe while dining with friends. These are guava wood-smoked ribs with a guava glaze. They were amazing. So today being Sunday I decided it was time to bring back a bit of Aloha here at the house.
Ribs are something that I will order out, but they are also simple to cook at home if you have an Insta-Pot or Pressure cooker, you can pre-cook/steam the ribs, and then set them on the grill to glaze and get some smoky flavor. For the glaze I gathered together about 7 different recipes, trying to figure out which would be the best option, and then went on the road less traveled---my own. I think I'm close to the original, but don't have any guava wood to smoke these babies, and so they are a bit different, but we all decided they were worthy!
Guava Glaze
Makes about 2 cups
14 ounces Guava paste (see note)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon finely grated ginger
3/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons chili garlic sauce
Put the guava paste into a microwavable bowl, cover loosely and cook on high for 2 to 3 minutes until the paste is melted.
In a saucepan, heat the oil, and swirl the garlic and ginger for 30 seconds until fragrant.
Add the melted guava paste, soy sauce, water, Worcestershire, and chili garlic sauce. Bring to a boil and simmer gently, stirring for 2 to 3 minutes. Taste for seasoning, adjust with soy sauce, Worcestershire or chii garlic sauce. The sauce will keep in the refrigerator for up to 7 days.
Cook's Note: The brand of guava paste that I bought (on Amazon) was 14 ounces.
For the Ribs
2 racks baby back ribs
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup Penzeys 4S Smoky Salt
1 teaspoon celery seed
Arrange the ribs on a large piece of aluminum foil. In a small bowl, mix together the brown sugar, smoky salt, and celery seed. Wrap the ribs in the foil and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.
In the pressure cooker or Insta-pot, pour in 1 cup of rootbeer (or water)
Arrange the ribs in the pressure cooker/Insta-pot and cook on high for 20 minutes, with a natural release.
If you don't have a pressure cooker/Insta-pot, preheat the oven to 300 degrees, line a baking sheet with aluminum foil or silicone and pour in 2 cups of rootbeer. Place the dry-rubbed ribs onto the baking sheet, bone side down, cover tightly with aluminum foil and roast for 2 to 2 1/2 hours.
Cool the ribs, and refrigerate or cool for 1 hour before grilling.
Preheat the grill for 10 minutes. Brush the ribs with the glaze, over indirect heat (turn off the middle burners, or push coals to the sides of the grill) place bone side down onto the grill and cook covered for 10 to 15 minutes, until the glaze is bubbling on the top of the ribs. Serve with warmed glaze on the side.
Cook's Note: Rootbeer gives the ribs a smoky, sweet flavor, you can sub in beer, or water, it's really about personal taste.
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| In the beginning there was garlic and ginger and guava paste |
This is my favorite new tool, a ginger grater
Swirl the garlic and ginger, don't let it brown, you only want it to release some of its oils
So, I realized that in order to get the guava paste to melt, I would need a low temperature on the stovetop, otherwise it would burn. Best to microwave the paste first, and then add to the pan.
Not much to look at, but it's really tasty!
Dry rubbed the night before
My favorite pressure cooker of all time the Cadillac WMF
Arrange in the pot
20 minutes on high, tender and delicious
Paint the ribs with some of the sauce, save more sauce for serving
And, I think we have lift off
So, the unanimous opinion was that these are delicious. I'm not sure they are anywhere near the ones we had at the Red Water Cafe but they are so good, I will be putting these into the rotation. Some notes, I had a lot of sauce leftover, so I think I'll freeze it for future use. It will probably be delicious on chicken as well. The sauce is really thick, I'm thinking next time I'll whisk in a little (or a lot) of dark rum and see how that fares. All in all, this was a fun experiment.
Speaking of experiments I took a zoom class on Saturday with my colleague and friend Rick Rodgers. He taught the world-famous English muffins from the Model Bakery and it was a joy to watch him in action. He will be offering a variety of classes and I highly recommend them, click here for details.
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