Chinese Saucy Pork Ribs

Dear Reader, this recipe is a bit of a mic drop. They really are the easiest Chinese pork ribs ever. Full of flavour, they don't even need marinating. All you have to do is mix some sauces together and spoon over the ribs and grill. These ribs are also the item that everyone in my family asks for, even Mr NQN (who grew up vegetarian!). And this is most definitely a pushy recipe!

My mother makes these whenever she needs something fast but to impress others. I put off sharing this recipe because a) I didn't know how simple it was and then once I found out how easy they were b) I thought that you may not like them because she uses bought hoi sin and char siu sauces.

When she last served these they disappeared so quickly that I decided that now's the time and you all really need to know how to make these Chinese pork ribs because they are THAT GOOD. In fact you may want to make one rack for two people or one person (yes I have to stop Mr NQN from eating a whole rack of these and I'm not talking baby back ribs here!).

This is my first recipe of hers that I am sharing this year but I hope to share many more. My mother gave this recipe to me in a vague form-there were no quantities and no temperatures. She uses garlic, I used garlic powder only because it doesn't tend to burn as much as fresh garlic but I'm glad to say that it tastes exactly like hers.

2020 is also the year that I learned something about myself. You might laugh but I only just realised how tall I am. You see I have always gone by the metric measurement because that's what we use in Australia and I am 152cms tall. When I was having lunch with my friends the subject of heights came up and Monica asked me how tall I am. "I'm five feet 2 or 152 cms," I answered.

"What? That's not five feet two!" she said. "I'm five feet two and you're shorter than me!"

Yes dear Reader, 2020 is the year I realised that I am not actually 5 feet 2 inches as I have been telling everyone. But I am just under 5 feet tall! I never claimed to be great at maths...and I guess this proves it!

So tell me Dear Reader, how tall are you? And do you use pre-made sauces?

My Mother's Chinese Saucy Pork Ribs

An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 25 minutes

• 1.2kgs pork ribs (she uses full size, not baby back ribs)
• 1/3 cup hoi sin sauce
• 1/3 cup char siu sauce
• 1.5 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Step 1 - Preheat grill to high or if you can specify a temperature, turn grill to 220C/440F and line a baking tray with two layers of foil. Mix the hoi sin sauce, char siu sauce, garlic powder, sugar and salt together in a bowl.

Step 2 - Spoon the sauce on the bottom side and then the top side and grill meat side up for 15 minutes. If the sauce starts to burn at the sides, fold over the foil to cover it. Then increase the heat to 240C/464F and grill or until caramelised and cooked through.