Spicy Baby Back Ribs

I might've explained this previously, but when I do my grocery shopping for the week, I usually try and plan out a general menu for each day of the week. However, if while I'm shopping I see certain proteins on sale, I will tweak my plans to work with the on-sale item. That's how I ended up with this recipe. I was at the store and saw half racks of baby back ribs were on sale (60% off or something) and decided that instead of making spicy chicken wings, I'd make spicy baby back ribs instead. This is different from my Korean-style ribs because I didn't take any help from store-bought barbecue sauce.

Ingredients [serves 4 as an appetizer, 2 for a full meal]:

1/2 rack baby back ribs

3 tablespoons hot pepper paste

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 teaspoon hot pepper flakes

1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

1 tablespoon honey

2 tablespoons brown sugar

Start by mixing the sauce ingredients together and then set aside.

Cut the meat up into individual ribs. The reasoning for this is just to provide more surface area for the sauce to stick to.

Place the ribs in a bowl and pour about half of the marinade over the them and toss. Allow the ribs to marinate for at least 1 hour. You could definitely do this a day ahead of time and let them marinate overnight (in the refrigerator, of course).

Reserve the remaining sauce to use for basting.

Place the ribs on a foil-lined sheet pan (for easy clean up). Try to space them out so that air can move between them.

Roast in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes. Flip and baste with the extra sauce about halfway through the cooking time. Remove from the oven when the edges start to caramelize.

Plate them up. Don't they look so good?

Just another view to admire.

Dig in! I started off using a fork and knife but eventually gave up and went after it with my fingers. That's the right way to eat it.

Here's the recipe page: