Lemon ribs
A particularly fresh twist on spare ribs is Lemon Ribs: ribs seasoned with a dry rub made from smoked lemon. Unlike the Asian-style spare ribs, these ribs are not marinated and glazed for a sticky bark, but dry-smoked instead. That definitely does not mean the ribs are dry. The lemon rub gives a unique flavor experience, absolutely worth trying.
Ingredients:
- Spare ribs
- 10 lemons (some will burn)
- Coarse salt
- Coarse black peppercorns
Preparation:
To make the rub, the lemons first need to be smoked and dried. Gijs slices the lemons into thin rounds (about 3 mm) and sprinkles both sides with salt. The salt draws moisture out of the lemons, which helps create nicely dried slices.
To smoke the lemons, Gijs runs the barbecue at 140°C using the snake method, which keeps the temperature stable for a long time. For smoking wood, he chooses apple wood because it gives a relatively mild smoke flavor. To prevent the lemons from burning, Gijs places several aluminum trays in the barbecue and puts the lemon slices on the grill above them.
After 2 to 3 hours, the slices are nicely browned and caramelized, and the smell is amazing. It is almost impossible to avoid burning a few lemons, so make sure to remove the burnt slices. Once the lemons are dry (slightly sticky/soft is okay) and smoked, it is time to make the rub. For the rub, Gijs grinds the successful lemon slices and adds half a part pepper and a quarter part salt. Everything is ground into an even rub. So the rub ratio is:
- 1 part lemon
- 1/2 part pepper
- 1/4 part salt
Finally, it is time for the spare ribs. As always, remove the silverskin from the ribs, it is a tough membrane that is not pleasant to eat. It is also a good idea to trim the meat where needed. Gijs is not a fan of fatty bits, so he removes larger pieces of fat from the ribs. After that, he coats the ribs generously with the new rub. This rub does not keep long because of leftover moisture in the lemon, so there is no reason to be stingy.
Once coated, the ribs go on the barbecue. Gijs first smokes them for 2 hours at 130°C with mild apple smoke, then cooks them for another 2 hours in aluminum foil. That second step is important for keeping moisture in the ribs and preventing them from drying out. This is also done at 130°C. Finally, he leaves the ribs on the barbecue without foil for another 15 to 20 minutes to create a nice dry crust.
The result is a unique sparerib: wonderfully fresh with a great pepper kick. These spareribs also pair really well with the whiskey barbecue sauce from Gijs’s frikandel burnt ends!
