Gochujang BBQ Ribs With Peanuts and Scallions

Updated June 23, 2023

Gochujang BBQ Ribs With Peanuts and Scallions
Shawn Poynter for The New York Times
Total Time
About 4 hours, plus overnight seasoning
Rating
4(454)
Comments
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The simplest dishes are the hardest to get right, and barbecue ribs are no exception. That is why the chef Joseph Lenn, of J.C. Holdway in Knoxville, Tenn., always quick-cures the ribs with an overnight rub of salt, black pepper and brown sugar. This ensures the meat is seasoned evenly throughout, and is something he recommends for any slow-cooked or braised meat. Mr. Lenn’s mop sauce, a homage to the Dixie Sweet sauce at Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint in Nashville, is fired up with gochujang, a Korean chile paste. It works equally well on bone-in chicken breasts and wings. —Jane Black

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Ingredients

Yield:6 to 8 servings

    For the Ribs and Rub

    • 3racks St. Louis-style spareribs (2½ pounds each)
    • ½cup kosher salt
    • ½cup packed light brown sugar
    • ¼cup ground black pepper

    For the Gochujang Barbecue Sauce

    • ½cup gochujang
    • cups apple cider vinegar
    • ½cup packed light brown sugar
    • 1teaspoon ground black pepper
    • ½teaspoon chile powder, such as ancho
    • ¼teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
    • 1teaspoon smoked paprika

    For Garnish

    • 1cup chopped peanuts
    • 1cup sliced scallions
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)

1444 calories; 110 grams fat; 33 grams saturated fat; 1 gram trans fat; 41 grams monounsaturated fat; 20 grams polyunsaturated fat; 38 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams dietary fiber; 29 grams sugars; 74 grams protein; 1278 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    The day before you plan to cook the ribs, use a paper towel to help you pull the silver skin off the backside of the ribs. Combine salt, light brown sugar and black pepper to make a rub, then generously season ribs with the rub on both sides. (You may have some rub left over.) Place on a rimmed baking sheet, wrap in plastic, put in the refrigerator, and let sit overnight.

  2. Step 2

    For the sauce, combine all ingredients and whisk until brown sugar is dissolved. (You can use a hand mixer if you'd like.)

  3. Step 3

    The next day, prepare a charcoal grill (preferably a kamado, the egg-shaped ceramic grill) and warm it to 225 to 250 degrees. If your grill doesn't have a thermometer, use an oven thermometer to try to keep the temperature consistent. (See note.) Place ribs on a rack so they are not sitting directly on the grate. Cook 3 to 3½ hours, turning and basting ribs with barbecue sauce every hour.

  4. Step 4

    Glaze the ribs with the sauce once more before serving. Cut the ribs and then sprinkle with peanuts and scallions and serve.

Tip
  • Coals burn hotter and faster with more oxygen, so use your grill’s vents to slow, but not stop, the amount of oxygen coming in to keep the temperature down. To keep the fire going, you can add unlit coals directly to the lit fire; it takes about 15 minutes for new coals to come up to temperature.

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Ratings

4 out of 5
454 user ratings
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Comments

Can this recipe be prepared in an oven? If so, what temperature and how long should they cook?

Rah, you can certainly prepare these in an oven. Just follow the recipe exactly they will turn out just as they would on a bbq without the smoke flavor. If anything, IMHO, the recipe should probably call for setting up the grill with indirect heat so the sugars in the sauce won't burn. I have cooked a lot of ribs in smokers, on grills, and in the oven. 225 deg.f = perfect.

BTW, when the rib bones start to stick out of the ends of the meat you're close to done.

I'd wrap the ribs in foil to roast in the oven at 250 to 300, basted with a little sauce. Cook 2 hours. Check doneness by twisting the ribs a bit to see that the meat is tender but not too soft. Baste with sauce and return to oven opened up. I'd probably broil them to get a bit of char at the end.

So I know everyone’s taste is different but my experience, using the dry brine overnight and, as suggested, washing it off completely and letting the racks rest in the fridge for several hours, then smoking them at the temps suggested was this: an overpowering saltiness (and I use a lot of salt in cooking) that masked the flavor of the sauce. Perhaps a sweeter sauce - more gochujang, a lot more brown sugar, maybe some honey, could help cut through the salt but I doubt it. It was a waste of some good ribs. They also could have used another half hour to hour on the smoker. If I make these again I would probably cut the salt in the brine rub by half in addition to the rinse and also boost the sauce with more gochujang and a good amount of honey. Two stars on this one.

I prepared these in an oven, three hours at 300 degrees Fahrenheit, then crisped at 450. Delicious. Will make these again!

Cooked, the sauce is much less spicy than in the bowl, though I omitted crushed red pepper due to having hotter than Ancho NewMexico red. The brine rub/rinse is the method I'll use for spareribs whether dry rubbed or sauced. 0ven 275, last 2 of 4 hours opened and basted. Tender but not mushy sticky good.

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Credits

Adapted from Joseph Lenn, J.C. Holdway, Knoxville, Tenn.

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