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BBQ Ribs with Soy Ginger BBQ Sauce Recipe

Soy-ginger glazed BBQ ribs
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Tired of the same old savory barbecued ribs? Try this recipe for Asian style ribs with a touch of sweetness and the flavors of soy, ginger, and sesame. Any cut of ribs will do.
Serve with: Sapporo or Kirin beer.
Course:
Dinner
,
Lunch
,
Main Course
Cuisine:
American
,
Asian
difficulty scale

Makes:

1 slab St. Louis cut spare ribs
Servings: 3

Takes:

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 5 hours
Total Time: 5 hours 10 minutes

Equipment

  • heavy duty foil
  • four chunks smoking wood

Ingredients

US Customary - Metric

Five Spice Rub

The Ribs

  • 1 slab ribs
  • ¾ teaspoon Morton Coarse Kosher Salt (¼ teaspoon per pound of meat)
  • 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
  • 3 tablespoons apple juice

Soy Ginger BBQ Sauce

  • ½ cup ketchup
  • ½ cup honey
  • ¼ cup soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons finely minced ginger
  • 2 teaspoons garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil
Notes:
About the salt. Remember, kosher salt is half the concentration of table salt so if you use table salt, use half as much. Click here to read more about salt and how it works.
About the mayonnaise. The use of mayonnaise is completely optional but is something that I have done for years. As with the more popular yellow mustard, the mayonnaise serves as a binding agent for the dry rub without drastically altering the flavor of the finished meat. Unlike mustard, mayonnaise is high in fat, which benefits the ribs.
Metric conversion:

These recipes were created in US Customary measurements and the conversion to metric is being done by calculations. They should be accurate, but it is possible there could be an error. If you find one, please let us know in the comments at the bottom of the page

Method

  • Prep. To create the five-spice dry rub, combine the sweet paprika and five spice powder in a small bowl and blend well (now it's a six-spice rub!).
  • Remove the membrane from the slab of ribs (read more on removing the membrane here).
  • Season the slab of ribs with kosher salt. If you can, give the salt 1 to 2 hours to be absorbed. The process of salting in advance is called dry brining. The rule of thumb is ½ teaspoon of kosher salt per pound of meat, but ribs consist of only about 50% meat, so use about ¼ teaspoon per pound. You can simply eyeball it by sprinkling on the same amount of salt you would sprinkle on the ribs if they were served to you unseasoned. 
  • Fire up. Prepare a smoker for indirect cooking. Alternatively, you can set up a charcoal grill for 2-zone cooking by placing a chimney full of lit charcoal briquets on one side of the grill's charcoal grate in order to create direct and indirect cooking zones. Adjust the smoker or grill vents to bring the temperature to about 225°F (107.2°C) and add three to four chunks of your favorite smoking wood to the charcoal for flavor. On a gas grill, adjust the temperature knobs so that one half of the grill is off and the other half is heated enough to maintain a temperature of approximately 225°F (107.2°C) on the indirect side.
  • Once the smoker or grill is ready, brush both sides of ribs with mayonnaise and lightly season with the five-spice dry rub.
  • Cook. Place the slab of ribs meat side up on the main cooking grate as far away from the heat source as possible. Cover the smoker or grill. Allow the ribs to smoke until the meat just begins to shrink back from the ends of the bones, about 3½ hours.
  • Lay out two double layers of heavy-duty aluminum foil approximately eight inches (203.2 mm) longer than the ribs. Lay the slab of ribs on the foil meat side down. Fold up the sides of the foil to create a boat, pour in the apple juice, and loosely seal the foil.
  • Place the foiled ribs sealed side up on the smoker or grill and cook until the meat shrinks back from the ends of the bones by ¼ to ½ inch (6.4 to 12.7 mm), about 1 hour.
  • Make the sauce. While the ribs smoke, make the soy ginger BBQ sauce by combining the ketchup, honey, soy sauce, rice vinegar, brown sugar, ginger, garlic powder, and sesame oil in a small saucepan. Simmer the sauce over medium-high heat while stirring frequently until thickened, about 10 minutes.
  • Cook. Remove the ribs from the smoker or grill and cautiously open the foil packet to allow the steam to escape. Gently remove the ribs from the foil and set them back on the smoker or grill meat side up. Cover the smoker or grill and allow the ribs to cook until tender but not falling off the bone, about 20 minutes. We prefer to use the "bend test." Use tongs to pick up one end of the slab of ribs, then bend them slightly. If they are ready, the slab will bow until the meat starts to crack on the surface.
  • When they are ready, brush sauce on both sides of the ribs and turn them meat side up on the smoker or grill. Cover the smoker or grill and cook until the sauce sets and becomes tacky, 3 to 4 minutes. 
  • Serve. Remove the ribs from the smoker or grill, then slice and serve.

Nutrition per Serving

Calories: 357kcal | Carbohydrates: 69g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 4mg | Sodium: 2093mg | Potassium: 389mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 61g | Vitamin A: 2517IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 48mg | Iron: 3mg