I had a whole pineapple at home, waiting for something to be created with it.
I was thinking of stuffing it (Swineapple) but then I saw those ribs at the grocery store today...This dish reminds me of being a kid. My step-mom (at the time) made this, and it was my favorite dish of hers that she put on the dinner table. Well, that and her potato salad. RIP Peggy... She used canned pineapple. I can still see her at the stove making it. I tried to create it like she did, but made an "updated" version. She always served it with white rice, probably instant "minute rice" 😊. She always made things in a hurry and with processed foods. My school lunches were: Kraft processed cheese slice with Miracle Whip sandwich (white bread of course), a Wagon Wheel, apple and Kool-aid. Life in the late 70's. I'm babbling. Anyway, I served mine with some Harvest Grains. I thought the Israeli style couscous and orzo would mimic rice pretty good. I laughed at how it said to serve with everything under the sun, except pork...
The first thing I did was slice the ribs into serving pieces.
I boiled them (strong simmer, not rapid) for about 15 minutes in salted water. This gets the fat off and pretty much cooks them.
There's a gross foamy sludge that happens at the top while it's boiling. At least that all gets poured off. Here's what I used:
- 1.5 kg of pork ribs (sliced between ribs into 2 inch pieces), boiled and drained. They'll look grey, but it'll be fine, once you cook them in the sauce. I seasoned them with pepper at this stage too.
- Fresh cracked pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup brown sugar (you can use more if your pineapple is not sweet)
- 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 1/3 cup rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with equal amount of water
- 1 whole pineapple, cleaned, cored and sliced into small pieces
- 4 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon of crushed red chili flakes (optional, step-mom never used it)
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil
- Finely chopped cilantro, for garnish
While the ribs were in the dutch oven doing their thing, I got the pineapple ready. The easiest way to get the skin off is with a serrated knife. I then cut pieces off around the core and then sliced in pieces.
It was perfectly ripe and juicy and tasted really, really good and sweet.
I mixed the sugar, soy and vinegar together. I minced the garlic. I got my cornstarch measured and into a ramekin. I washed out the dutch oven I used to boil the ribs in and then swirled the avocado oil in. I heated to medium and then poured the ribs, chili flakes and garlic in.
I stir fried for a couple of minutes. (Next time, I think I would work at browning them a little more and use higher heat at this point). I then added the sauce and pineapple.
I brought to a boil, covered and then turned heat down to a simmer for 35 minutes. They needed to get tender. I stirred them once or twice. At that time I poured in the cornstarch slurry and waited until the sauce thickened bringing the heat back up to medium. It took a couple of minutes. I plated the ribs over the grains and sprinkled some cilantro on.
This was reminiscent of my memories, for sure. It wasn't a hit with my son as he despises anything "pineapple". He informed me that it was "pretty good", with hesitation. Let's just say he won't ask for it again. He ate it, so at least it wasn't inedible to him. The pineapple for me was my favorite part of this dish. The ribs were tender, not quite fall off the bone, but it just took a little tug to pull them off. The flavor was similar to teriyaki, but the majority of sweetness came from that wonderful "gold" pineapple. P.S. Leftovers were even better the next day, all the flavors came together and the chili had nice "kick" - terrific!
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