Spring entertaining at its best with Neven Maguire

Your butcher will be happy to skin these pork ribs for you and to leave the pork belly attached. This is a great barbecue meal, so it may be worthwhile to give your butcher a little notice as, if the sun shines, these will be cooked up and down the country. If the weather fails, you simply cook them in a preheated oven (200oC (400oF/gas mark six) for eight to 10 minutes, brushed literally with the glaze. I like to keep brushing on the glaze and popping them back into the oven after that for a few more minutes – this builds up a really good layer of dark, sticky glaze.

I always keep Chinese five-spice powder in the cupboard. It is not hot and it’s very versatile. Recently, I used it at a great demo in Kilkenny, put on by the Lions Club there to raise money for two local charities, Cois Nore and Teach Tom. I enjoyed meeting so many people interested in cooking and all of the local food producers. This glaze is great on steak also. For the plum jam, you will probably need to go to an Asian supermarket.

Potato salad goes great with these ribs. Happy cooking,

Sticky Chinese ribs with plum sauce

Serves four

2 x 12 racks pork belly ribs (1.5-2kg)

2 tsp Chinese-five spice powder

1 tbsp Donegal rapeseed oil

Glaze:

2 tbsp Donegal rapeseed oil

4 red onions, thinly sliced

3 star anise

1 tsp Chinese five-spice powder

1 large garlic clove, finely chopped

100g (4oz) plum jam

juice of 2 oranges

4 tbsp light brown sugar

2 tbsp rice wine vinegar

spring onion and red chilli curls, to garnish (shredded and left to curl in a bowl of iced water) (optional)

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 Rub the ribs with the Chinese five-spice powder and two teaspoons of salt and a good grinding of black pepper, then leave them uncovered in the fridge for at least two hours, but preferably overnight. When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 160oC (325oF/gas mark three).

2 Take three long sheets of tin foil and put the ribs in the centre. Drizzle with the oil and seal into a tight parcel. Place on a baking sheet and cook in the middle of the oven for three hours, or until the ribs are tender and cooked through.

2 Meanwhile, make the glaze. Heat the oil in a pan and sauté the onions and star anise for 15 to 20 minutes until completely softened and starting to caramelise, stirring occasionally. Stir in the five-spice and garlic and cook for another minute. Add the plum jam, orange juice, sugar and vinegar. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for another minute or two until the sugar has dissolved. Remove the star anise and discard, then place the onion mixture into a food processor and blend to a smooth puree, adding a splash of water, if needed. If you would like it super smooth, pass through a fine sieve. Pour 120ml (4fl oz) of the glaze into a bowl and reserve to use as the dipping sauce.

3 Prepare the barbecue for medium to high, indirect heat (for a charcoal grill, bank the coals on one side of the grill; for a gas barbecue, leave at least two of the burners off). Before using your barbecue, give it a good scrape with a wire brush and then use a pair of tongs to dip kitchen roll into oil and swipe them over the grates. Brush a good layer of the glaze over the ribs and place them on the grill for eight to 10 minutes, then continue to cook for another five minutes or so, brushing continuously with the rest of the glaze to give a really good layer of dark sticky glaze.

4 Once the ribs have cooked, leave them to rest for at least 10 minutes before cutting into individual ribs. Arrange on a large platter with the reserved plum dipping sauce and scatter over the spring onion and chilli curls, if liked. Have finger bowls at the ready and plenty of napkins to hand around. CL