The Five Spices of Chinese Ribs
There’s definitely a couple tricks to making great polenta. Learn from our mistakes. We have made many.
The journey of a thousand miles begins with polenta. It’s supposed to be 1 to 4 parts water, but if you go just shy of a cup and use chicken broth the world will never be the same. The next step is to prep the tuna, chops, and ribs; MCM did that while Uncle Bob worked on the salad and wild rice; I worked on the most important part – MCM’s Bumble profile.
The real trick to polenta is to throw a generous amount of truffle butter on top once cooked.
Bumble can be a little more complicated. If you have been off the market for a while and suddenly find yourself back on, the idea of having to be swiped on might take some getting used to. As for myself, a relatively well adjusted, consciousness person, I was not ready for on-line dating. But it’s a great way to get back out there.
As in anything in life, prep is critical. The tuna and chops are pretty straightforward. For the ribs it’s the Chinese 5 spice that is the key. Salt and pepper 2-3 lbs. ribs and then coat with the 5 spice and sear the ribs in oil for color.
The not so secret, secret, to prep on Bumble is to come up with some quality pics and a solid intro. Fortunately, with Mike there was a lot to work with, but you have to be sensible. Mike is predominately a world class chef who caters private dinners for movie stars. He’s also a real estate developer, and a wonderful father. He’s kind, considerate, hilarious, and good natured. The problem is how to get all that into an app and make it seem organic.
Deglazing the pan with 2 cups of red wine is much easier. Place the fond in a large pan and simmer with 1.5 boxes beef stock, 2 shallots, 5 garlic cloves, 2 sprigs thyme, and 2 sprigs rosemary. Add ribs, cover, place in oven at 350 for 2-2.5 hrs. until tender.
While baking the ribs we grabbed pics from three key areas: outdoor cooking (rugged but skilled), high-desert travel (rugged but sophisticated), Kilimanjaro book on chest while napping on Roche Bobois sofa (rugged by cultured) – there is a theme developing here. All real pictures, and not staged. The writing of the actual intro was the hardest part. For that we reached out to a real writer. A TV guy Uncle Bob knows. It was a masterpiece. Like watching an episode of “That’s Incredible” unfold in the best way possible.
Transfer ribs to a baking sheet lined with foil. Mix hoisin (1/2 cup), sweet chili sauce (1/4 cup) and ½ tbs. siracha, coat ribs in sauce and broil for 1 to 2 min until sugars are caramelized.
Pull ribs and rest for 10 min, garnish with chopped peanuts and scallions.
There are very few things better than Chinese ribs. The only thing I can think of would be enjoying them with good friends while you drink wine, eat cake, and get them back on the horse.
