Maple & Soy Glazed Pork Ribs

Ingredients

• 2 racks baby back pork ribs, about 1.2kg total
• 5 tbsp soy sauce
• 4 tbsp maple syrup
• 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp chilli flakes
• 2 spring onions, sliced
• 1 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted
• coleslaw and corn on the cob, to serve
• Steamed jasmine rice, to serve
• Pickled cucumber, to serve
• Fresh coriander, to serve

Method

1. Whisk the soy sauce, maple syrup, cider vinegar, Dijon mustard, crushed garlic, smoked paprika, ground ginger and chilli flakes together in a bowl until glossy. Taste it — it should hit salty, sweet and sharp in that order. Adjust the salt now if it's flat; the soy carries most of it but a pinch of salt ties the spices together.
2. Preheat the oven to 160°C/fan 140°C. Pat the ribs dry with kitchen paper — water means steam, steam means no caramelisation later — and season both sides with salt and pepper. Sit them on a large sheet of foil in a roasting tin, pour over half the glaze and rub it into the meat. Wrap tightly so no steam escapes.
3. Slow-roast for 2 hours. You're looking for meat that gives easily when you nudge a bone — it should twist and start to pull away. The garlic in the glaze cooks gently inside the foil parcel, so it never catches; if you were ever tempted to fry this glaze first, don't — raw garlic going straight into a hot pan turns bitter in seconds.
4. Open the foil carefully — there'll be a lot of steam — and tip the cooking juices into a small saucepan. Stir in the reserved glaze and a splash of cider vinegar from the bottle to wake it back up; two hours of slow heat dulls the acid.
5. Crank the oven up to 220°C/fan 200°C. Brush the ribs generously with the combined glaze and roast uncovered for 15–20 minutes, turning and basting every 5 minutes. You want dark, lacquered edges and sticky patches that catch — not black. Watch the last 5 minutes closely; the sugars in the maple go from mahogany to burnt fast.
6. While the ribs finish, simmer the remaining glaze for 2 minutes until it coats the back of a spoon. Taste it one more time — season again if it needs it, and add another splash of vinegar if the sweetness is dominating.
7. Rest the ribs for 5 minutes on the board, then cut between the bones. Pile them on a platter, spoon the reduced glaze over, scatter with the sliced spring onions and toasted sesame seeds, and serve the coleslaw and corn on the cob alongside.