BBQ Backyard-style Apricot-glazed Pork Ribs with Crushed Spices

What I love about these absolutely delicious apricot-glazed barbecued pork ribs is how easy and fail-proof they are to make, and a fair bit quicker than the typical low-and-slow bbq recipes. Simmering the meat in salted water first guarantees that the ribs will be soft, tender and cooked through; the apricot glaze provides tonnes of flavour, and is easy to baste onto the ribs a few times while they cook.

This recipe is from Live Fire: Seasonal Barbecue Recipes and Stories of Live Fire Traditions Old and New, a book very much focused on achievable recipes that taste fantastic. To find out more, read my in-depth review of Helen Graves’ Live Fire cookbook.

Backyard-style Apricot-glazed Pork Ribs with Crushed Spices

There are lots of delicious side dishes in the book too, so it’s easy to make an entire meal from its pages.

Backyard-style Apricot-glazed Pork Ribs with Crushed Spices

 

Backyard-style Apricot-glazed Pork Ribs with Crushed Spices

These are ‘backyard style’ in the sense that they’re simmered first, then finished on the grill (I can feel the barbecue crew sneering from here). Yes, fully smoked ribs are wonderful, but this is such as easy method that I turn to it often. The ribs are sticky sweet from the apricot jam and the crushed spices add bold flavour right at the end of cooking. Finishing with toasted, crushed spices like this is one of my favourite tricks for outdoor cooking. Grilled food can take it.
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Author Helen Graves

Ingredients

  • 2 meaty racks of pork ribs
  • 6 tablespoons apricot jam
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
  • ½ teaspoons ground ginger
  • dash of Tabasco
  • 1 tablespoon ketchup
  • ½ teaspoon onion powder
  • ½ teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
  • 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
  • 1 teaspoon dried chilli flakes, or to taste
  • sea salt

Notes

Setup: Indirect cooking
Equipment: Tongs

Instructions

  • Bring a large pan of water to the boil and salt it heavily, as if cooking pasta. Add the ribs and simmer for 1 hour, skimming off the scum every so often.
  • Combine the apricot jam, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, cider vinegar, ground ginger, Tabasco, ketchup, onion powder and garlic powder in a small saucepan. Bring to the boil, stir and simmer gently for 10 minutes.
  • Once the ribs are done, remove them from the water andallow to steam dry while you prepare a barbecue for indirect cooking over medium heat, with the coals banked to one side.
  • Lightly toast the coriander and fennel seeds and chilli in a dry frying pan, moving them around so they don’t burn. Lightly crush with a pestle and mortar or something heavy. Combine with the chilli flakes and set aside.
  • Place the ribs on the opposite side of the grill to the coals and brush them with the apricot glaze. Continue brushing and glazing, turning the ribs every so often, for 10–15 minutes, until they’re shiny and caramelised in places.
  • Slice the ribs and top with the crushed spice mixture.

To Cook Indoors:

  • Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F/gas 4). Once the ribs are cooked, place them on a baking tray, brush with the apricot glaze and bake in the oven for 10 minutes. Glaze again and cook for a further 10 minutes.

We really enjoyed the flavours and textures of these lovely pork ribs, and appreciated how easy they were to make, despite having not cooked ribs on a BBQ before.

 

Kavey Eats received a review copy of Live Fire: Seasonal Barbecue Recipes and Stories of Live Fire Traditions Old and New from publishers Hardie Grant. This recipe is published with permission. Book photography by Rob Billington. 

Please leave a comment - I love hearing from you!
2 Comments to "BBQ Backyard-style Apricot-glazed Pork Ribs with Crushed Spices"

  1. Michigan Fireplace

    Wow, this looks great. Is there a specific grill that you need to use for this recipe? Thanks.

    Reply
    kaveyeats

    Your regular BBQ grill is fine but you can also cook them in an oven, as per the recipe.

    Reply

Please leave a comment - I love hearing from you!

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating