Roasted Pork Rib, Chicken Drum Sticks or Wings

I make roasted pork rib or chicken drum stick almost weekly for my family and on occasions when I have guests. The beauty of it is the oven does the job for you, with a pair of chopsticks, you don't even need to touch anything before eating. Whether you cook for 3, or 6, or 12 people, it's the same labor, just use larger or more baking dishes when cook for more than 3 people. It uses western roasting spices and Chinese braising mixture which gives the outside a golden red slightly sweet crust, the inside is juicy tasty. It tastes like a high end restaurant chef's special. I have a video testimony by my 15 months old. With this Instructable, hope you'll try it and eat like a 15 months old, no worry for table manners.

THE MEAT

1 pack pork loin back rib (about 1.2lbs, Serves about 3 in my family)

ROASTING SPICES

Sea salt

Penzys freshly ground pepper

Penzeys Hungarian style sweet paprika

Penzeys poultry seasoning

Penzeys mural of flavor

BRAISING SPICE MIXTURE

Vegetable oil

Brown sugar

Soy sauce

Chinese star anise*

Chinese Sichuan peppercorn

Cinnamon stick

Orange zest

Chinese white rice cooking wine

GARNISH with fresh chopped cilantro

Don't be intimidated by the ingredients list. Most of them you probably already have. If not, once acquired, you can roast pork ribs or chicken drum sticks whenever you want.

*Chinese star anise can be contaminated by Japanese star anise which is very toxic, for burning for religious rituals. Do ask your store if it is tested for the contamination. If it isn't a clear yes, don't buy it. Read the whole product description if you buy it online. I buy mine from Penzeys Spice.

PREPARE TIME 5-15 minutes

COOKING TIME 380F, 50 minutes

Follow the following easy 1-2-3 steps, you shall have tasty ribs!

Preheat your oven to 380F.

Place the rib in your baking dish (I recommend a glass baking dish, china baking dish is okay too) with meat side down.

Shake the five spices pictured one by one on the bone side, flip the rib, shake them again on the meat side.

Place the dish with the spiced rib with bone side down, bake for 20 minutes.

Flip the rib, bake for another 20 minutes.

While the rib is roasting in the oven for the second 20 minutes, prepare the outside braising mixture.

Place 1tbsp vegetable oil, a dozen Sichuan peppercorns, several Chinese star anise, 1 cinnamon stick, 1tsp orange zest, 2tbsp brown sugar in frying wok on medium heat.

Once the brown sugar starts to foam, add soy sauce and rice wine.

Turn off heat, brush the mixture on both sides of the rib when it's done with the second 20 minutes roasting.

Return the rib to oven, bake for another 10 minutes.

There you already got the ribs! Serve it hot alone or with green vegetables.

Here while the rib was roasting, I picked, washed and chopped collard green leaves (no stems at all which is bitter and woody), stir fried it and served the rib on the bed of it.

Here the third picture shows the rib I did maybe a couple years ago for a potluck occasion. If they look different that's because my way of cooking it is evolving over the years.

The fourth, fifth, and sixth picture show chicken drum sticks I made the same way for different occasions. The beauty of chicken drum sticks made this way is you can make big batches, it tastes great hot or cold. The left-over is perfect go-to-meat for lunch bags. I also often trim the meat off, pair with my signature hot sauce on the side or drizzle it on the top, or use it in stir fry as shown in last picture.

Enjoy! And please vote it for the Meat Contest if you like it! Thanks.

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