The trick to great barbecued ribs is not letting the meat get lost in the sauce.
So to keep the pork flavorful and moist – and to give it the substance to stand up to the sauce – I created a quick sweet and peppery brine from brown sugar, kosher salt, peppercorns and garlic powder.
A quick – or not, depending on how much time you have – bath in the brine produces exceptionally tender, moist ribs. To help the meat shine even more, I opted for country-style pork ribs, which are all meat and no bone.
As for the barbecue sauce, there's nothing wrong with using purchased. But it's easy to make your own, which lets you tweak the flavors. I created a spicy Asian-influenced one for this recipe.
Brined and Grilled Country-Style Pork Ribs
Start to finish: 1 hour 20 minutes (20 minutes active)
Servings: 3
For the brine:
2 cups water
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
cup kosher salt
1 tablespoon whole peppercorns
1 teaspoon garlic powder
4 cups ice
1 pounds country-style pork ribs
For the barbecue sauce:
6-ounce can tomato paste
cup packed brown sugar
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
teaspoon garlic powder
teaspoon ground dry ginger
teaspoon cumin
teaspoon dry mustard powder
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
2 tablespoons water
Sesame seeds
In medium saucepan over medium-high, combine water, brown