Pork spare ribs with honey-mustard sauce
November 19, 2009 • Hello. I am currently out of the country and unable to respond to comments and e-mails. Rest assured, however, that future posts have been scheduled so new recipes will go live almost everyday during my absence. I'll be back soon with lots of stories and photos. Ciao for now! ~ ConnieAmong the most famous of Asian cuisines, none perhaps can parallel those borne out of peasant cooking. And the benchmark of peasant cooking is the ability of the home cook to whip up delicious dishes with whatever ingredients are available from the surrounding lands and waters. The philosophy? Everything is useful and nothing should be wasted.
I try to think of this philosophy whenever I cook at home. Although modern conveniences allow me to buy produce and condiments from markets and groceries instead of picking vegetables or wild mushrooms, catching fish and slaughtering a chicken or hog for every meal, I still try to live by the philosophy that everything is useful and nothing should be wasted.
This philosophy has never found more relevance than during the events of the past days. When typhoon Ondoy cut us off from all modern conveniences – including markets, supermarkets and even sari-sari stores – I sought to create meals that were nonetheless appetizing despite the meager ingredients available.
And there was another goal too — an even more important one, in fact. I strived to make use of everything that was perishable in the refrigerator and pantry. It would have been easy to open canned goods or resort to instant noodles but there was still meat and fish in the freezer that would go to waste unless cooked.
On Sunday morning, the rains had subsided but power had not been restored in our area. I took the already partially thawed kilo and a half of pork spare ribs from the freezer and decided they had to be cooked then or they would soon spoil and be unsafe for human consumption.
There were enough fresh spices and herbs and bits and pieces of vegetables to cook something visually exciting but getting the pork cooked was not the only goal. I had to use as few utensils as possible because our supply of stored water was running out fast. One sandok and one cooking pan were all I could afford to use. Here’s what I did.
I placed a non-stick pan on the stove and laid the pork spare ribs in a single layer. Over medium-high heat, I cooked the ribs until they started to render fat. When one side was nicely browned after frying in its own fat, I flipped the ribs over to brown the other side.
Next, I poured in a cup of water and about half a cup of prepared mustard (yes, the kind you buy in a bottle). I needed an equal amount of honey, did not have enough so I made up for the difference by adding pancake syrup. Maple flavored pancake syrup, to be more precise. Then, a teaspoonful of salt and a generous amount of freshly round pepper. I stirred everything and when the mixture was boiling, I lowered the heat, covered the pan tightly and allowed everything to simmer for a little over an hour.
What you see in the photo was the result. Tender, delicious, very tasty. Who said you need so many ingredients to cook something great? Best part, it felt nice that I resisted the urge to turn to canned goods and was able to make good use of meat that would have otherwise spoiled and rotted.
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[...] salvaging everything in your fridge and freezer before they spoil during a power outage. Like the pork spare ribs with honey-mustard sauce and this braised pork spare ribs with black bean and garlic [...]
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Great lesson: not just the recipe but the lesson on conserving meager resources and supplies ! thanks again, Connie!
I’ll try this tomorrow looks so yummy. One sandok and one frying pan okay yan konti lang ang hugasan:))
Hmmmm…looks good…kaso baka ako lang kumain due to the mustard…hehe. I like the idea of letting it render fat.
During the storm, we ran out of gas and the kitchen was flooded but we did have electricity. I planned to cook something using the rice cooker upstairs. Didn’t happen though, couldn’t open the fridge since part of it was sumberged. Too bad, had couple of ideas pa naman. Nauwi kami sa Andoks!
Alam mo, after this spare ribs dish, we were able to cook a pack of ground pork and yakiniku cut beef (cooked them as tapa) but after that, everything else spoiled. Ang baho ng fridge namin by the time power was restored.
hi connie! when i got back to holland i vowed to lessen my intake of meat kaya lang when i saw this new recipe of yours…grabe…mouthwatering!!! and im a big fan of ribs waaaah!!!
Indulge once in a while… or more often hehehehe
when milenyo hit last 2006, before all the meat and fishes get spoiled, i cooked all the meat using all the adobo recipes i could think of. As for the fish, i made paksiw and fried the rest.
I have away some maya-maya fillets to our ironing woman. Enough for her family’s lunch.
Hi Miss Connie
For the spare ribs with honey-mustard recipe, did you use the Dijon Mustard.
As far as proportions is concerned am I right in understanding that it is 1/2 cup mustard, 1/2 cup honey, 1 cup water for 1 1/2 kilo pork. Am planning to use pork belly.
Thanks
Lisa
Not Dijon. Just plain mustard. But you can use any kind so long as it isn’t sweetened.
Re proportions. Yes, that’s right.
Hi Miss Connie
Is this the one you use on hotdogs?
Thanks.
Yes.
thank you for this recipe!
it’s soo easy to make [i'm a novice in the kitchen], and it tastes sooo good that my husband commented and complimented, “this is a restaurant level dish, no need to eat out!”
instead of cooking for an hour though, i boiled the meat in water for an hour in advance, then added the rest of the ingredients and cooked for 15 mins only.
thank you ms connie! your website is a blessing to me!
hi Ms. Connie,
I’ve been using your recipes for quite some time now. and it is very helpful for me especially having kids and husband who are picky eaters. I tried your korean beef stew which im cooking right now, (my 8 y.o. son Patrik requested it for lunch) the lengua in mushroom sauce ( for my 5yo son Ynigo) and others. My husband is requesting for pork spareribs and i would like to try this recipe but i dont know where to find a nicely cut spareribs. i’ve been to our local market and what they gave me are the ones with the spine.and ive been to monterey meat shop but theirs are frozen, i dont like the taste of frozen meat, i prefer the fresh ones. Please tell me where to find the cut that you used in this recipe.
Thank you for sharing your recipes.
Try the meat stalls in Shopwise, Landmark and Unimart.
Hi Miss Connie!
I have half a chicken, do you think I could substitute this for the pork?
Thank you!
Yes.