Ribs: Cambodian Style

Sorry I’ve not blogged for a few days, but it’s been a busy week. Thought I might provide a weekend treat.

As you’ve already realized, I’m a lover of all types of ribs: dry and wet rubbed, spare ribs, and baby back, as well as all regional varieties including St. Louis, Memphis, Kansas City, and Carolina styles.

I’ve provided a fantastic Tamarind Baby Back Ribs recipe that I had at Kampuchea (described fully more below), and have made several times at home with great success. This recipe takes a bit more work, both shopping time to find the ingredients as well as the preparation time, but you will be well rewarded for your efforts. (Note: you may need to venture out to a local Asian or Indian market to find both the tamarind paste and shrimp paste (this one may be extra tough—if you can’t find, just leave it out)).

Kampuchea is located in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. If you have never been there, this downtown location that was once the assimilation area for a melting pot of new immigrants arriving in New York through the Ellis Island. It was a horrible area in the 1960’s and 70’s with lots of crime and squalor, but has been totally revitalized and transformed over the past 10 years through a process similar to what had previously happened elsewhere (e.g. the Upper West Side, Soho, the East Village, Harlem) in the City.

The Lower East Side now has an ever changing assortment of new restaurants and bars, and some excellent museums including the Lower East Side Tenement Museum http://www.tenement.org/index_virtual.html (which is a preserved immigrant tenement house) located on Orchard Street, and the New Museum of Contemporary Art, http://www.newmuseum.org/about, on the Bowery.

Located on Rivington Street, Kampuchea, http://kampucheanyc.com/, offers excellent “Cambodian street food”. While I’ve never been to Cambodia, if the food here is any indication, I look forward to walking down those streets!

The place has a “cool vibe” with a large wooden communal table in the middle of the restaurant, and more typical seating around the communal area. The menu is designed for “tasting” and includes a variety of amazingly flavored soups, lettuce wrapped “Cambodian crepes”, and sandwiches, as well as other “small plates”. Kampuchea uses high quality organic ingredients and artisanal food preparations.

While we have enjoyed most dishes over several visits, highly recommended ones would include the spicy Bwah Moun Soup, the grilled eggplant sandwich, the tiger shrimp crepe, the crispy pork belly, and of course the ribs…

When making the ribs, you can do the oven cooking earlier in the day, and then finish them in the broiler (or even better on the bbq) a bit later.

I have no doubt you will love these!

Tamarind Baby Back Ribs

1/2 cup whole coriander

2 each star anise

1 rack back ribs, whole (baby back)

Salt and pepper to taste

1 large spanish onion, cut 1/2" slice

1 large knob of ginger, cut 1/2" slice

2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 Tbsp fish sauce

Glaze

1 cup tamarind paste

1 1/2 cup honey

2 cups water

2 tsp shrimp paste

2 each dried red chili

2 each tomato, rough chop

Salt and pepper to taste

Cilantro and Lime Dip

1 sprig of cilantro, blanched

1 cup of oil

1 egg yolk

1 Tbsp water

1 Tbsp (fresh) lime juice

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Toast coriander and star anise in dry sauté pan until fragrant; grind in spice grinder
3. Coat the ribs with the spices and salt and pepper
4. Lay the ribs on a sheet of foil and add the vegetables, vinegar, and fish sauce
5. Place in the oven; cook until done, around 1 hr
6. For glaze, combine all ingredients into a saucepan and simmer over medium to low heat until thick
7. Turn broiler to medium flame
8. Once the ribs are done, remove from the foil and discard the vegetables. Cut the ribs and place onto a sheet pan and brush generously with the glaze
9. Place under broiler to caramelize
10. Serve with dip and pickled vegetables

Cilantro and Lime Dip

1. Combine cilantro and oil in a blender and puree until smooth; set aside for half an hour
2. Place the yolk of the egg in the blender with the water and lime juice
3. Puree together and slowly start to add the cilantro oil until the mixture can coat the back of a spoon
4. Place in the refrigerator to chill