Ingredients

• 1kg/2lb 4oz pork baby back ribs
• cut into 12 equal small racks (2 or 3 ribs per rack)
• 80g/2¾oz coarse sea salt
• 4cm/1½in piece of ginger
• peeled and cut into small strips
• 1 medium onion
• roughly chopped
• 6 garlic cloves
• crushed
• 8 whole star anise
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 tsp whole black peppercorns
• 1½ litres/2½ pints chicken stock
• 100ml/3½fl oz Shaoxing rice wine
• 100ml/3½fl oz rice vinegar
• 4 large corn cobs in their husks
• 15 sprigs of lemon thyme
• 3 tbsp lime juice
• 2 tsp maple syrup
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 1 green chilli
• seeds removed and thinly sliced
• 20g/¾oz coriander leaves
• 20g/¾oz mint leaves
• 20g/¾oz parsley leaves
• 4 spring onions
• thinly sliced
• coarse sea salt
• 3 banana shallots
• peeled and thinly sliced
• 350ml/12fl oz bourbon
• 4 tbsp maple syrup
• 2 tsp Szechuan peppercorns
• 1½ tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tbsp sesame oil
• 3 tbsp tomato ketchup
• 1½ tbsp rice vinegar
• 2 dried red chillies
• 2 garlic cloves
• lightly crushed

Directions

• Place the ribs in a large bowl with the salt. Rub it all over the meat and set aside for 1 hour.
• Rinse the ribs well under cold water
• gently rubbing off all the salt and pat dry. Put them into a large lidded saucepan. Add the ginger
• onion
• garlic
• star anise
• cinnamon and peppercorns. Pour over the stock
• rice wine and rice vinegar. Bring to the boil
• then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer gently
• covered
• for 1 hour.
• Lift out the ribs and set aside. If you are not serving them in the next couple of hours
• let the ribs cool and store them in the fridge
• covered
• until ready to use. If you do this
• make sure you bring them back to room temperature before you coat them in the glaze before serving.
• Strain the liquid
• discarding the onion
• garlic and spices
• and return it to the pan. Place on a high heat and cook for 30-35 minutes
• until the liquid has reduced to about 200ml/7fl oz. Remove from the heat and set aside. Chill if you are not serving the ribs in the next 2 hours.
• For the smoked corn salad
• remove the husks from the corn and use them to line the base of a large lidded saucepan or wok which is deep enough to fit a colander or metal steaming basket inside. Add the lemon thyme and place the pan over a high heat. Once the husks and thyme begin to smoke (about 6 minutes) place the colander in the pan and place the corn cobs inside it. Use a lid to seal the pan and smoke for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside
• covered
• for another 5 minutes. Remove the lid and set aside to cool.
• Stand each corn cob on a chopping board and use a large sharp knife to shave off rows of kernels
• cutting from top to bottom. Cut deep enough into the cob so that some of the kernels remain in clusters
• this isn’t essential
• it just looks good. Set the corn kernels aside and discard the cobs.
• Make the glaze about 45 minutes before you are ready to serve
• place all the ingredients for the glaze
• along with 100ml/3½fl oz of the stock reduction
• in a large pan. Bring to the boil
• then simmer on a medium-high heat for 20-25 minutes
• until the liquid has reduced to about 200ml/7fl oz and has the consistency of syrup. Return the pork ribs to the sauce and stir gently so they all get coated. Cook for about 7 more minutes on a medium heat
• stirring once or twice until the ribs are warmed through and sticky.
• Just before serving
• finish the salad by placing the lime juice
• maple syrup
• olive oil and chilli in a large bowl with 1 teaspoon sea salt. Whisk to combine
• then mix in the corn kernels
• herbs and spring onion. Place two small racks of ribs on each plate – one leaning against the other – and serve with the corn salad alongside.