Neck Ribs (by G)

I like to try new things (in theory) and I have never seen pork neck ribs for sale before, so when I caught sight of these babies at the butcher I bought their entire supply.  I think these ribs must be the extreme ends of the rib cage - there were some odd shapes in there. Quite a high bone to meat ratio, but the meat was good and they were prices at about $2.50 a kilo.

To cook these I made up an 'everything but the kitchen sink' marinade - Korean BBQ sauce, savoury chilli sauce, MSG, garlic powder, tomato sauces (both regular and Mexican), some funky fermented bean and chilli stuff, brown sugar, mirin, apple cider vinegar and sesame oil... I can't remember if anything else went into it. I didn't give the ribs much time to marinate before chucking them in the oven for a couple of hours. I was quite surprised to find the ribs became quite tender in such a short time.

I had more ambitious sides planned than what eventuated... all I did was super-deluxe mashed potatoes, which is basically regular mashed potatoes with the addition of fried hickory smoked bacon, fried garlic, toasted pine nuts and cheese. Unfortunately, despite roasting the potatoes in the oven for 1 1/2 hours they were not cooked entirely through so the mashed potato was a bit gluey.

The ribs, however, were excellent - though I do say so myself.