Little Nemo, it’s specifically barbecue sauce. Teriyaki or hoisin might work.
I like all of the ideas so far, although the potatoes and sauerkraut will probably need to wait until the weather cools down.
I am definitely trying sinigang sometime, if I have to eat it all myself. I may even have some tamarind around.
I made some pork bulgogi last weekend in the crock pot. I didn’t follow that recipe exactly (added some ginger, peppers and rice noodles) but it turned out damn good!
I think we have a winner. I may even have all of those ingredients already. Dinner tomorrow.
I’ll have to try that with some Butt Rub.
Here is a non BBQ rib recipe. I haven’t tried it yet, but it’s on my list to try. It is a dry(ish) method that uses the stand-up method. They put about 5 tablespoons of liquid in the bottom for steam flavoring. BTW, the coconut aminos are a gluten free alternative to soy sauce, so if you aren’t gluten free don’t worry about finding aminos, just use soy sauce.
I’ve cooked pork shoulder in our crockpot with a mixture of pineapple juice, cider vinegar, and brown sugar. Sort of a Hawaiian-influenced Carolina barbecue and should work for ribs as well.
I love making ribs in the slow cooker. I usually either do a sweet dry rub (with brown sugar) or with just salt and pepper, then finish them on the grill with sauce (it’s our preference).
I hate that we ended up leaving our slow cooker behind when we moved to the other end of the country. I’m going to have to find another one.
pull the membrane off the ribs and rub with garlic, salt, pepper. Throw them into the crockpot with apples, onions, peaches, pears. Add anything you like such as ginger or brown sugar and Top off with beer, wine, or hard cider. You really can’t screw them up or cook them too long if they are covered in some kind of liquid.
I often like to cook that kind of meat in a “neutral” flavor and then add the strong flavorings later. It’s part of a strategy to get multiple quick and easy meals.
The neutral flavoring is the meat, salt, pepper and some onion. (I cut the onion in half and then throw it out when the meat’s done, since it will reduce to mush.) These base flavors seem to go with anything later.
Then I can take it any direction I like. It’s good this way straight out of the crockpot (over rice is great), but you can easily season it for virtually any dish. So I might add teriyaki and serve over rice one night, add chile and put it in enchiladas or tacos on night two, and then finish it off with BBQ sauce on hamburger buns on night three. Curry takes it toward India and sauerkraut takes it back to Europe.
Since the meat can be cooked in advance and repurposed, the meals each night are ready to go very quickly. It doesn’t really feel like leftovers because the flavor profile is so easily changed. Plus, if you have a family of picky eaters, there’s nothing wrong with letting one kid go teriyaki while another goes the taco route.
It’s not specifically a crockpot recipe, but I expect that you’ll find this recipe for spareribs and cabbage easy to adapt for use in a crockpot:
I first made this dish when I was a teenager; I found it when it was a winner of the “one pot meals” contest of Parade magazine (that old insert that used to come in Sunday papers around the country.) It was good enough that I spent time to track down the recipe online after I lost the paper one I had cut out and saved for years. I like to eat it with a hearty, rustic bread of some sort.
So I finally got around to making ribs in a slow cooker.
Started with about 2.5 lb of ribs. Gave them a thorough dry rub. Added a couple of table spoons of cider vinegar to cut the sweetness of the brown sugar. Marinated them over night and stuck them in the crock pot by noon the next day. Set it to high.
Though I added no liquid, about half way through there was a generous cup and half of liquid in the pot. I poured it off into a sauce pan and put the ribs back in to finish cooking. Meanwhile, I skimmed the fat off the top of the sauce and began reducing it. Added a squeeze of tomato paste, worcestershire sauce, some pepper flakes, a few tea spoons of fig jam and some minced garlic. When it was reduced to one third, I spread it on the ribs - which were fall apart tender - and browned them quickly under the broiler. Done!
I have to say, these were by far the best ribs I’ve ever made. As good as any ribs I’ve ever had in any great rib joint. I don’t think I’ll bother making ribs any other way again.
I’ve had good luck with just ribs and Greek dressing and lots of garlic (though I use lots of garlic on everything). Caveat with slow cooked ribs; if you let them cook too long there’s very little left (they “melt”).
Awesome! That does sound good. I can’t think of a better way to make them at home either!