Sour, sweet, spicy and salty - these tender pork ribs with have the fam fighting for seconds! 

Ingredients 

• 1kg pork ribs 
• 2 Tbsp coriander powder 
• 1 tsp salt 
• 3 Tbsp canola oil 
• 4cm ginger 
• 4cm galangal 
• 3 garlic cloves 
• 1 long red chilli 
• ½ small brown onion 
• 3 coriander roots 
• 1 small lemongrass stalk (white section only - smashed and chopped) 
• 400ml unsalted chicken stock or water 
• 25ml fish sauce 
• 25ml soy sauce 
• 100ml coconut milk 
• 40g tamarind puree 
• 50g brown sugar 
• 1 star anise 
• 1 cinnamon stick 
• To serve: Handful of toasted peanuts, sliced spring onion greens 

Method 

1) Preheat oven to 160C.  

2) Cut the pork ribs into 2 bone sections (i.e. each piece has 2 bones). 

3) Marinate the pork ribs in the coriander powder, salt and 1 Tbsp of canola oil for at least 30 minutes. 

3) In a small food processor, blend the ginger, galangal, garlic, chilli, onion, coriander roots and lemongrass to create a smooth spice paste. You can add a bit of water to help it blend. 

4) Heat 2 Tbsp of canola oil in a large dutch oven over medium-high heat and add ribs, turn occasionally until a golden-brown crust forms (about 3 minutes per side). Once browned, remove ribs from dutch oven. If there are a lot of burnt bits in your dutch oven, wipe it out and add 1 Tbsp of canola oil before you continue. 

5) Turn the heat to medium and fry the spice paste in the dutch oven for 4 minutes. 

6) Add the stock or water, scrape any bits from the bottom of the dutch oven then add in the fish sauce, soy sauce, coconut milk, tamarind, brown sugar, star anise and cinnamon to the dutch oven - stirring until the brown sugar dissolves and the mixture is simmering. 

7) Add ribs to the dutch oven, bring the mixture back to a low simmer and cover with the lid. Place dutch oven in the preheated oven and cook for 1 hour 30 minutes. 

8) At the 45 minute mark, remove the lid from the dutch oven and turn the ribs to ensure even cooking. 

9) After 1 hour 30 minutes, remove the dutch oven from the oven.  

10) At this point, you can finish cooking the dish by slowly returning the dutch oven to a stove top set on a low-medium heat and simmer the sauce until it thickens (or reduces by half)*. 

11) To serve, place ribs on a plate. Drizzle ribs with sauce, then sprinkle with toasted and crushed peanuts and sliced spring onion greens. Perfect with plain rice, a fresh herby salad and a beautiful glass of riesling. 

*Bonus round: If you want to get that extra delicious caramelisation on your ribs, turn the oven to 180C on the grill setting. Place the ribs on a rack, baste with some of the simmering sauce and place under grill for about 10-15 minutes or until nicely caramelised. 

This recipe was created by Dan Dumbrell, check out Dan's instagram here.