Ingredients
The Ribs
1-2 rack of meaty pork ribs, about 1 to 1.5kg each
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon garlic powder
Salt and pepper to season
The Sauce
1 cup Mānuka MG100+ Honey by Manawa Honey NZ
1¼ cups tomato sauce
2 tablespoons tomato paste
¼ cup molasses
¼ cup pineapple juice
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
¼ cup water
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon dried sumac (optional)
2½ teaspoons ground mustard
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
½ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ -½ teaspoon cayenne pepper use less or more to taste
1½ teaspoons fine plain salt
1 teaspoon pepper
Directions
The Ribs
Preheat your oven to 140C.
Select a large baking pan to fit ribs in one layer. Line with heavy duty foil. Place baking rack (a cake rack works fine) inside lined pan to keep ribs from resting on the bottom of the pan.
Remove the thin membrane (silverskin) from the back side of the ribs (if not already done by the butcher).
Sprinkle both sides of the spareribs liberally with onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Place seasoned ribs, bone side down, on the rack in the baking pan.
The Honey BBQ Sauce
Combine the Mānuka Honey and all the ingredients in a medium sized pot and bring to a boil, reduce and simmer for five minutes or until all the sugar has dissolved. Use immediately or cover and store in fridge for up to 1 week.
Divide the sauce in to 2 containers and from 1 container using a pastry brush cover the ribs with the sauce covering all exposed areas.
Cover pan tightly with heavy-duty foil. Bake about 90 minutes then baste the ribs with sauce. Recover and bake for another hour. Baste again and bake 1 more hour.
Uncover the ribs and baste heavily and bake for 45 minutes. Remove from oven, baste and rest for 15 minutes. Serve the spareribs with the reserved barbecue sauce.
Notes
The best honey to use in this recipe is our Mānuka MG100+ Honey. This Mānuka Honey won Gold at the London Honey Awards and it brings an earthy depth of flavour to this spare ribs recipe and makes it simply lip-smacking!
An alternative honey to use in this recipe is our Rewarewa Honey – the Best Tasting Honey in the World – with its rich, full flavour – another really special choice of our honey for this dish.