Sunday, February 15, 2009

Maui Ribs


So the search continues to try and duplicate the delicious Hawaiian food I had with my son in Corvallis at Local Boyz. I made Shoyu chicken which was very good and very close to the shredded chicken we had there. But the main item we're trying to duplicate here are the ribs. They were thin, almost boneless, and absolutely delicious. We fought over them to see who could have the last one. They were dark, and pungent, and sweet, and savory all at the same time. I've never tasted a rib like it. I also had no clue as to what cut of meat it was.

So here's what happened. Someone posted a comment anonymously on my Shoyu chicken recipe and mentioned my description of the ribs reminded him or her of Azeki's ribs in Maui. This led me to begin searching Maui Ribs, Azeki's etc. and I think I've figured it out.

Here's the deal. The meat is Korean Beef Short Ribs (cut "Flanken" syle). The sauce is a basic sauce of soy, sugar, etc. with a healthy dose of sesame oil. (Recipe below) And I believe one strong component that makes these so delicious is they are marinated for FOUR days! Yeah, four days.

So although I've posted this recipe, the ribs just started marinating tonight, so I will amend it and complete it on Sunday.

Marinade:

1 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1 oz fresh ginger minced
5 garlic cloves minced
1/4 cup sesame oil
2 cups brown sugar

Place mixture in a large freezer bag with the ribs and marinate in the refrigerator for 4 days, turning every so often.

After two days, it looks like this:

After 4 days, remove from marinade and pat dry. Grill on Barbeque over low heat as the marinade will burn quickly if the heat is too high. There is no need to baste the meat while
cooking as it is just fine as is.


Try to grill until the sugar in the marinade begins to "crust" up.

Enjoy! These are delicious!!!!



14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Ron, It's "anonymous" again re: Maui Ribs. Here's the recipe I have. Massage the flanken ribs with white granulated sugar and let sit for 5 min. Here's the marinade: 1 c. white sugar, 1 c. brown sugar, 1 c. soy sauce, 3 Tbsp. toasted sesame oil, 3 Tbsp. ground toasted sesame seeds, then add to taste: grated fresh ginger, chopped onion, chopped green onion, fresh ground black pepper, and minced fresh garlic. Then add 1/2 shredded pear and 1/4 can of 7-Up. Marinate a minimum 20 min. Grill.
There you go...the real deal!

Sara said...

those sound so tasty. good maui ribs are, well, good. thanks for sharing.

Chef Tess said...

You are killing me! I will be making these for sure!

jDub said...

these looks good as is...but try dicing them up and put in them on a toasted corn tortilla, shredded cabbage, diced onions and cilantro. and u got yourself a maui taco!! i make korean galbi tacos all the time. soo good!

Anonymous said...

1/4 can of 7-UP? Why not just add the high fructose corn syrup, caffeine, and natural and artifical flavors yourself? Yuck!

Anonymous said...

Just discovered your blog and have been going through it backwards. If you google kalbi recipes you will get a lot of results for this type of rib that is very popular in Hawaii. Or here is a recipe from another blog:

http://chezannies.blogspot.com/2008/07/killer-kalbi-recipe.html

Vivian said...

Me again...anonymous, really Vivian...my directions for Maui (Azeka) ribs are from a family member who worked there. You want authentic...that's it. Seven _Up be damned!

Anonymous said...

Thank you for the recipe. I live near Corvallis and love the food at Local Boyz. I have one question if I may. Your recipe calls for 1 oz of fresh garlic minced. Did you mean Ginger? You also call for 5 garlic cloves minced. Thanks again for the recipe.

doug said...

no bbqing in my bldg. broil instead? on a broiler rack or sheet pan? 2 or 5" from broiler?

thanks!

doug said...

oh, and how many pieces/lbs. of ribs does this marinate cover?

thanks again.

Ron Merlin said...

The marinade will work easily for up to a pound of cut ribs. Just turn over every once in a while during marination.

As for broiling, that will work fine, but I would advise 5 inches from the broiler heat sauce and monitor it constantly. Because of the sugar in the marinade, they can burn quickly.

Let brown, turn once, let brown, serve and eat, I say.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the wonderful idea. Im just going 96 hours of marination of the ribs. I am using Rib Back Tails, which have very flat and round bones, looks very good. Im glad I came back to this page, because the recipe is for BBQ, and unfortunately we do not have a BBQ. So I will try the broil method.

Thanks again, I look forward to trying these.
Serving with:

Dill Mash Potatoes
Corn on the Cob (Boil with 1/4 cup of sugar)

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Anonymous said...

I just made the marinade and it tastes great! I was going to omit the ginger because I didn't have any but changed my mind and a good thing too! Amazing! I cannot wait to try!

Thanks!