This recipe is an adaptation from the book, Izakaya: The Japanese Pub Cookbook (amazon link). It is a good book. It is organized around several Izakaya restaurants in Japan the author writes about and showcases a few of their recipes. Each Izakaya is a little bit different – some are more modern and others more traditional – and that is reflected by the owners, the food being served and the atmosphere of the restaurant. After all, cooking is really about the people making it and the people who are eating it.
The recipe in the book only called for a cooking time of 30 minutes. This is going to produce some tough ribs. Meat near the bones that has connective tissues and collagen will benefit from a longer cooking time at a lower temperature. So I changed the cooking time, added caramelized onions and some extra sesame oil for more flavor. One could also add orange zest for more citrus flavors. Orange and sesame are a good pairing.
Ingredients
Marinade:
Soy Sauce…… 3 tablespoons
Sake…… 2 tablespoons
Mirin…….2 tablespoons
Sesame Oil….. 2 tablespoons
Caramelized Onion…… 1/2 large yellow onion
Garlic…… 1 glove, crushed and chopped
Directions
1. In a medium sauce pan add about 1 tablespoons oil plus 1/2 of a sliced, large yellow onion. Cook at low heat while stirring occasionally for about 30 minutes until caramelized.
marinate ribs
2. Mix the ingredients for the marinade together in shallow pan. Add the ribs and marinate ribs in the refrigerate overnight (minimum of 6 hours).
Bake
3. Remove ribs from refrigerator about 30 minutes before you plan to bake them. Pre-heat oven to 225 F and place ribs back side up (the more white side) on a baking tray lined with foil. Bake in oven for about 2 hours at 225 F. Be sure to save the marinade to finish the ribs.
4. Flip ribs and turn the temperature up to 325 F. Bake for another another 45 minutes.
5. Take out the ribs out of the oven and pour/brush ribs with about 1/2 cup of the remaining marinade and bake for another 15 – 2o minutes.
6. Remove from oven and arrange on a serving plate. For extra presentation, garnish with parsley and/or orange slice.