Cinnfully Sweet Spare Ribs, Potatoes, and Rice

Marinade ingredients

1 cup cream de coco
3 tbsp dried basil leaf
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
3 yellow plumcots
2-3 white carrots
1 small purple carrots
1 medium white candy onion
2 medium to small red candy onions
1 tsp ground savory
1 tsp rosemary leaf powder
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/4 cup apple wine
2 tsp kosher salt
25 turns very coarse-ground Himalayan pink salt
1 tsp Saigon cinnamon
1 tsp Cassia cinnamon

Clean, dice, and puree carrots in food processor. Add to large mixing bowl (AB). Repeat with onions (CD). Remove stones from yellow plumcots and puree, then add to bowl (E). Place 1 cup cream de coco and 1/4 tsp apple wine into food processor and run for a minute or two to mix well and clean out any residue. Add to bowl. Add all other ingredients above (F shows Himalayan pink salt). Stir together with a spoon, then beat with a hand mixer on a low setting (you'll get a bit of splashback, but not too much on low).

Place in 10.5 x 14.75 glass baking dish. Spread evenly. (G)

Take a 5.76 lb slab of pork spare ribs. Cut apart, two-three ribs for smaller ones, single for larger. Also, side fillets and back portions. Place in dish, turn to coat (H), cover with two layers of foil and refrigerate 10-12 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Take out and move ribs to foil. Spoon marinade into medium-large saucepan. Brush bottom of baking dish with olive oil and return ribs to dish, arranging neatly (I). Spoon some of marinade over ribs and spread about, just enough to cover lightly (J). Loosely replace foil and place in oven for 2 to 2.5 hours. Place remainder of marinade in fridge for next step with it.

After an hour, take saucepan back out (K). Wash 1.5 lbs baby Dutch yellow potatoes and add to pot (L). Turn heat to 5.5 (medium high). Cook for 25-30 minutes, stir, cover, and drop heat to 4 (medium). Cook for 20-25 minutes more, until liquid is virtually gone and it begins to blacken a bit at bottom. Deglaze with spoon, add 2 cups of water, stir, and bring to boil on high. Add 1 cup fragrant jasmine rice, cover, drop heat to a half notch above simmer and cook for 15 minutes.

The ribs come out bubbling and delicious (NO) and the marinade really lends a wonderfully complementary flavor to both the rice (M) and the ribs. Serve side by side (PQ). We had ours with a nice Angry Orchard Cinnful Apple hard cider. The meat falls right off the bones, and is wonderfully sweet in the way good pork is. The potatoes are indeed nice and buttery, the rice sweet and delicious; you can taste the influence of the carrots and sweet onions throughout.

Dairy, gluten, nut, peanut, fish, shellfish, egg, tomato, canola, and soy-free.