This dish needs a pineapple that’s ripe but still firm, balancing sweetness with acidity to create the sauce’s sweet and sour profile. In Vietnam, back ribs are cut into smaller, chopstick-friendly pieces that can be eaten easily from bone to bowl.
Serves: 3-4
PREP TIME: 20 minutes
COOKING TIME: 55 minutes
Ingredients:
- 290g pineapple (½ pineapple), peeled
- 1 tablespoon neutral oil
- 25g shallots, chopped
- 20g garlic, chopped
- 500g baby back ribs, cut into 4cm chunks
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 10g (2 teaspoons) chilli and lemongrass oil
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 60g onion, sliced
To finish
- ½ long buffalo chilli, deseeded
- 20g spring onions, cut into 4cm lengths
- ½ teaspoon black pepper to garnish
METHOD:
Halve the pineapple vertically, remove the core, and slice it into triangles.
In a pan, heat the oil over a medium heat, then add the shallots and garlic and stir-fry for about 3 minutes until they start turning golden. Add the baby back ribs and stir-fry for 2 minutes. Add the fish sauce, chilli and lemongrass oil, sugar and salt, stirring everything together. Pour in 80ml (1/3 cup) of water, cover the pan and let it simmer for 30 minutes.
Add the pineapple slices to the pan and continue cooking for an additional 20 minutes. Add the onion and cook for another 30–60 seconds, then remove from the heat.
Add the deseeded chilli and the spring onions, sprinkle with the black pepper and serve.
Edited recipe extract from Vietnam: The Cookbook by Anaïs Ca Dao van Manen, published by Phaidon. $80.
