Maple Gochujang Oven Baked Ribs

The 4th of July is nigh. Food writer Alison Roman called it “Second Thanksgiving”—or something to that effect—and I have to agree. For me, the holiday is all about food and relaxing with a good group of people. For many, that means firing up the grill to make ribs, brisket, chicken, hamburgers, hot dogs, and all sorts of other great barbecue foods. But for those of use that are backyard- challenged, here’s a super simple recipe for maple gochujang ribs that you can bake in the oven.

For the unfamiliar, gochujang is a fermented chile paste popular in Korean cuisine, which also gives these ribs their red color. (I’ve talked about it before in my recipe for baked gochujang chicken wings.) In this ribs recipe, I balance the spice with some good ole maple syrup. Just mix those two ingredients with a little bit of salt and voila! That’s literally all it is.

If you have the time, you can let the ribs marinate in the sauce overnight, but I put them in the oven after only about an hour. I used sliced pork spareribs for this recipe, but I imagine it would translate well to a full slab that you put on the grill. Either way, it’s simple and delicious, with the flavors of the gochujang and maple syrup doing all the heavy lifting on the way to Flavortown. Enjoy!

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

Maple Gochujang Oven Baked Ribs

Prep Time: 1 hour

Cook Time: 2 hours 30 minutes

Total Time: 3 hours 30 minutes

The spice and funk of gochujang is paired with the sweetness of maple syrup for these easy baked pork ribs.

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Ingredients

• 1/2 cup gochujang
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 3 1/2 to 4 pounds sliced pork spareribs

Instructions

1. Mix together the gochujang, maple syrup, and salt in a bowl. Divide in two and reserve half of the sauce.
2. In a large baking dish, combine the ribs with half of the marinade, tossing to coat. Cover and place in the refrigerator to marinate at least 1 hour or up to overnight.
3. Heat the oven to 275˚F. Cover the baking dish with foil and bake for 2 hours.
4. Take the ribs out of the oven, increase the heat to 450˚F, and remove the foil cover. Baste the ribs with the reserved marinade and cook for 15 minutes; repeat (for a total of 30 minutes at the high temperature). Remove from the oven and serve.