In this video, Chef John shares his recipe for Teriyaki Ribs, perfect for your next barbecue or dinner. Watch as he demonstrates the steps to achieve tender, flavorful ribs coated in a savory homemade teriyaki sauce. From preparing the marinade to grilling the ribs to perfection, Chef John's easy-to-follow instructions will help you create an amazing meal.
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00:00Hello, this is Chef John from FoodWishes.com with the best teriyaki ribs.
00:09That's right, I'm a huge fan of teriyaki chicken, and we've posted several videos for that.
00:14But I've never posted one featuring ribs.
00:16And after tasting how incredible these came out, I'm thinking that rib teriyaki might
00:21be the best teriyaki.
00:22And I'm going to show you what I think is by far the best method.
00:26And to get started, we will add three ingredients to a bowl that should be included in any proper
00:30teriyaki preparation.
00:32And that includes a high quality real soy sauce.
00:35We will also need some sake, which of course is Japanese rice wine, followed by something
00:41called mirin, which is basically a sweet Japanese cooking wine.
00:45And yes, you can easily find that at the store.
00:48And it's usually right next to the next ingredient, which would be some seasoned rice vinegar.
00:53And then to this, we'll also want to add some brown sugar, as well as some freshly
00:57ground black pepper, some garlic powder, and then a little bit of cayenne for some heat.
01:03And good luck.
01:04And once all that's in there, we'll take a whisk and give this a mix.
01:08And once that's been accomplished, we will simply set this aside until we need it.
01:12And we will move on to prepping our racks of ribs, which for me this time are going
01:16to be two racks of baby back ribs.
01:18And what we need to do is flip this over and deal with the membrane, which is a piece of
01:23thin, tough connective tissue attached to the bones.
01:25And what I usually do is just simply make some slashes with the tip of a knife in kind
01:30of a crisscross pattern like this.
01:32But many chefs insist you have to actually peel off the membrane, which we do initially
01:37by scraping with the knife.
01:39And once we have enough we can grab with a paper towel, we can start pulling.
01:43And while it really doesn't take a tremendous amount of effort, it does take a little longer.
01:47And it's kind of annoying, which is why I almost never do it.
01:51And I simply go with the slash method, which I think does the same thing in that it breaks
01:55it up and allows any flavors to penetrate through.
01:59But whether you're a slasher or a peeler, once we're done we'll go ahead and take the
02:02tip of a knife and we'll give this the old polka polka so that our marinade can penetrate
02:08and penetrate deep.
02:10And then I'm going to go ahead and cut this in half so it fits into my container better.
02:15So I went ahead and did that to two racks, which are generally going to be about two
02:18and a half pounds each.
02:20And once I have those nice and snug in this container, I went ahead and poured over the
02:24marinade, which ideally should cover the meat or be very close to covering the meat.
02:29And that's it.
02:30We'll pop on the lid and transfer that into the fridge to marinate for a minimum of four
02:34hours.
02:35But I'm going to go overnight, which I think is best.
02:38And of course, while they're in there, it's not a bad idea to toss them around and rearrange
02:42them, so everything gets a nice even soak.
02:45But anyway, the next day when we're ready to go, we will cover a sheet pan with a large
02:49piece of heavy duty foil.
02:51And yes, we want to use the large roll, so we have enough foil to wrap this up properly.
02:56And what we'll do is place our ribs down.
02:59And by the way, do not throw away the excess marinade.
03:02Okay, go ahead and pop that in the fridge because we're going to use it.
03:05And then before putting the second piece of foil over the top, sometimes I'll lay a piece
03:09of parchment paper down, which I actually didn't do this time to see if it would make
03:13a difference.
03:14And it really didn't.
03:16But anyway, once we place that second piece of foil over the top, we will fold the bottom
03:20piece up over the top piece, and then fold it and crimp it so it stays in shape.
03:25And then we'll go ahead and do that to all four sides.
03:28And no, don't worry about trying to get this airtight.
03:31We just want it sealed in the upward direction, since we don't want any of the precious juices
03:35leaking out.
03:36And that's it, once sealed, we will transfer that into the center of a 250 degree oven
03:42for exactly two hours, at which point we'll pull it out and then not unwrap it.
03:49Mostly so we don't get a steam burn, but also I do like to let the meat rest and relax.
03:54So I think we should let that sit there for 10 to 15 minutes before very, very carefully
03:59opening that up and removing that top layer of foil.
04:03And no, our ribs are not cooked yet, although they should be sort of getting close.
04:07But we still need to finish them in the oven with the teriyaki glaze we're about to make
04:11using the aforementioned precious juices.
04:14So we'll remove the ribs to a plate and set them aside for now, at which point we'll pour
04:19our reserve marinade into a saucepan, along with all these juices from the sheet pan.
04:25And this was already smelling insanely good at this point, but it's going to get even
04:29better after the next step.
04:31So what we'll do is take that to the stove and place it on medium-high heat.
04:35And we will add some freshly sliced ginger, some sliced garlic, as well as some freshly
04:40sliced green onions.
04:42And besides those aromatics, I also like to add a little bit of sesame oil, since I really
04:47love that nutty fragrance it brings.
04:50And what we'll do is bring this up to a boil, and then we'll simply let it reduce by roughly
04:54half or maybe a little bit more, or until it looks something like this and it's just
05:00starting to thicken up a little bit.
05:03And by the way, as you'll see, as this cools down to room temp, it's going to thicken up
05:07a lot more, like twice as thick.
05:10So at this point, we do not need to reduce it any further than this.
05:14And that's it.
05:15We'll take this and brush it onto our ribs, which we have placed back on the sheet pan.
05:19And yes, I did put down a clean piece of foil, but if it's in good shape, you can reuse the
05:24foil from earlier.
05:26And what we'll do is raise our oven temp to 350, and after this initial light first brushing,
05:31we'll pop it in the oven for 10 minutes, at which point we'll pull it out and give it
05:35another brushing.
05:37And we're going to repeat this process for as many times as it takes for our ribs to
05:42be cooked to perfection.
05:44And I'll show you what that means in a little bit.
05:46And you'll see with each brushing, our teriyaki sauce is getting thicker and thicker as it
05:51cools.
05:52And also as our ribs bake, we're building up a beautiful sticky layer of that sauce
05:56on the surface, which makes it easier for the new layer of glaze to attach.
06:01And with each baking, it's going to get thicker and more beautiful and more shiny and more
06:05impressive.
06:07And in case you're keeping score at home, I ended up doing a total of four brushings.
06:11And as you can see on this last one, our sauce is nice and thick, and our ribs are looking
06:16absolutely stunning.
06:17And when I pulled mine out after the final glaze, they look like this.
06:21Oh yeah.
06:23I mean the terry part of teriyaki actually means shine.
06:26And as you can see, these are very, very terry.
06:30So these look perfect, but we have to test.
06:33And for me, the perfect doneness is when we can slide the tip of a knife in easily,
06:37but our meat is not falling off the bones.
06:39All right, if it is falling off the bones, that would mean it's overcooked.
06:44But anyway, I'm happy to report these felt perfect.
06:47So I transferred those onto a cutting board.
06:49And then for a finishing touch, I sprinkled over some toasted sesame seeds, as well as
06:53a few freshly sliced green onions, which I think are pretty and pretty appropriate.
06:59But anyway, as usual, that'll be up to you.
07:03I mean, you are, after all, the assisting coach of your final garnishing approach.
07:07But personally, I think the sesame seeds and the green onions make for a beautiful contrast.
07:12And that's it.
07:13My teriyaki ribs were ready to enjoy.
07:16So I went ahead and sliced one off the end, and went in for the official taste.
07:20And that, my friends, was absolutely perfect in every way.
07:24Like I said, the meat should not be falling off the bone.
07:27But once bitten or pulled, it should come off perfectly clean, and it should be very
07:31moist and succulent, and extremely flavorful.
07:35Okay, if you follow this recipe exactly, I think you're going to have a perfect balance
07:39between sweet and salty.
07:42And don't even get me started on the next level of umami, which is what we call an intense
07:46savoriness in the business.
07:49And besides being incredibly delicious, these ribs are also a great change of pace from
07:54your standard American barbecued ribs, which I love.
07:57And if you're watching a rib video, you probably do too.
08:00But when we are in the mood for something different, I cannot think of a tastier, easier,
08:05or better way to go.
08:07Which is why I really do hope you give these a try soon.
08:11So please follow the links below for the ingredient amounts, a printable written recipe, and much
08:15more info, as usual.
08:18And as always, enjoy!