Ribs smoked low and slow Rib tips
Sories & pictures by Hannah AbisheganadenThe Rib Shop
120-122 Jalan Kasah
Damansara Heights
Kuala Lumpur
Tel: (03) 2096 1645
WHAT makes good ribs? Some say it’s the marinade, some the method of cooking. Whatever your preference, ribs need a good spice rub and then a “long soak” over the barbecue.
Of course, marinated with red wine, rosemary and peppercorns, and braised for a couple of hours, sounds good too. Or marinated with Chinese preserved bean curd and deep fried with a dash of Jalapeno sauce, and served as an entrée. That would be just the introduction to a long relationship with ribs.
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The Rib Shop serves flavourful ribs braised for hours. |
The Barbecued Pork Ribs are more than a meal, and the way they are prepared is a work of art. Marinated as they should be, and slowly grilled and garnished with a sprinkling of lemon zest, the ribs are tender and rich with flavour. They almost melt in your mouth.
Most of the rib dishes are served with a fine mash and vegetables, or pasta of your choice. There is Spaghetti in a Tomato Basil Sauce with Taiwanese sausage tossed with crispy bacon bits, mushroom and a hint of garlic.
There is a selection of soups such as Double-boiled Pork Rib Consommé with salted vegetables, and appetisers. These include Chinese Sausage with Thai chilli sauce, or Spicy Pork Belly with a spicy tartar sauce.
Traditionally, barbecue ribs are made from a rack of pork ribs. But there are alternatives. Beef ribs are great to barbecue, too. Smoked low and slow, they can turn out to be tender and tasty treats. The Rib Shop is looking at increasing its rib selection to include lamb ribs, too.
For lunch, there are menus for office workers who need to eat and run. They cost RM16.80 for a three-course meal, or RM22.80 with a glass of wine. The Rib Shop, owned by the Milawa group – yes, the wine people – opens to the wine shop that is also a wine bar. It is convenient. Order your food, then go pick the wine to match.
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If the sausage tossed with crispy bacon bits in the spaghetti is too little meat for you, then order ribs to go with the dish. |
Why ribs, one might ask? “Why not?” partner Y.C. Wong shoots back. Why not indeed. If there is a restaurant catering to this niche, we have not found it yet. There is the Chinese herbal variant bak kut teh, of course. But that’s another story.
The Rib Shop happened by accident, says Wong. He and his buddies Jarrod Chek and C.M. Wong first started the wine company Milawa in 1996. All three had studied abroad. When they returned to Malaysia, they found they could not get the good wines they had become accustomed to.
So they started importing Australian wines. As the demand for other wines grew, they expanded their range to include French, Chilean and Spanish. And so The Wine Shop was set up in Jalan Kasah. When the shoplot next door fell vacant, they took it over, and the idea for the Rib Shop took shape.
They then started looking for a chef, and who should come along but another old friend, Danny Liew, who at the time was looking for something exciting to do. Danny has had years of experience in the trade, having worked in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, and won several awards in Salon Culinaire Malaysia from 1993 to 2002.
“Everything sort of fell into place by accident,” laughs Wong, “and it is working.”
The Rib Shop is so successful that the group plans to set up more rib shops around Kuala Lumpur.
q Open: noon-2.30pm, 6pm-10.30pm
·Hannah Abisheganaden is Director/Principal of foodies ‘n’ friends. Website: www.foodiesnfriends.com.my
Country style ribs – prepared from the blade end of the pork loin, and have no fewer than three and no more than six ribs.
Back ribs – also known as Canadian back ribs and baby back ribs, are cut from the centre section of the loin. Back ribs contain meat between the ribs called finger ribs, and consist of at least eight ribs.
Flat bone – button ribs, small circular in shape, flat with varying amounts of meat.
Pork spare ribs – the intact rib section removed from the belly, and may include cartilage with or without the brisket removed and diaphragm trimmed. Spare ribs consist of at least 11 ribs.
Brisket bone ribs are small, meaty pieces that have been cut from pork spare ribs during the trimming process when making a St Louis-style rib.
St Louis-style ribs are cut from the spare rib with the brisket bone parallel to the rib side removed. Skirt meat can be removed.
Beef ribs will generally consist of seven ribs, removed from the prime rib during the boning process.
Lamb ribs are a portion of the breast, and consist of no fewer than seven ribs, three inches wide and not more than seven inches long. The outside of the rib is trimmed of fat, leaving only lean meat.
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