Smoked pork ribs with maquis honey, dark soy, and Corsican chestnut

Ingredients

• 1,2 à 1,4 kg fresh pork ribs
• 4 tbsp Corsican maquis honey
• 3 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 2 organic Corsican clementines
• 2 tbsp Corsican myrtle liqueur
• 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
• 1 tsp mild mustard
• 2 tsp dried maquis herbs
• 6 baies juniper berries
• 1/2 tsp piment d'Espelette
• 2 tbsp Corsican olive oil
• 10 g fine salt
• 1 tsp whole black peppercorns
• 120 g Corsican chestnut flour
• 35 cl whole milk
• 25 cl mineral water
• 30 g unsalted butter
• 100 g fresh brocciu cheese
• 35 g whole hazelnuts
• 1 petit bouquet fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 dose selon le fumoir applewood smoker pellets

Method

1. Prepare the ribs: remove the membrane on the bone side if still attached. Pat the meat dry. Coarsely crush the juniper berries and peppercorns, then mix with the salt, dried maquis herbs, piment d'Espelette, and 1 tbsp olive oil.
2. Rub the pork ribs all over with this spice mixture. Let rest for 20 minutes at room temperature while the smoker preheats.
3. Fill the smoker with applewood pellets. Set to 120 °C (250 °F) in smoke mode. Place the ribs bone-side down and cook for 2 hours, without opening too often.
4. Make the glaze: in a small saucepan, combine the maquis honey, dark soy sauce, juice of one clementine, finely grated zest of half a clementine, myrtle liqueur, white wine vinegar, and mild mustard. Heat over low heat for 5 to 7 minutes until syrupy but still pourable.
5. After 2 hours of smoking, brush the ribs with a thin layer of glaze. Wrap the ribs in parchment paper, then tightly in aluminum foil, adding 2 tbsp water to the bottom of the packet. Return to the smoker at 130 °C (265 °F) for 1 hour.
6. Carefully unwrap the packet. Return the bare ribs to the smoker, meat-side up. Brush generously with glaze and cook for another 25 to 35 minutes at 150 °C (300 °F), glazing a second time halfway through. The meat should be tender, glossy, and pull away from the bone without falling apart.
7. While finishing the ribs, prepare the chestnut polenta: heat the milk and water with a pinch of salt. Whisk in the chestnut flour in a steady stream. Cook over low heat for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring continuously, until creamy. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter, then the crumbled fresh brocciu.
8. Toast the hazelnuts in a dry skillet for 3 to 4 minutes, then coarsely chop. Cut the second clementine into segments or thin slices.
9. Let the ribs rest for 8 minutes before slicing between the bones. Serve with the chestnut polenta, hazelnuts, a sprinkle of flat-leaf parsley, a few clementine segments, and a final drizzle of warm glaze.

Nutrition

Per serving

Energy

660.2 kcal

Protein

34.2 g

Carbohydrate

38.97 g

Fat

40.66 g

Fibre

4.16 g

Calcium

118.07 mg

Iron

0.74 mg

Magnesium

49.51 mg