SpiceLines

The new American palate craves spices of all nations. A zillion salsas line the grocery shelves. Chipotle chile-spiked mayonnaise? Been there, done that. Thai green and red curries? Check. Fiery wasabi for your sushi? Ditto. America’s most popular herb blend? Herbes de provence, of course.

Yet on the Fourth of July, after we hung the red, white and blue and bought the sparklers and bottle rockets, our own thoughts—and maybe yours—began to run in a more traditional vein. On our nation’s 230th birthday, we wanted familiar, down home food: fresh sweet corn and tomatoes from our local farmer’s market, pork from Niman Ranch. As smoke billowed from backyard barbeques to the left and the right of us, we gave into the primal urge for food cooked over fire.

One way to align these divergent desires is to give traditional fare like pork ribs and corn on the cob a global spin. Inspired by a great recipe for Asian-style pork belly from Zak Pelaccio. chef at the Fatty Crab in New York--it ran in The Wall Street Journal in January 2006, but our clipping, alas, has vanished--we concocted a rib marinade of kecap manis (Indonesian sweet soy sauce flavored with star anise and garlic), Chinese hoisin sauce, ordinary soy sauce, and rice wine vinegar, with more garlic and some ginger thrown in for good measure. Marinated overnight and grilled over a fire of hardwood charcoal, the meaty slab of ribs was rich and succulent, with a crackling, slightly sweet, charred crust. (To prove our first point, all these ingredients can be found in the supermarket, with the possible exception of the kecap manis--that we bought at our local oriental market.)

The corn couldn’t be easier or more delicious. We’ve eaten it a hundred times in Mexico, where street vendors grill whole ears, shucks intact, on little charcoal braziers. Rubbed with lime and sprinkled with salt and ground red chile powder, the corn is a jumble of irresistible flavors—sweet, smoky, fiery with a touch of citrus and salt.

Accompany this feast with a salad of sliced heirloom tomatoes, cucumber and slender carrots in a light vinaigrette—don’t forget the ice tea or lemonade with fresh mint—and you have an All-American feast that pleases the palate with a nod to our culinary melting pot.

Grilled Pork Ribs in Sweet Soy Sauce, Garlic and Ginger
(adapted from a recipe by Zak Pelaccio, The Fatty Crab, New York)

To serve 6:

Ingredients for the pork:

3-1/2 pounds pork ribs in one slab, cut in half
1 cup kecap manis (see note)
1 cup hoisin sauce
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon grated ginger
1 tablespoon grated garlic

1 tablespoon canola oil

Ingredients for the corn:

12 ears fresh corn in the husk
Salt
Ground red chile powder
Wedges of lime

Method:

1. One day before, combine all the marinade ingredients (except the canola oil) in a bowl and mix well. Place the ribs in a gallon size ziplock bag, pour in the marinade, and seal tightly (use a second bag if necessary to prevent leaks). Refrigerate overnight, turning several times.
2. The next day, when you are ready to cook, make a large hardwood charcoal fire on one side of your grill. Remove the pork ribs from the marinade, pat dry and rub with the canola oil. Discard the marinade.
3. When the coal are red hot but no longer flaming, place the ribs, bone side down, on the grill away from the coals. Cover and cook for 8 minutes. Turn and cook for 8 minutes more. Turn again and cook for a final 6 to 8 minutes. Remove the ribs from the grill and let them rest, loosely covered with aluminum foil, for 10 to 15 minutes.
4. While the ribs are cooking, remove the tough, outermost layer of the corn husks, leaving the tender inner leaves attached to the base of each ear. Gently peel these leaves back and remove the corn silk. Pull the inner leaves back over the corn so that the kernels are loosely covered.
5. After the ribs are cooked, put the corn on the grill directly over the coals which should now be only moderately hot. Cover and cook for 15 to 20 minutes, turning every 5 minutes. The corn husks will blacken and the kernels should be slightly charred.
6. To serve, cut the slabs of pork ribs into individual ribs and pile them on a platter. Serve the corn on a separate platter, accompanied by small bowls of salt and ground red chile powder and wedges of lime. Accompany with a salad of heirloom tomatoes, cucumbers and carrots in a light vinaigrette, and ice tea or lemonade with fresh mint.

Note: Kecap manis can be found at Asian markets, or ordered from www.adrianascaravan.com.