My mother came away with a variation of this recipe from her high school home economics class. It was one of my favorites, even a birthday request.
Making this recipe for my family has brought some additional sweet memories. Such as Jesse, at age 3, asking if we could have some more of that black chicken. And since I had already marinated the ribs overnight, they were a great celebratory dinner for the family after Eva was born. I didn’t feel like eating, but I enjoyed a little the next day. A little, because that was all that was left!
Although I usually use boneless spare ribs, we once raised pigs and the bone-in ribs were also delicious. The original recipe says to bake these in the oven, and we recently discovered that cooking them on the smoker/grill also produces excellent results.
I like to serve these with rice and a cooked green vegetable.
Polynesian Spare Ribs:
½ cup soy sauce
½ cup cider vinegar
½ cup crushed pineapple
½ cup sugar
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, finely chopped
½ tsp ground ginger
¾ tsp ground cloves
6 pounds boneless spare ribs
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- Combine all ingredients in a large pitcher.
- Put spare ribs into a gallon-size ziplock bag. Pour marinade over meat, seal bag and gently message marinade throughout meat.
- Place bag in the refrigerator overnight. In the morning flip the bag over and continue refrigerating until ready to bake.
- Remove meat from marinade and place in a greased 9×13 baking pan. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 1 ½ hours, turning meat ½ way through.
- Meanwhile, reduce left over marinade in a saucepan over med-high heat until thickened. Baste meat frequently (every 20-30 minutes) with reduced marinade, throughout baking.
To smoke and grill: Smoke for about 3 hours, basting ribs with marinade every 30 minutes and turning half way through smoking time. Turn the heat up and grill until the internal temperature reaches 140 degrees, approximately 20-30 minutes. Remove from heat and let rest, allowing the temperature to rise to 145 degrees.
Serving suggestion: serve with steamed, white rice and a cooked green vegetable, like green beans.
