Name: Pork Ribs Glazed with Roasted Nước Mắm Sauce
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 1 h
Total time: 1 h 20 min
Ingredients: 1 rack St. Louis–style ribs or your favorite pork ribs; 3 Tbsp. brown sugar (dark or light); 1.5 tsp. kosher salt; .5 tsp. black pepper; .5 cup Roasted Nước Mắm Sauce*; .25 cup cilantro leaves; 1 Tbsp. sesame seeds; 1 lime

Nini Nguyen may be best known as a Top Chef contestant (season 16), but the chef, author and self-proclaimed “Martini enthusiast” actually got her start slinging drinks. Her new cookbook, Dac Biet, reflects not only her Vietnamese and New Orleans roots but also pairs some wonderfully creative dishes with cocktails, all in an approachable manner that shouldn’t scare off any home cooks who haven’t tackled Southeastern Asian cuisine before.

“Between my Vietnamese and New Orleans roots, I can certainly appreciate a beverage,” she writes. “Before I became a chef, I was actually a bartender. Now, I like to apply my chef mindset to creating cocktails, whether that’s incorporating herbs and aromatics or building on the interplay of salty and sweet. Serving a complimentary drink is a great way to add a đặc biệt element to any snack, even if it’s as simple as a bowl of chips (or better yet, dried squid).”

Chef Nini Nguyen and her book "Dac Biet" — Chef Nini Nguyen and her book “Dac Biet”

Alfred A. Knopf

“Dac biet” simply means something special, distinctive or fancy, and it’s a theme that works through both the food and drinks section of her cookbook. Thankfully, nothing here is too complex or precious. For the drinks, you’ll find some slightly fancy cocktails (Spicy Tamarind Margaritas, Saigon Sidecar) but also the admission that cheap beer might be your best friend.

“I think making a really well-crafted cocktail is a lot harder than making a dish,” Nguyen tells InsideHook. “Sometimes I want something fancy, even if I’m not eating something fancy, and sometimes you just need a Bud Light. You just need a light, refreshing beer. Something crushable that can help with the fried and spicy things.”

Chef Timon Balloo Shares His Recipe for Asian-Style Barbecue Chicken Wings

Skip the beer, he says, and pair these with a nice pét-nat

There’s an absolutely stunning chicken wings recipe in Dac Biet (Crispy Fish-Sauce Caramel Chicken Wings), but the below ribs recipe offers a bit more heft with a similar taste profile. “I love these because I want to eat ribs all the time, but I don’t want to have to go outside and make them,” Nguyen writes. “They’re also great if you’re having a party because they’re even better if you make them the day before serving. All of the collagen and juices that release go back into the ribs and make them even juicer. Just glaze them with the Roasted Nước Mắm Sauce before serving and pop them under the broiler for a few minutes to caramelize the sauce onto the ribs.”

This recipe serves two, so if you’re having more people, adjust accordingly.

Pork Ribs Glazed with Roasted Nước Mắm Sauce

Prep Time: 20 mins

Cook Time: 1 hr

Total Time: 1 hr 20 mins

Servings: 2

Ingredients

1 rack St. Louis–style ribs or your favorite pork ribs
3 Tbsp. brown sugar (dark or light)
1.5 tsp. kosher salt
.5 tsp. black pepper
.5 cup Roasted Nước Mắm Sauce*
.25 cup cilantro leaves
1 Tbsp. sesame seeds
1 lime

Directions

1. Clean the ribs to remove any silver skin and membrane on the bone side.
2. In a bowl, combine the sugar, salt and pepper and rub all over the ribs. Wrap the ribs tightly with foil and bake at 300°F for 3 hours. Once done, remove from the oven and let them cool in the foil. This step is best if cooled overnight.
3. Unwrap the ribs from the foil, portion them out and glaze with Roasted Nước Mắm Sauce. Place under the broiler just until caramelization occurs (about 3 to 5 minutes). Glaze one more time and broil for a minute more. Alternatively, you can do this process on the grill.
4. Garnish with cilantro, sesame seeds and fresh lime juice.

*Roasted Nước Mắm Sauce

Prep Time: 10 mins

Cook Time: 10 mins

Total Time: 20 mins

Servings: 1 cup

Ingredients

4 Tbsp. crushed red pepper flakes
.25 cup neutral oil
5 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
.5 cup Louisiana cane syrup (Important!! But you can also substitute Lyle’s Golden Syrup)
.25 cup unseasoned rice vinegar
.5 cup fish sauce
4 Tbsp. dark brown sugar

Directions

1. In a heatproof bowl, add the red pepper flakes. In a saucepot set over medium-high heat, add the oil and heat until hot but not smoking. Add the garlic and fry until light golden, about 1 minute.
2. Using a spider or slotted spoon, transfer the garlic to a plate. Carefully pour the oil into the bowl with the red pepper flakes. In the pot you used for the oil, add the cane syrup, rice vinegar, fish sauce and brown sugar. Stir to combine and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the red pepper flakes and the oil back into the pot and cook for a few minutes or until the glaze coats the back of a metal spoon. Add the fried garlic and stir to combine. Remove from the heat.
3. Let cool to room temperature before storing in an airtight container in the fridge. This will keep for a few months. If it gets too firm, just stir in a bit of hot water before using. Brush over broiled, roasted or fried meats, vegetables or tofu.

So, you can drink cheap beer with these ribs. But they also work really well paired with a Thai Basil Daiquiri, which is listed below. “I’ve done a lot of pop ups for the book, and that’s been the number one cocktail,” Nguyen says. “I’m really proud of it. It’s just refreshing. And who doesn’t like lime juice, rum, sugar and Thai basil?”