Slow Cooker Honey Orange Pork Ribs

I do not hesitate to ask restaurant personnel for the recipes of dishes that I fall in love with at their establishment.  The recipe for this easy but delicious ribs was given to me by the cook at the now closed City Buffet in Monroeville.  He did not know how to speak English so a wonderful waitress translated everything for him when I asked him for the recipe.  It was not easy but we did it and here is the result.

This dish does not contain any soy sauce which is surprising for a dish in an Asian buffet.  He did not even mentioned any salt at all in the list of ingredients.  The main ingredients for the sauce are catsup, honey, orange juice and lemon.  The combination is deadly good.

My husband ate two slabs of the baby back ribs I cooked in this sauce in the slow cooker two nights ago and he is a picky eater.  It has a subtle orangey taste that sets off the luscious taste of the ribs.  You can double the recipe of the sauce if you like especially if you will evaporate the liquid in a pan after the slow cooking process.  Straight from the slow cooker was how my husband ate these ribs.  He did microwave the dish before eating it so it helped concentrate the flavor. 

Try this simple but delectably coated pork rib recipe.  Be sure to practice portion control.  It is hard to stop eating those darn ribs. 



Slow Cooker Honey Orange Ribs

Ingredients

• 1/4 catsup
• 2 tbsp sugar or splenda
• 1/2 cup orange juice (I used store bought one that came in a bottle)
• juice of one lemon (about 3-4 tbsp)
• 4 tbsps honey
• 1 tbsp cornstarch in 1 tbsp water
• drops of sriracha or hot sauce according to taste
• 3 lbs pork ribs (I used baby back ribs but you can use other kinds) (Note 1)

1.  Combine all the ingredients except the pork ribs in a slow cooker and mix thoroughly.

2.  Add the pork ribs and try to coat them with the sauce.  You can always coat them later with the sauce later if you are adding the ribs in slabs.

3.  Cook for 4 hours at high or 8 hours at low setting in the slow cooker.  I used an Aroma brand rice cooker/slow cooker and I cooked the ribs for 3 hours at slow cooker setting.

4.  You can eat the ribs right off the slow cooker or you can concentrate the sauce first in a pan and then coat the ribs with the thickened sauce.

5.  You can serve this with rice or pasta or potatoes (french fries or mashed or baked). Side of cold salad or steamed vegetables will be good sides.

Note

1.  I have used pork chops instead of ribs and they were just as juicy and delicious.

2.  You can deepen the orange taste with orange marmalade though I have not done this myself.  I did not have any when I prepared it.