Marinated Thai-Style Pork Spareribs

Ingredients

• 1 cup cilantro leaves fresh coarsely chopped thin (and roots, if possible)
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce (nam pla or nuoc mam)
• 1 piece ginger fresh sliced
• 8 large cloves garlic peeled
• 1 teaspoon pepper fresh black
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt 
• 4 pounds pork spareribs 
• 10  spring onion coarsely chopped
• 1 cup shallots sliced
• 6 tablespoons soya sauce 
• 2 tablespoons sugar 
• 4 servings thai chile 

Equipment

• food processor
• bowl
• baking sheet
• oven
• ziploc bags

Directions

1. Put the shallots, scallions, ginger, garlic, cilantro, soy sauce, fish sauce, salt, pepper, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor. Process to a loose, finely chopped paste, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice.
2. Place pork ribs in a large bowl or a pair of heavy resealable plastic bags. Thoroughly coat the ribs with the marinade, massaging the paste into the flesh for a minute or so. Cover and marinate at room temperature for 2 hours or up to 5 hours in the refrigerator, tossing the ribs once or twice during this time.
3. Preheat oven to 350°F.
4. Spread the ribs out, bone-side down, on two large, parchment-lined baking sheets and bake until ribs are deeply colored and very tender but not yet falling from the bone, about 11/2 hours, occasionally rotating the pans to encourage even cooking.
5. Remove from the oven and serve with small bowls of Thai Chile-Herb Dipping Sauce.
6. From Lobel's Meat Bible: All You Need to Know About Meat and Poultry from America's Master Butchers by Stanley, Evan, Mark, and David Lobel, with Mary Goodbody and David Whiteman. Text copyright © 2009 by Morris Lobel & Sons, Inc.; photographs © 2009 by Lucy Schaeffer. Published by Chronicle Books LLC.