Scrumptious Summer Ribs...Vietnamese Style!

Summer's heat is in full swing, and many grills are a-grillin' -- so we thought for this week, "let's put some ribs on the menu!" Nothing beats finger-lickin'-good ribs in the summer. But of course, in Good Nosh "savor the world" fashion, our ribs aren't just any ribs. Our all natural pork babybacks will be slow braised in a Vietnamese caramel sauce until tender then crisped up on the grill.

"Vietnamese caramel sauce?" -- I can hear you asking already! If you've never had a "kho" dish before that features this sauce, you'll be in for a great surprise. Both sweet and salty, the sauce is created by caramelizing sugar to a dark brown and adding fish sauce and other flavors. The result is a rich, dark red sauce that adds color and incredible smoky flavor to the ribs.

(I wish I had a photo to share with you, but when I served these recently to friends, they were gobbled up in no time flat. Two people who had spent many years in North Carolina -- home to some GREAT pork ribs! -- said they were to die for! Can't beat that...)

The ribs will be served with some wonderful jasmine rice, steamed on site, and a fresh cucumber and nectarine salad -- a great summer meal to enjoy at the market or to take home.

On the baked goods front, we'll be featuring a new tasty Vietnamese mango and macadamia nut cake, courtesy of Aly, and we'll continue with our coconut bites and death-by-chocolate drops. These two items start flying off our table as soon as we open our booth, so we promise to make more this week!

Our Southeast Asian theme continues one more week when we'll unveil a chicken wrap with peanut sauce. Thai, anyone?

Enjoy!