Description

Just like the ton-o-greens curry title infers– an eye-popping amount of greens are combined with succulent spare rib meat. Not only are spare ribs a budget friendly cut of pork the added flavor of a rib bone-enriched stock, powerful aromatics and assorted root vegetables and herbs make one hell of a good curry. Prep is your best friend with this spare rib curry, once complete it’s just a matter of adding the ingredients in the correct order, building up flavor as you go.

Scale

Ingredients

1 rack spare ribs, meat removed and cut into bite-sized chunks (about 2 pounds), bones reserved for stock
½ Vidalia onion, chopped
5–7 turnips, cut into quarters, greens chopped and kept separate
6–8 new potatoes, roughly cut into quarters
1 ripe mango, peeled and chopped, pit reserved for stock
1 can (17.5 ounces) coconut water
2 cans (13.5 ounces each) coconut milk
6–7 tablespoons fish sauce
2 cups jasmine rice
Olive oil, as needed
salt and freshly ground pepper, season as you go

Greens: Use what you have, keep separated because they get added at different times

6–8 collard greens, stemmed and thin julienne
3–4 handfuls spinach, roughly chopped
2–3 handfuls kale, stemmed and roughly chopped
1–2 handfuls mustard greens, roughly chopped
6–8 scallions, white and green parts, finely chopped and kept separate

Combine these in a bowl

6–8 scallions, white bottom parts, finely chopped
1 jalapeño chile, cored, seeded, and finely chopped
2 Fresno chiles, cored, seeded, and finely chopped
1 (2-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled, finely chopped
½ shallot, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
4 kaffir lime leaves

Combine these in a bowl

3–5 garlic scapes, (optional), chopped
2 finger limes, finely chopped

For the finishing touches

½ cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
1/3 cup lemon balm and assorted basil (lemon, purple, Genovese, and Thai) roughly chopped
¼ cup peanuts, chopped
big pinch dried chile threads
salt and freshly ground pepper, season as you go

Instructions

Preheat a grill to medium-high heat. Preheat a large cast-iron skillet on grill.
To start the stock, coat the hot skillet with oil, add rib bones, and cook, turning occasionally, until bones brown on all sides and some nice brown bits develop on bottom of pan, about 8 minutes. Add onion and coconut water and squeeze in juice from mango pit. Let broth simmer for about 10 minutes while you prepare the curry.
Toss pork with oil to coat and season with salt and pepper. Preheat a 5-quart Dutch oven to medium-high heat on grill. Coat bottom of pot with oil and brown pork in batches, 3–4 minutes per batch.
To get the rice going, bring 4 cups water to a boil in a medium pot. Stir in rice and a pinch of salt, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 15–20 minutes, adding more water and continuing to cook if rice is still firm. Cover and keep warm until ready to serve.
Return browned pork to Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add garlic, white part of scallions, shallot, jalapeño and Fresno chiles, ginger, and kaffir lime leaves. Using a wooden spoon, stir and cook for 2–3 minutes. Stir in garlic scapes (if using) and finger limes and cook for 3–4 minutes.
Remove bones from skillet and pour stock over aromatics in Dutch oven followed by coconut milk and fish sauce; simmer for 3 minutes. Stir in potatoes, turnips, kale, collards, and mango; simmer for 7 minutes. Stir in mustard greens and simmer for 2–3 minutes. Stir in spinach and simmer for another 2–3 minutes until greens are wilted.
Mound warm rice in a family-style serving bowl and sprinkle with about half of the scallion greens. Ladle curry over rice and garnish with cilantro, lemon balm and assorted basil, peanuts, chile threads, and remaining scallion greens.

Notes

This is a great recipe to power through any pilling heap of greens or root vegetables you have on hand.
Kaffir lime leaves, finger limes, and dried chile threads—available at your specialty markets or online

Category: entrée
Method: grill

Keywords: spare rib, curry