“Plum and 5 Spice Glazed Wild Boar Ribs”

By: Eric Sharpe MDF Contributor and Regional Director

Description:

Ribs are synonymous with summer, but, sometimes it’s great to switch up the typical Kansas city or Carolina style sauces with something just a bit outside of the box. These Plum and 5 Spice Glazed Boar Ribs have become one of our family’s favorites during plum season. You can substitute any game rib, but make sure to watch the cook time with any game that is lower in fat.  As with any recipe, get creative and use these as a guide to have fun cooking, remember cooking should be an experience that you learn from EVERY time you turn on the flames.  

Ingredients for the ribs:

3-5 ea. (approx. 8-12Lbs)   Wild Boar Racks, cleaned of silver skin

3 TBS Five Spice Powderhttps://waltons.com/categories/spices

1/4 Cup Kosher Salt

Plum Glaze:

2 # Plums, seeds removed/ Skin-Skin on (wild if they are in season) 

1 cup light red wine such as Pinot Noir or Beaujolais (Gamay) 

One, 2-inch piece of Fresh Ginger, skin removed and cut into thin slices (against the grain) 

1 Tbs Black Pepper 

½ Cup Red Wine Vinegar

¼ Cup Dark Molasses 

¼ Cup Pomegranate Molasses (optional but adds great acidity!) 

½ cup water

Cooking Instructions:

1. Start by thoroughly cleaning the ribs and patting dry, remove any silver skin, but leave as much fat as possible. 
2. Mix one half (1/2) of the salt and 5 spice together.  Sprinkle the mixture evenly over both sides of your ribs. If possible, place in the refrigerator in a single layer, on a rack, uncovered for 2-3 hours. * This will help form a surface that allows the smoke and glaze to stick and creates a great crust
3. While your ribs are resting combine ALL the ingredients for the plum Glaze and bring to a slow simmer in a small sauce pan over medium heat.  Once at a slow simmer, stir and reduce the liquid by 50%.  Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temp once reduced.
4. In a blender or Vita Mix (these things are great!)  add the reduced plum sauce and puree until smooth. Remove and set aside for the next step. 
5. Start your Engines…..bring your smoker or pellet grill up to 200 Degrees. 

* Lately I have been using the Weber Searwood, with cherrywood pellets and I am thoroughly impressed. This thing maintains temperature, is wi-fi enabled to allow me to keep going on about my day and has just the right amount of smoke for a clean smoke and I can crank it to 600+ Degrees for grilling. 

• Remove the ribs from the refrigerator and allow them to come up in temperature for about 15 minutes.  Brush a LIGHT glaze on all sides of the ribs and set aside.
• Place the ribs, fat side up, on your pre-heated smoker/pellet grill rack. Dot with just a bit more glaze and sprinkle with the remaining 5 spice powder.  Shut the lid and let these juicy morsels cook for 2 hours, No peaking!   After 2 hours, brush with glaze, and flip. Again, brush the backside of the ribs and cook an additional 1 hour.  
• After a total of 3 hours.  Remove and wrap the ribs in 2-3 layers of foil or fireproof red smoker paper. Make sure this is TIGHT. Crank the heat to 325 degrees on the smoker/grill and cook for an additional 1 hour.  Remove from the Grill and allow to rest in the foil for 30-45 minutes.
• Now your hungry….. Remove from the foil and dig in, or, brush with a little more glaze and throw them on the grill to crisp up those edges.  We love to serve this with a little side of the glaze to get extra messy and while you have that grill on roll up some baby gold potatoes in foil and throw them in for the last hour with a head of garlic, salt and butter for an easy side, this isn’t fancy…just summertime delicious.

Wine pairing:

Red Zinfandel from the Dry Creek area of Sonoma, CA  is my go to for ribs.  There is just enough smokiness to pair but still enough acidity to cut through the fat while the deep red fruit and lusciousness of zins from this area are enough to compete with such intense flavors. I picked up a Zin from Kokomo for this particular round because of the underlying hints of cinnamon and ginger on the glaze, it did not disappoint. 

As always, Good luck this fall everyone and remember to send any success pictures or stories from the field to [email protected] and you could be featured on our website or in our magazine. If this article or any of our articles have helped you become a better hunter or conservation steward, consider becoming a member of the mule deer foundation for only $35 dollars a year. Click here to join: https://muledeer.org/product-category/membership/

Eric Sharpe

Eric is the Mule Deer Foundation Regional Director for South Dakota and Nebraska. He is a Montana and Wyoming Hunting guide in the Fall and accomplished chef. Eric attended the Culinary Institute of America Hyde Park, and Graduated with Honors, as well as Culinary Institute of America, Greystone, before studying at Le Pont Rouge, Culinary Academy, Stage, in Le Mans France. Eric is also a certified Level II WSET Wine, WSET Certified Sommelier, WSET Level I Sake. A restauranteur with over 30 Years in the food and beverage industry in some of the country’s top Michelin star and James Beard winning restaurants. Private chef, seafood, wild game and culinary entrepreneur along with fine wine and beverage consulting and sales for over 20 years.