How to cook a Juleribbe

Ingredients

4kg Juleribbe (order here)

1 bottle of dark beer

1 litre water

2 onion

8 cloves of garlic

2 carrot

2 star anise

2 bay leaves

150g coarse salt (eg Maldon)

sea ​​salt and black pepper

Methods

• Preparation

  First of all:

  • Spread about 150g of coarse salt in the roasting tray then lay the ribs skin side down onto the salt. This is the first step of drying out the skin to get the perfect crackling.
  • Wrap with cling film and leave for 1-2 days in the fridge.

  1-2 days later

  • Once the ribs have been left for 1-2 days in the fridge. Take it out of the tray and rinse well under cold water so that all the coarse salt is removed.
  • Empty the salt out of the roasting tray and give it a quick wash.
  • Dry the ribs with a bit of paper towel and place back in the roasting tray, skin side up.

  This time leave it unwrapped in the fridge until the next day, so the fridge dries the skin out a little more.

• Braising the Juleribbe

  Now after 2-3 days the rib is ready to cook. The first step is to steam the rib.

  • Cut up the vegetables and place in the tray, together with the herbs and spice.
  • Season the rib meat with a little salt and pepper, then place the ribs on top of the vegetables.
  • Add the water and beer below and cover with a layer of parchment paper, and then wrap foil tightly round the roasting tray. The important part is to ensure the foil doesn’t touch the ribs as it may stick to the skin.
  • Heat the oven to 220c and put the rib in the oven and let it steam for 45 minutes.

  Once the ribs have finished steaming, take out and remove the foil. Carefully lift out the ribs and place on a cutting board. Strain off all the vegetables and save the stock, this will be used for the sauce later.

  Now check the rib and make sure that the scored skin has opened up and the gap between the squares is at least 3-4mm, so that the fat can run through when cooking. If any haven't opened enough, just cut with a knife the areas that haven’t.

• Roasting the Juleribbe

  Now we prepare the ribs for roasting.

  • Turn the oven down to 100c and place the ribs on the roasting rack in the roasting tin.
  • Make a few foil balls about the size of a golf ball and place under the middle of the rib to lift the middle up and allow the fat to drain off.
  • Pour about 1 litre of water into the tray below (make sure that there is always some liquid in the tray, you may need to top it up while roasting).
  • Place the tray in the oven uncovered for about 4 hours.

  After four hours, and one hour before you plan to serve, turn the oven up to 220c. Bake for around 20-30 minutes. In this time allow the liquid to dry up and the skin will start to pop, resulting in crispy crackling and meat that falls off the bone.

• Serving your Juleribbe

  Now leave uncovered for at least 15 minutes to rest. In this time, add your stock back into the roasting tray along with any fat and cooking liquid left, giving the tray a good scrap, then add to a pan and reduce to thicken a little.

  Serve together with the sauce, red cabbage, potatoes, mustard and lingonberry jam or Cranberry, Port and Orange Sauce.