Chinese-spiced pork ribs

This recipe is by well-known chef James Martin. He believes it's not enough just to say we support welfare for farm animals, we must turn our words into actions. He said: "Just look for and buy higher welfare food when you are out shopping - that's all it takes!"

Preparation time:  30 minutes

Cooking time:  3 1/2 hours

Serves: 4-6

Method

Preheat the oven to 140°C/fan 120°C/Gas 1.

Place the ribs in a large roasting tin.

 Heat a frying pan until hot, add the vegetable oil and heat until smoking, then add the garlic, ginger and spring onions and stir-fry quickly for 30 seconds.

Add the spices and fry for another few seconds, then add the stock, rice wine or sherry, soy sauce and sugar and bring to a simmer.

Cook for a couple of minutes until the sugar has dissolved, then add the sesame oil and orange zest and stir to combine. Pour the mixture straight over the ribs and toss so that everything is coated in the sauce. Cover with foil and cook in the oven for 2¼ hours.

Meanwhile, for the cabbage slaw, slice the red cabbage, onion and chillies as thinly as you can. Heat the vinegar, sugar and coconut milk in a pan until simmering.

Once the sugar has melted, put the red cabbage mixture in a bowl and pour the hot vinegar mixture over the top, stirring well. Leave to steep for at least 15 minutes, then add the rest of the slaw ingredients, season with salt and pepper, and mix well.

Remove the foil and turn the ribs over in the sauce until they are well glazed, then return to the oven, uncovered, for another 45 minutes, until just sticky – you might want to turn them again during this time.

Remove the ribs from the oven and allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving. Turn them once more in the glaze before serving. Pile them onto a serving platter with a bowl of the cabbage alongside, and dig in.

Taken from Slow Cooking by James Martin, published by Quadrille.