Sweet & Sour Spareribs, "See Klong Priao Wan"

Ingredients

1 pound spareribs

Marinade:

1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 teaspoon fish sauce
1 teaspoon Thai pepper powder
1 tablespoon cornstarch/cornflour
1 tablespoon rice wine

Sweet & Sour sauce:

1/2 cup tomato ketchup
1/4 cup freshly grated ginger
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon palm sugar
one teaspoon fish sauce
one teaspoon Thai pepper powder
3 cups beef stock

You also need:

1/4 cup Thai chile peppers, or jalapeno if you prefer less heat, sliced
1/2 cup fresh pineapple chunks
1/2 cup onion or shallots, sliced
1/4 cup pickled ginger, shredded
1/2 cup tomato "meat"

Method

Mix the marinade ingredients and marinade the ribs for 4-6 hours in a cool place. Drop the tomatoes in boiling water to lossen the skins, and peel and quarter them, then discard the seed pulp and chop the 'meat' to yield half a cup.

Fry, broil, or barbeque the ribs until golden brown. In a small saucepan or wok mix the sweet & sour sauce ingredients, and bring to a boil. Simmer for about 15 minutes until slightly thickened. Strain out any lumps that have formed. Heat some oil in the wok or a frying pan/skillet until very hot (smoking) and add the chili, pineapple, tomato, onion and ginger, and stir fry until aromatic. Add 1 cup of the sweet & sour sauce mix. In a small bowl combine 1 tablespoon of cornstarch with 3 tablespoons water, and add this to the mixture to thicken it, then add the remaining sauce. Transfer the sauce to a sauce jug, and place the ribs on a serving platter. Drizzle a little sauce over the ribs, and serve the ribs and the jug of sauce together.