The Hungry MouseRib of the Week: Pork Spare Ribs with Cocoa Spice Rub
These ribs borrow heavily from Mexican mole—that dark, rich concoction of onion, garlic, several different kinds of chili peppers topped off with a good dose of chocolate. You usually see it served most with chicken, but the flavors are also really well suited to pork.
Chocolate and pork? Yep, chocolate and pork. Trust me. It’s good.
This spice rub uses generous amounts of kosher salt, chili powder, ground garlic, and ginger. Bitter, unsweetened cocoa powder deepens and enhances the heat from the chili and ginger.
The resulting flavors are earthy, complex, and oh-so-satisfying.
I like to serve these with white rice that’s been cooked with butter, salt, and a little chipotle chili powder.
Pork Spare Ribs with Cocoa Spice Rub
2 lbs. pork spare ribs
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 Tbls. ancho chili powder
1/4 tsp. ground clove
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 Tbls. ground garlic
1 Tbls. kosher salt
2 Tbls. olive oil
spray oil
chili flakes
dried parsley
Line a sheet pan with foil and/or parchment paper. Set it aside. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
In a small bowl, put the cocoa powder, chili, clove, ginger, garlic, and kosher salt.
Mix them together with a fork or small whisk until uniform. Set the bowl aside for a minute while you grab the meat.
Get your pork ribs out of the fridge.
Put them in a gallon-size zip-top bag. Drizzle in the olive oil, seal the bag well, and give it a few shakes to coat the meat.
Pour the spice rub into the bag and over the ribs.
Seal the bag well and smoosh it around between your hands to coat the ribs with the spice rub. When the oil and the spices combine, the inside of your bag will be instantly coated with chocolate-y goodness. It will be messy looking. That’s just fine.
When you open the bag, your ribs should be covered in cocoa rub, like this:
Take the ribs out of the bag, giving them a little shake to knock off any excess spice. Lay them out on your prepared pan.
Hit the surface lightly with a little spray oil. I do this to help ensure I’ll get a good crust, since the fat content in the ribs will vary.
Sprinkle the ribs with dried parsley and chili flakes (I used Aleppo chili from Penzey’s) to taste.
Slide the pan into the oven and bake for about 1 hour at 350 degrees.
They’re done when the meat has developed a deep brown crust and comes away from the bone easily when you pull at it with a fork.
Serve hot and enjoy!
***
Copyright 2008 The Hungry Mouse�/Jessica B. Konopa. All rights reserved.
23 Comments on “Rib of the Week: Pork Spare Ribs with Cocoa Spice Rub”
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Love the cocoa in the rub! These look SO yummy.
yum! does it taste a bit like a mole? Curious
Thanks, ladies.
Jo–It totally tastes like a mole.
+Jessie
I am really loving all the savory-chocolate recipes that I am seeing these days. Chocolate meat. . .yes!
Thanks for sharing. Great photos, too!
This sounds incredibly delicious. I make a version in the traditional Chinese technique of steaming the meat first, then suace it in a mole like sauce with soy and chili.
Jeremi Leung from Whampoa Club in Shanghai does a similar one.
Yes, chocolate and pork is really great!
I love mole and the thought of a “mole” type rib rub is fantastic – another creative idea!!
I live in Cincinnati, as you may realize, and the city is (in)famous for this bizzare runny-chilli-on-spaghetti stuff, but one of the local chains puts a hint of cocoa into the sauce. Sometimes, at 3am, a guy has to do what a guy has to do.
This, however, looks delicious. Next time I do ribs (which will be soon!) I’ll do these.
Nicely done.
Looks absolutely wonderful.
Hi Jessie!
Why not chocolate and pork? It’s a perfect blend and the unsweetened cocoa powder gives the Mex tinge! Yes! unsweetened chocolate match perfectly with meat!
Jessie this dark-cripsy-rib..is making me drooling
Gera .:. sweetsfoods
Holy mole, be still my heart. And my heart just might be still after eating these! LOL – Jessie, these look oh-so-good.
Yay, Jessie!
You never cease to surprise me! What an evil twist on those ribs! Now all you need is a bacon-brownie desert
Cheers!
Gabi @ Mamaliga.com
Hehe thanks, guys! They were super yummy. I hope you like them if you give the rub a try.
I think it would be good on a pork roast, too.
And Gabi–Funny you should mention bacon brownies! April over at The Hungry Engineer recently posted a recipe for them that’s to die for! Go take a peek: http://www.thehungryengineer.com/cooking/bacon-brownies/
Cheers!
+Jessie
Jessie, you really do nibble on a lot of ribs doncha? Heheh…and yes, chocolate and pork do go well together. In fact, I made pork ribs with chocolate sauce seasoning several days ago and it turned out quite good too. Never thought of using cocoa powder though but now I know, I’ll definitely give it a try next.
what a great idea! I love mole and ribs, how could i not love this?
Thanks!
-emily
ChicagoDining
Another great-looking rib recipe. Yum!
Aww, thanks!
+Jessie
Suffice to say I approve of this recipe!!
OMG! This will be dinner this weekend! Your picture sold me. It was love at first site!!!
Happy Thanksgiving. 
I searched online for a cocoa rub for spare ribs that I actually had all the ingredients for and came upon this one. Well I have to say that while I thought they were just okay, my husband was emphatic that they were best thing he has ever eaten in life! He hates the idea of chocolate and meat together, so I didn’t even tell him the main ingredient of the rub! Sneaky me!
Thanks for posting the recipe, I’ll definitely be using it again!
Oh goodness, I’m so glad he liked it! If you’re a wine drinker and are into that whole chocolate and wine thing, these would be really good with a couple of glasses of shiraz…
Cheers!
+Jessie
Confirmed, shiraz is great with this. I started doing cocoa on back ribs on my own some time ago, and it turned out great! Glad to learn someone else has the same intuition
It would make the blog much nicer if there was a way to print off the recipes without all the extra pictures, comments and advertising. If you would like an example of a nice way to print off of a blog, check out the one called Smitten Kitchen. The blog has great ideas and recipes and I would be much more inclined to save them if they were easily printed. Thanks.
Hey Pam,
Thanks for stopping by. Totally agree. I’m actually trying to work this out right now with my developer. Stay tuned!
Cheers!
+Jessie