Balsamic roasted carrots are so simple and yet so tasty. Roasting roots vegetables concentrates their sweetness. Balsamic glaze pushes them over the top.
A well executed main deserves a well executed side. Boiling some carrots and tossing some butter on them. That’s OK but it isn’t great.
Maybe for a Tuesday night dinner. But not for Saturday. Not for guests. And definitely not for holidays. For holidays you want something special. Something that stands up to your wonderful main course.
Balsamic roasted carrots aren’t really much more work. But so much better. There’s something magic about roasting root vegetables.
You can roast just about any root vegetable
Roasting root vegetables deepens the flavour. Adds a new dimension. Think boiled chicken. Now think roast chicken. See what I mean.
This isn’t the domain of potatoes and sweet potatoes alone. You can roast just about any root vegetable. Parsnips. Beets. Brussel sprouts. Garlic. Shallots. It’s all good.
Mixing them up is fun too. Maybe not Brussel sprouts. They have a pretty assertive taste. Like broccoli. Bit too strong to play nicely with others.
But what about a mix of parsnips, potatoes and carrots? Or Potatoes, garlic and shallots? See what I mean. Just imagine how good those roasted potatoes would be with some sweet shallot and garlic mixed in.
balsamic roasted carrots
Ingredients
Carrots
- 1 lb carrots - whole ones if small ones or cut up if large
- olive oil
- salt
Balsamic glaze
- 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
- 2 Tbsp sugar
- pinch salt
Instructions
Make the balsamic glaze
- Bring the balsamic vinegar, sugar and salt to a brisk simmer.
- Boil until reduced by half.
- Cool.
Balsamic roasted carrots
- Pre-heat your oven to 400F (or just go with whatever temperature your oven is as you cook dinner)
- Toss the carrots generously with olive oil.
- Roast until soft and starting to shrivel.
- Season with salt.
- Place in a bowl and drizzle with balsamic glaze to taste. You probably won’t need all the glaze.
- Serve along side your best roast dinner.
Nutrition
Korean pork ribs with gochujang glaze. Perfect for when you need a rib fix. Sticky. Spicy. Salty. Sweet. Just really tasty in a messy sort of way. Lip smacking finger food.
Pork back ribs with sauce. Who doesn’t love that. This is just that. Sticky delicious ribs. Coated with sauce.
Except this isn’t Bull’s Eye. Not your run of the mill sauce. Can’t buy this sauce in the grocery store. No cheating here.
Gochujang is the new Korean secret ingredient
It is BBQ sauce though. Sort of. A little sweet. A little tangy. But with that Korean gochujang magic. If you haven’t discovered gochujang yet it is time. It’s past time. It’s a spicy Korean umami bomb.
Think Sriracha times 10. Not 10 times hotter though. Just 10 times better. It’s a secret ingredient that is starting to come out of the shadows. Get some now. And make Korean pork ribs with gochujang glaze your first taste of it.
Gochujang is a mildly spicy cousin to miso. All that salty depth of flavour of miso but with chili. It’s just addictive. And you can use it in all sorts of ways. One of my faves is gochu mayo. So good.
Korean pork ribs. Any time. Anywhere.
Everybody grills ribs. Or maybe they do real BBQ. Low and slow. I do. A lot. But there’s so much more you can do. Korean pork ribs are a great way to cook ribs.
And why not. You would cook a chicken in the oven. Fish. Shrimp don’t need to be done on the barbie. You can pan fry a steak. I know. I’ve done it. I just do not get why ribs can only be done on a grill or a smoker?
Who made that law? Who says? Makes no sense. I choose to be part of the rib revolution. Rise up. Cast off your chains. Dare to bake some ribs. Make Korean pork ribs. In the oven. And be proud you did.
Or if you want to lead the revolution, braise them. Seriously. They are great in a braise. The rib police have to learn we won’t take this anymore.
These ribs are a snap to make
Not too much to this recipe really. Season the ribs with some salt and pepper. Toss them in the oven. Wait a while.
Mix up the gochujang glaze. Brush it on the ribs. Cook them a little longer. Eat. Smile. Then be ready for the knock on the door. The rib police would like to have some. Because they smell amazing. Tell them to get lost.
Do yourself a favour though. Have some paper towel on the table. Korean pork ribs with gochujang glaze are the ultimate sticky ribs. Messy and delicious. Who doesn’t want that?
korean pork ribs with gochujang glaze
Ingredients
The ribs
- 2 racks pork back ribs - meaty ones are good here
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tsp granulated garlic
The gochujang glaze
- 2-3 cloves garlic - crushed
- 1 inch ginger - grated (a microplane works great for this)
- 1/2 cup gochujang
- 1/4 cup mirin
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 Tbsp sesame oil
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
- 2 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
- 1 Tbsp fish sauce - optional but it really brings it together
- 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
Instructions
Cook the ribs
- Pre-heat your oven to 350F.
- Season the ribs with salt, pepper and granulated garlic.
- Place ribs on a sturdy cookie sheet and bake until they reach an internal temperature of 185F, about an hour to 75 minutes. Start checking after 45 minutes.
Make the gochujang glaze
- Heat a small saucepan over low heat.
- Add the vegetable oil, then the garlic and ginger and cook, stirring constantly, for about 90 seconds. You don’t want it to colour - just get cooked through.
- Add the remaining ingredients and simmer over low heat for 10 minutes.
Finish the ribs
- Once your ribs have reached an internal temperature of 185 brush them generously with the glaze and return them to the oven. Let cook an additional 10 minutes.
- If you want extra sticky individual ribs let the ribs rest briefly. Cut them into individual ribs and coat all 4 sides with sauce. Return to the oven as above.
