This is a recipe for the traditional Chinese ribs you get in your neighborhood Chinese restaurant.  The original recipe (from Saveur magazine) calls for red food coloring but we just left it out.  The barbecue sauce is sweet and spicy - quite finger lickin.  By baking them on a rack over water, almost all of the grease bakes out and they are quite moist.

Chinese Barbecued Spareribs

Serves 4

1/3 cup hoisin sauce
1/4 cup soy sauce
3 Tbs. dry sherry
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 Tbs. sugar
1/4 tsp. Chinese five spice powder (we use more)
1 2 lb. slab spareribs

Whisk together the hoisin, soy, sherry, garlic, sugar, and spice powder.  Pour into a zip lock bag and add the ribs (you probably need to cut them to fit).  Marinade for 1 hour.

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Arrange a baking rack on top of a rimmed, foil-lined sheet pan.  Remove ribs from the marinade and reserve the marinade.  Arrange on the rack, meat side up.  Place the pan on the middle rack; pour in enough water that it reaches half-way up the sides of the pan.  Bake the ribs for 35 minutes;  Baste the ribs with the reserved marinade; flip and baste again.  Bake for 35 more minutes.  Add more water, if necessary.  Raise the heat to 450 degrees.  Flip ribs again; baste with remaining marinade.  Continue baking until ribs are glazed, browned, and tender, about 20 minutes.