OHUB Recipe: Deep Fried Ribs

It’s hard to change a stigma, when the stigma is a fact. Yes, southerners do indeed fry everything. Or at least we try anyway.

On my latest fishing trip, I fished alongside Ray Miller. Miller is a true cajun, and through his 74 years, he’s accumulated a ton of life lessons, not no mention fishing tips, proverbs, and recipes.

As we were fishing for bream along a wooded shoreline, Miller started telling me about his latest BBQ session, which on the surface, seemed to turn awry. “I bought a beautiful slab of ribs this past week and was all ready to smoke them on Sunday,” he said. “Well, you know what happened Sunday right? It poured all day.” Not knowing where the story was going, my attention slowly faded from my cork to Miller. “I had my mind made up to cook these things so I decided to deep fry them instead,” he said. By this point, I honestly thought the story was going to turn into a “don’t try this at home” tale. Miller started laying out the ingredients and how he prepared the ribs.

Ingredients:

1 slab of St. Louis Style Ribs

Peanut oil

Louisiana Chicken Fry batter

2 eggs

1 cup of milk

2 tsp of yellow mustard

Miller went on to tell me his process of frying the ribs and it began with making the dredge.

Directions:

1. Whisk the eggs, milk, and yellow mustard together in a bowl.
2. With a knife, separate each individual rib from the slab.
3. Dip the rib into the eggwash and then coat it with the chicken fry.
4. Add the ribs to the fryer set to 375 degrees.
5. Fry for approximately 6 minutes or until the batter turns from yellow to golden brown. (Just eyeball it)
6. Remove from oil and serve.

After returning home, I told my wife about the recipe, to which she rolled her eyes. But I insisted we try it. After a few weeks passed, I had my chance.

I bought a slab of ribs and followed his recipe. Of course, I doctored up the batter a bit with a few extra ingredients, including garlic powder, crushed black pepper, and onion powder.

I added the ribs to the oil and kept an eye on the coloration change. I’d say it took about 7 minutes to reach the desired color before I removed the ribs from the oil.

Now, it was the moment of truth. I let the ribs cool off for a few minutes and then took a bite. I was very surprised at how tender the meat was when biting into it. The batter fried up crispy and complimented the meat perfectly. For those “dippers” who like to have a sauce on the side. I recommend a vinegar-based Carolina Style BBQ sauce for an extra kick!

Keith Lusher

Keith Lusher is an award winning outdoor journalist that resides in Covington, Louisiana. He owns and operates NorthshoreFishingReport.com and writes a weekly outdoor column for the Slidell Independent Newspaper. He also writes for the St.Tammany Parish Tourism Commission’s VisitTheNorthshore.com. He is the former host of The Northshore Fishing Report Radio Show and is on the board of the Louisiana Outdoor Writers Association. Keith contributes to numerous publications both online and in print and prides himself on promoting South Louisiana’s unique fishery. To contact Keith email: [email protected]