Country-Style Pork Ribs Braised with Mango, Lime, & Coconut

This bright dish would be perfect for a winter day when you need a reminder that somewhere it's still summer. The original calls for an oven-braise, but let's be honest, ribs in the slow cooker are so much easier and usually ridiculously more tender.

The sauce on this is outstanding, but chopping the mango is a bit of work. I'm tempted to suggest that an easier alternative would be using canned mango puree. It would also have the benefit of thickening the sauce nicely, providing flavor, but not giving you odd mango chunks. I haven't tried it yet, but it might be worth a gamble.

One year ago: Potato Mix with Cracked Peppercorn Sauce
Two years ago: Peking Pork with Scotch and Scallions
Three years ago: Cranberry Vanilla Coffeecake
Four years ago: Stuffed Zucchini

Country-Style Pork Ribs Braised with Mango, Lime, & Coconut (adapted from All About Braising)

Ingredients
2 1/2 lbs country-style pork ribs
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil or peanut oil
2 cardamom pods, seeds removed and ground to powder
1 ripe mango (about 1lb; see header notes), chopped into 1/2" dice
1 medium yellow onion (6 ounces), thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp minced fresh ginger
1 serrano chile, minced
1 cinnamon stick
1 tsp grated lime zest
2 tbsp golden or amber rum
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup lime juice

1. Pat pork dry with paper towels. Season with salt and pepper. Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add pork ribs in batches and cook, turning with tongs, until lightly browned, 4 minutes per side. Transfer ribs to slow cooker.
2. Add onion to skillet and saute until soft, 4 minutes.
3. Add garlic, ginger, serrano, cardamom, cinnamon, and lime zest and saute until fragrant, 1 minute.
4. Add coconut milk, lime juice, and mango and stir.
5. Pour mixture over pork ribs. Cook on low for 8 hours.