Hawaiian Wild Pork Ribs

Try these tropics inspired rub and sauce recipes the next time you are cooking ribs.

By author of Timber 2 Table Wild Game Recipes Print Recipe
prep time
cook time
5
serves
Easy
difficulty

While the ribs on a wild pig aren’t as big and meaty as those from the barnyard cousins, they are still pork ribs, and, by definition, extremely tasty. While it takes a few more to make a meal, wild pork ribs make up for it in extra flavor and fast cooking times.

While they may be leaner than their barnyard counterparts, wild pigs make up for it in flavor.

Because of their lack of fat, it is important that the ribs not dry out on the smoker. Dry ribs can be prevented by shortening the total cooking time (about three hours for this recipe), using a mop sauce (this one has a tropical vibe with its coconut milk and pineapple juice base) and wrapping in foil for the final third of the cooking time.

Tropical flavors like pineapple and coconut milk give the recipe a flavor not normally found in BBQ ribs.

Credit for this recipe goes to my oldest son, Hunter. He loves the tropical flavors and tinkered with both the rub and mop sauce until he was happy with them. I tasted the finished product and tend to agree. So, the next time you end up processing a wild hog, save the ribs and try his recipe for pork ribs with a Hawaiian twist.

Ingredients

2 slabs wild pork ribs

1 can sliced pineapple packed in juice (drain juice and reserve for sauce)

 

Rub

3 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons kosher or sea salt

2 tablespoons paprika

1.5 teaspoons ground cumin

1.5 teaspoons ground coriander

1.5 teaspoons black pepper

 

Mop Sauce

1 cup coconut milk

1 cup pineapple juice

1 cup lemon lime soda

1 1/2 tablespoons tomato paste

½ cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon soy sauce

 

Cooking Instructions

Mix the rub ingredients and coat both sides of each slab of ribs well. Place the ribs on the smoker at 250 degrees.

Coat the ribs with the rub mixture, then smoke at 250 degrees for two hours.

While the ribs smoke, mix the sauce ingredients in a saucepan. Over medium heat, bring the sauce to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Continue to simmer the sauce for 30 minutes. Once the sauce is done, use it to mop the ribs as they smoke. Continue to mop occasionally while the ribs smoke for a total of two hours. Remove the ribs to a sheet of aluminum foil and mop once more before wrapping the ribs tightly in foil.

Mop on one final round of sauce before wrapping the ribs tightly in foil and returning them to the smoker.

Return the ribs to the smoker for another hour. During the final 30 minutes of cooking time, add pineapple slices to the smoker so that they cook through and obtain some nice grill marks. Serve the ribs and pineapple slices over white rice.

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