Fennel Seed

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees with a roasting pan inside. Score the fatty layer of the roast and season pork liberally with salt and pepper. Rub olive oil over the pork and then press fennel seed into the scored fat. Remove the roasting pan from the oven, place your pork roast in it and throw it in the oven for about an hour or until it has a developed a nice deep brown crust and a thermometer reads 160 (or 170, if you must) when inserted into the meat. Let the pork rest for at least 10 minutes before carving. You can serve this with about any Italian-style side dishes or make some kick ass sandwiches. Crush the star anise, fennel seed and peppercorns in a spice grinder, mortar and pestle or, if you’re Jean Claude Van Damme, between the cheeks of your rear. Combine with cinnamon and clove and rub all over the ribs. Wrap tightly in two layers of tinfoil and refrigerate overnight. Go to sleep. Wake up again. When you think you’ll be hungry in about 3 hours, preheat your oven to 275 degrees. Place the tinfoiled ribs on a baking sheet, preferably one you never want to use again. Combine the ginger, garlic, soy sauce and water, gently open the tinfoil package and distribute the liquid, then reseal it. This will keep the ribs moist and get you that fall off the bone deliciousness you’re after. Omit this step if you’d prefer ribs that better resemble pork jerky. Place the ribs in the oven for about 3 hours. You can check them from time to time, but if you can’t twist the bones and have them come loose, they’re not done yet. When they are, remove them from the oven and drain the liquid to a sauce pan. Preheat the oven broiler. Over high heat, reduce the liquid in the sauce pan with the honey, hoisin sauce, sesame oil and chili paste until thick. Baste this mixture onto your ribs and put them under the broiler just long enough to start to caramelize, about a minute. This isn’t as good as barbecue, but if you burn it right, it emulates it a bit. If you burn it wrong, you’re only one night and 3 hours away from trying again, I guess. Keep an eye on it. Garnish with sesame seeds and eat.