Wine & dine

KNOW YOUR RIBS

Spare ribs are taken from the bottom of the ribs, near the belly of the pig, so they are bigger, meatier and a slightly tougher cut of meat. Loin-back ribs are taken from the top of the rib cage, close to the loin, so they are smaller and more tender. – Malcom Reed of HowToBBQRight.com

Mmm!

Replace half the fish with tender-stemmed broccoli!

Roast chicken with soy and mirin

Mirin is a sweet Japanese rice wine that contains so little alcohol and so much sugar that it is classified as a condiment, rather than liquor, like the well-known Japanese rice wine or Chinese Shaoxing wine. Mirin can be substituted with rice wine vinegar, which is also sweetly tart – just add a pinch of sugar to the vinegar. If you want to experiment with Shaoxing cooking wine, keep in mind that it usually contains salt so that it can be sold as a condiment – which means it should be used with discretion when