The coffee in this marinade accentuates the bitter and smoky flavors of molasses, which is particularly delicious with pork ribs. This recipe is a favorite for marinating ribs of any kind: bee prime ribs or short ribs, as well as gone-in rib pork chops. My absolute favorite is pork spareribs because of their high ration of fat to meat. If that weren't enough, this marinade also makes a wonderful dipping sauce because it's not too salty.
This is a wonderful dinner party dish, because it takes so little work for such a dramatic effect. It is also delicious cold.
Please remember these are suggestions and ideas, not etched-in-stone recipes. Making homemade marinades is a good way to begin trusting your own taste, so sample as you put them together and vary measurements and ingredients as you like. They’re a snap to pull together, have none of the dubious ingredients in commercial versions, and can be inexpensive to do at home once you have gathered the ingredients.
From Three Guys from Miami Cook Cuban: 100 Great Cuban Recipes with a Touch of Miami Spice by Glenn Lindgren, Raul Musibay and Jorge Castillo (Gibbs Smith Publishers, 2004). © 2004 by Glenn Lindgren, Raul, Musibay and Jorge Castillo. All rights reserved.