L.A. Gets Oriented to Some Phenomenal Rib Joints

The American passion for a mess of smoky, juicy ribs is legendary. Whether slathered with Louisiana hot sauce, smoked in a Kansas City brick pit or grilled over Texas mesquite, great ribs will satisfy any red-blooded American’s appetite. Here in Los Angeles, however, our barbecue outlook has become even worldlier. For some of the most phenomenal ribs we have ever tasted have been in Asian restaurants.

Asians rival Americans as rib enthusiasts. They love ribs of all kinds: beef, pork, or lamb, grilled or braised. The variety is spectacular: Asian ribs can be dipped in a garlic-laced sauce, drenched in sweet-tart marinade or simmered slowly with exotic flavorings. Herewith a guide to the best Asian ribs in Los Angeles:

CHINESE

While Monterey Park and Alhambra delis sell excellent food, spare ribs are rarely found on the mostly Mandarin menus. The best sources for Chinese barbecued ribs are in Cantonese-influenced Chinatown. AFC, a take-out deli with a small eating area, makes the best Cantonese ribs in Los Angeles (if not the world) if you are addicted to lots of blackened bits. The ribs are cooked a long time, which caramelizes and intensifies the soy sauce marinade to create an irresistible crunchiness. The fat disappears in the long cooking process, leaving juicy, well-basted meat. Since the spicing is very subtle, the taste of the pork is vivid.

At $3.25 a pound, the cha sui pai kwat-- Chinese for roast pork spare ribs--are a real bargain. And AFC’s cha sui (roast pork) made with a similar marinade is equally tasty. AFC also sells those beautifully glazed roasted ducks.

AFC Deli, 818 N. Broadway, No. 101, Los Angeles; (213) 621-2411. Open daily, 9:30 a.m.-8 p.m.

Down the street from AFC, Lien-Hoa, a combination take-out-only deli and fish store, has a Vietnamese name but mostly Chinese food. (The only exceptions seem to be Vietnamese fish cakes and fish balls.) Here you will find a classic rendition of the traditional Chinese spare ribs. Ribs come in a strip or cut up into individual pieces. But don’t expect a series of long, elegant ribs. The slabs of ribs taper off to a point, and you will receive many small, oddly shaped pieces of meat, some boneless, others with bone. They are all perfectly cooked, however. The ribs sell for $3 a pound and, as with most barbecue delis, cha sui and duck are also available.

Lien-Hoa Deli, 721 N. Broadway, Los Angeles; (213) 625-5001. Also 9299 N. Bolsa Ave., Westminster. (714) 894-1085. Open daily, 9 a.m.-7 p.m.

A Chinese friend told us that she prefers steamed ribs with black bean sauce to the barbecued variety. And her favorite place to get them is Hong Kong Low. The dish seems disappointing when it first appears; only a black bean or two decorates the almost sauceless bite-sized sparerib pieces. But your first bite reveals an intense black bean flavor that is almost smoky; the sauce has been nearly completely absorbed by the pork.

Hong Kong Lows’ sweet-and-sour spareribs are also the best we’ve come across. The ribs are not breaded and fried before being added to the sauce, so they never have that soggy, heavily fried taste many renditions do. The sauce is on the mild side; and it’s not cloyingly sweet.

Hong Kong Low, 425 Gin Ling Way, Los Angeles; (213) 628-6217. Open Sunday-Friday, 10 a.m.-10 p.m.; Saturday, 11 a.m.-11 p.m.

HAWAIIAN

Geographically, Aloha Teriyaki’s ribs are American. But like much Hawaiian food, their heritage is a multi-Asian mix. Tender, choice grade beef short ribs are cut in the Korean manner--across the ribs into slices with the bone in. Unlike Korean ribs however, they are not marinated, but brushed with a house-made teriyaki sauce that cooks into the meat as it grills (lesser teriyaki places merely pour a sticky sauce over their cooked meat). Aloha’s Hawaiian-style teriyaki sauce smacks of fresh ginger and a hint of garlic. The cooks use it sparingly, though, so it never overwhelms the meat. For customers who prefer more sauce, an enormous jar of it is kept on the condiment counter.

The “short rib platter” for $3.99, offers a huge serving of the ribs with side dishes served in typical Hawaiian style. This means rice dished up with a large ice cream scoop, salad or a scoop or Aloha’s homemade Hawaiian macaroni salad--a mix of potato, vegetables and macaroni loaded with chopped egg--a sort of Hawaiian salade Russe.

Aloha Teriyaki, 4834 Rosecrans Ave., Hawthorne; (213) 644-2330. Open Monday-Friday, 10:30 a.m.-8:30 p.m.; Saturday, 10:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Also, 12819 Crenshaw Blvd. (at El Segundo Boulevard), Hawthorne; (213) 973-0755. Same hours.