On Sunday morning, I took two racks of baby backs out of freezer intent on making a Chinese classic, pork ribs braised with black beans and green onions. By dinner time, though, I'd visited this forum a time or two and was now on a different mission: use the Chinese technique, but make the dish Spanish. The seasoning would be saffron and paprika, and chopped green olives would stand in for the chunky texture of the green onions.
So I started on that task, making the dish as below but without the water--the ribs were braising with small additions of broth as they would in the Chinese dish, and then about ten minutes in I decided I had two dishes I wanted to make. So I divided the ribs in two, leaving half the ribs to braise for a tapas style serving of ribs only later this week, and added water and three chicken legs for a bolder broth to the other half to make Fideos, the paella-like pasta dish of Catalonia. Lacking the actual fideo noodle, I used vermicelli.
Both dishes were delicious. Here's the recipe for the Fideos.
1 lb pork ribs, cut into 2 inch pieces
1/3 c olive oil
4 ounces salt pork, diced
6 cups water
3 chicken legs
2 medium onions, peeled
4 cloves garlic, chopped, then divided
2 roma or other medium tomatoes, chopped
10 large green olives, chopped
2 tsp paprika
8 ounces fideos or vermicelli
3 tblsp soft bread crumbs (or panko)
12 threads saffron
Cut the ribs into 2 inch pieces and brown in the oil. Add salt pork and brown, then add the chicken legs, onions, half the garlic, olives, tomatoes and paprika and simmer for about 40 minutes. Meanwhile, place the saffron in a small bowl, add two tablespoons of boiling water, and let steep.
In a small skillet, saute the extra garlic in a little bit of olive oil until golden, and add the panko. Toast lightly.
After cooking, remove the chicken: debone and shred the meat. Return the meat to the pot with the pasta and the saffron water. Cook a further 10 minutes, adding hot water if neccessary.
To serve, top with the garlic and bread crumb mixture.