History

Chicago's barbecue tradition runs through the Great Migration: African-American cooks from Mississippi and Tennessee brought wood-smoking up to the South and West sides between the 1910s and the 1960s. The Chicago particular is the aquarium smoker, a glass-and-steel cabinet packed with oak and hickory, designed for the city's lots and ordinances. Rib tips (the cartilage-rich trim from St. Louis-cut spare ribs) became the everyman cut: cheaper than ribs, deeper-flavoured, served in cubes with hot links, white bread and a tangy-sweet sauce. Lem's Bar-B-Q on 75th Street, open since 1954, is the cathedral. Honey 1 in West Town and Uncle John's on the South Side are the second tier.

Common allergens: Gluten (white bread)

Make it at home

Yield Serves 4Hands-on 30 minTotal 4 hrDifficulty Intermediate

Ingredients

  • 1.5kg pork rib tips
  • 2 tablespoons paprika
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon fine salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon dried mustard
  • Hardwood chunks (oak and hickory) for smoking
  • 200ml ketchup
  • 60ml apple cider vinegar
  • 60g brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire
  • 1 teaspoon hot sauce
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • Sliced white bread, to serve

Method

  1. Mix the rub spices. Coat the rib tips evenly. Rest 30 minutes at room temperature.
  2. Set up a smoker or charcoal grill for indirect cooking at 110C (230F) with oak and hickory chunks on the coals.
  3. Smoke the tips 3 to 3.5 hours, replenishing wood as needed, until a knife passes through the meat with mild resistance.
  4. While the tips smoke, simmer the sauce ingredients in a small pan for 10 minutes. Taste; it should be sharp, sweet and lightly hot. Hold warm.
  5. Slice the tips into 3cm cubes through the cartilage. Toss with half the warm sauce.
  6. Pile on butcher paper or a plate, with sliced white bread to mop. Pour the rest of the sauce alongside.

Tip from the editors. Don't trust the temperature alone. Tips are done when a probe slides through the cartilage with a slight pull, not when they hit a fixed number.

This is the TableJourney editorial recipe, modelled on the canonical bistro / counter version. The first place to try the dish in its city of origin is below.

Where to eat south side rib tips

South Side rib tips in Chicago

Lem's Bar-B-Q ★ 4.5

Lem's Bar-B-Q in Chicago is the Chatham South Side aquarium-smoker barbecue counter on 75th Street since 1954, with rib tips and hot links wrapped in butcher paper.

Try: Rib tips, hot links

Tip: Cash and counter only; open until 02:00 most nights. The tip-and-link combo on white bread is the canonical Saturday-night order.

311 E 75th St, Chicago, IL 60619

Honey 1 BBQ ★ 4.5

Honey 1 BBQ in Chicago is the South Side aquarium-smoker BBQ counter on 43rd Street from the Henry family, with the rib-tip-and-link plate for under $12.

Try: Rib tips, smoked links

Tip: Closed Sundays. The brisket sandwich is the under-the-radar order; sliced thick and dressed with the sweet-vinegar sauce on the side.

746 E 43rd St, Chicago, IL 60653

Uncle John's BBQ ★ 4.4

Uncle John's BBQ in Chicago is the South Side aquarium-smoker BBQ counter on Cottage Grove, with the rib-tip plate locals send out-of-towners to first.

Try: Rib tips

Tip: Cash only and the wait is long; arrive 16:30 to beat the 18:00 rush. The link-and-tip combo is the all-the-way order.

8251 S Cottage Grove Ave, Chicago, IL 60619

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