Country-style hoisin ribs and coconut rice

One of the more indulgent meals we've made. This coconut rice with a sprinkling of cilantro is one of the tastiest things I've ever eaten. A hint of sweetness, a little bit of saltiness, a lot of creaminess, yet not overly coconutty. Every time we make this I am tempted to eat all of the rice, nothing else...until I remember how fatty coconut milk is.

Coconut milk just oozes the concept of fattiness. I went through a real low-fat craze in my earlier years--how I ever convinced myself fat-free mayo and cheese were good, I'll never know--but have come back full force to enjoying all types of foods and not trying to eat too much of any one thing (but sure, I'll have just one more bite of that, maybe two, thanks). However I always feel guilty about consuming coconut milk and am doing a constant calculation in my head of how much coconut milk I'm consuming. (OK, I just ate about 3/4 of a cup of cooked coconut rice, the recipe contains about a cup of coconut milk yet makes several cups of rice....) It just seems so bad (but tastes so good). I don't even like coconut that much, but somehow it just works with rice.

The rice goes perfectly with the ribs. Country-style ribs are baked and basted in a hoisin sauce glaze and when they're done, sesame seeds are sprinkled on top to cut the sweetness of the glaze. The steamed broccoli is a perfect companion to the ribs--both to add color and to counteract the richness of the coconut rice and ribs. A bite of the rice and a bite of the ribs in one mouthful is the most amazing combination of flavors...this is a meal best suited to fall or winter on a dark Sunday night. The next time we make this I think the broccoli could use something a little acidic, again as a counterpoint to the sweetness of the rice and the ribs.