Rib Tips (Not about advice for cooking ribs)

[lemons]

We have what I think is a fairly local item found at some barbecue joints, rib tips, which are the trimmings from the top and bottom of a side fo spareribs. I happen to love them, since they are usually moister than spareribs, although far messier to eat, and I like chewing on the more gelatinous connective tissues. But my question is: Do they exist as a cut anywhere else besides the St. Louis area?

Please note this is not the so-called St. Louis rib, which is something you don't see on menus locally with a couple of exceptions, and which refers to the way the side of ribs is trimmed.

[lemons]

Thanks for all your help. Woulda replied sooner but my computer has been requiring mouth-to-mouth and then a venitlator; still not quite right in the head, so to speak. All verrrry interesting; I may be doing a short piece on rib tips for a local mag we do food things for.

[brucesw]

Offered at a few places here (Houston). One, Boogie's Chicago Style BBQ - Boogie says he opened his joint specifically because he couldn't find a Chicago-style rib tips plate here. It's rib tips on top of a pile of french fries, swimming in a very thick, very sweet sauce. I can't take the sauce so I've never had it but have at other places with no apparent connection to Chicago or St. Louis, rather to East Texas, I think.

[bagelman01]

very common as a cheap item at Chinese takeout joints in inner city Connecticut locations.

[iluvcookies]

One can also find rib tips on Chinese take out menus in NYC suburbs. I don't think I've ever seen them raw in the supermarket meat case though.

[huiray]

Raw pork rib tips, as well as the closely similar (non-tip) cut-across-the-bone 1-2 inch "wide" chunks of spare ribs [a common way of cutting spare ribs in Chinese cuisine] can be found in any Chinese or East/South-East Asian grocery store with a meat counter. I also see them fairly frequently, always called "rib tips", even if they aren't actually the tips, in Western-style supermarkets (including the large chain Marsh) around me.

[Uncle Bob]

Rib Tips are very common here at the Southern Command!

[gordeaux]

Might be considered part of the "St. Louis area," but I'm in Chicago, and tips are on every place's menu that is serving up "Chicago Barbecue." Spares, tips, and hot links are staples of the "Chicago BBQ" joint. I happen to love tips too, and I'm actually planning on smoking up a few pounds on Tuesday.

[virtualguthrie]

Yeah, they're fairly common from what I can tell. Several places in the SF bay area serve them.