Deliciously sticky and moorish, these ribs are great for entertaining. Once you start, it’s hard to stop – make sure you provide plenty of nap- kins for your guests! The marinade for this recipe also goes great with chicken.
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Sticky Chinese Pork Spare Ribs
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 2 hours 30 minutes
Total: 2 hours 40 minutes
Ribs, Slow Cooked
Asian, Chinese
Servings4 – 6
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Deliciously sticky and moorish, these ribs are great for entertaining. Once you start, it’s hard to stop – make sure you provide plenty of nap- kins for your guests!
Ingredients
- 2 kg / 4 lbs meaty pork ribs , cut into single rib pieces
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp shao xing wine
- 4 tbsp soy sauce
- 4 tbsp brown sugar or honey
- 4 tbsp tomato sauce or ketchup
- 2 tbsp hoisin sauce
- 2 tbsp oyster sauce
- 2 tbsp sambal oelek
- 6 cloves garlic , finely chopped
- 2 tbsp grated ginger
- 1 tsp Chinese five spice powder
- 1 tsp salt
- Sesame seeds , coriander, shallots and red chilli to garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Mix marinade ingredients together in a bowl or freezer bag. Add the ribs and marinate for at least an hour, or overnight if possible. You can freeze the marinaded meat if you wish.
- Before cooking, let the ribs come to room temperature.
- Preheat the oven to 160C/320F.
- Pour the ribs and all the marinade into a baking dish large enough so the ribs are in a single layer, but not so large that they are too spread out.
- Add water up to about 1/3 of the way up the ribs. 6 Cover tightly with foil and place in oven to cook for approximately 1.5 hours.
- Take out of the oven, remove the foil and touch the ribs – they should be quite tender, but not falling off the bone. The marinade in the baking dish should still be quite watery.
- Turn the ribs over, then return the baking dish to the oven without the foil. After 20 minutes, take the ribs out – they should be nicely browned and starting to char. Turn the ribs, then spoon the marinade over, then return to the oven for another 10 to 20 minutes.
- The ribs are done when they are falling off the bone, sticky and glossy and the marinade has reduced down to a thick sauce coating the ribs.
- Rest for 5 minutes. Garnish with coriander, sesame seeds, julienned shallots and sliced fresh red chilli.
This never fails! This time I left out the sambal oelek and ginger, and marinated it for a day and a half. I didn’t add any water, and they were delicious. Cheers Nagi x
These ribs are always a hit! I’m making them today as my 7-year-old has requested them for her birthday dinner with lots of pak choi and white rice. I’m always amazed at just how moreish these are!
A go-to when ribs are on special! PS – I think that step 5 has been combined with step 6 but the number 6 is still in the instructions.
Another amazing recipe from my go-to site for delicious food. My wife loves everything that I prepare off of your site.
Thank you for sharing your wonderful talent.
Absolutely delicious. Fall apart and the marinade is sooooo good. Had it with Steamed rice and stir fry veges. Yummmmm
The flavor of the marinade was perfectly balanced! Like the comments by others, the sauce stayed watery until the end of the cooking time. I will skip the additional water next time. Many thanks for the most delicious recipes!
I can’t used store bought marinades to cheat anymore as I break out with allergy rash. But using your recipe I had no allergy reaction n it was so good. I made this with the thick pork rashers and only marinated for an hour. Was fantastic. Used the thickest foil to line the tin. Tonight’s dishwashing child relieved we used this technique.
Absolute hit. I forgot the extra water n baked uncovered at 200 for 45 min turning once. Sauce was perfect Sooo yum!
Fantastic recipe. I only had 1.5kg of spare ribs but didn’t change quantities. I added about half a cup of water, but like others have mentioned would omit this next time. I reduced the sauce on the stove afterwards. I accidentally used marmalade instead of honey so it had orangey notes (someone gave us marmalade in a honey jar) so there’s another sub 🙂
These ribs are amazing! My first attempt were not as sticky as pictured but it was entirely my fault. Will make again and again. Flavor is fabulous
The flavour of these ribs is amazing. I didn’t cut my ribs into individual pieces I just cut a large rack in half, and it still worked very well.
My only tip is to be careful how much water you add, as you can always add more so it doesn’t dry out, but you cant take it away if there’s too much.
Last nights dinner – served with left over home made fried rice. I used the Coles pork short ribs/rasher type, cut the tiny little boney bits off and sliced into bite sized cubes. Spot on marinade and absolutely delicious. I too left out the water. Disposable foil tray sat inside a roasting pan…..No clean up apart from the plates and cutlery. Another Winner – Thanks
Cooked as directed and completely amazing
Thankyou Nagi
Can these be frozen??
Made twice. This is a perfect marinade and sauce. Absolutely delicious. Ribs melted in our mouths. Definitely omit the water. I seal the ribs with marinade in a foil “envelope” in the pan. The juices released break down the meat so it falls off the bones.
Nagi these are just soooo delish, everyone loves them so I have made them often
This recipe is over the top delish. The marinade is awesome. I marinated for 5-6 hrs. I used pork side ribs that were cut length wise to make riblets. Soooo good Nagi!
Thanks Nagie. My family rated this 5 stars without hesitation in spite of the fact my cook time was a bit off and the sauce wasn’t as thick as I would have liked. A really nice flavor and without the 5 spice dominating the recipe.
Would this work on pork ribs that have been sous vide? And just use the marinade as a sauce to pour over & heat them in before serving?
That have been ore cooked cooked using the sous vide method I mean. Just to clarify!
These ribs are absolutely delicious! I made them in the pressure cooker last night and it turned out just as delicious!
Wow! Family said they were restaurant quality. Used pressure cooker and air fryer.
S&P, garlic powder rubbed over raw ribs. Pressure cooked high 35 mins for 3 racks. Release steam. Reduced sauce on stovetop. Based cooked ribs coated generously with sauce and air fried for 6 min. The char was perfect. This sauce is fantastic and would work with any method of cooking. Definitely based liberally and ensure you have an environment to let the sauce get broiled, grilled, air fried, etc. for the flavors to bloom.
Thank you for this recipe!
Made this recipe tonight absolutely delicious. I omitted the water. Definitely making it again. Thanks Nagi