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
Tap or hover to scale
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.
Hi Nagi!
I discovered your website about 2 weeks ago and its honestly the best – everything I have made has been amazing all thanks to your instructions! Irish Beef Guinness Stew has definitely been a fave! Or maybe it was the Chicken parmesan or crispy salmon skin or next leave chicken pasta – I can’t decide lol every one has been amazing thank you so much your website it is great!
It’d be great if you could do a video for this recipe also please 🙂 x
hi nagi – i’ve tried so many of your recipes and they’re always a hit! wondering for this particular recipe, are we supposed to start meat side up, or down? thanks!
Hi Susie, the ribs in this recipe are cut into single pieces so I generally lay them in a tray on their side. This is one of my older recipes, I’ll have to make a video for it! N x
Yes, Nagi, please make a video!
So good!
Hi. I would like to try this recipe but am wondering if it matters which type of pork ribs — riblets, baby back, side ribs? Thanks
This is literally the best thing I have ever tasted!
Can you cook this dish in a pressure cooker? Also, are there any substitutes for Chinese five spice?
Hi Ashley, you can cook in a pressure cooker for 20 minutes but you then need to pop them in a baking dish and into the oven for the sauce to reduce and become like a glaze. You can make your own five spice powder too – try this recipe here: https://www.thespruceeats.com/how-to-make-five-spice-powder-4065302 N x
Hi Nagi, not sure if it’s been asked, but do you think you’d be able to do these in a slow cooker?
Thank you so much! I reduced the sauce on the stove top and used the substitutions, my family DEVOURED them!
These are the best spare ribs ever! I love recipetin eats!
We absolutely loved this dish. I am making it for the second time tonight. Thanks Nagi
The flavours of these ribs were so delicious!! The sauce didn’t quite thicken so the ribs weren’t quite sticky, but they were so tasty we didn’t even mind. Served with your delicious veggie stir-fry. You’re making me a superstar in the kitchen 🤗 thank you
I’m so glad you enjoyed them Priscilla! N x
Best rib recipe and I’ve tried a few!
That’s awesome, thanks so much Glynis! N x
I’m making this right now for the third time, it is that delicious!! Such a perfectly balanced marinade, and the flavour of those ribs is amazing, thankyou so much for the recipe!
Hi nagi I’ve got spare ribs but they are cut into cubes off the bone will this recipe still work ?
Hi Sue, the recipe will work but the cook time will be different depending on the size of the pieces. N x
Hi Nagi can this be done in the slow cooker?
Not this one sorry! N x
Too late I tried and failed miserably ! The pork didn’t even cook after nearly 8 hours! I will make the exact way you say next time
Made the Sticky pork ribs last night, They were juicy, saucy and just the right amount of spice. To team it up I also made your sesame noodles as the accompanying dish, they were also delicious… Brilliant….
Wahoo, that’s great Jan! N x
Five stars!! So delish. Made it twice and love it. Thanks for sharing!
You’re so welcome Aster, I’m so glad you love it! N x
These ribs are delicious! I doubled the marinade and made Sticky Chinese Chicken wings at the same time served with Veggie Fried Rice. Great #stayathome covid 19 meal- my teens said it was better than the takeout!
YUM!! Sounds great Penelope
They turned out great mind you I haven’t tried your original. In short what I did was follow your sauces recipe. I then used half to coat around 6 pounds of ribs. I then vac sealed them and sousvide them for 8 hours at 165f. I then dried them off and broiled until slightly crisp I then cooked the other half of your sauce and sauced them and put the under the broiler again until caramelized. I have a pic I’ll try to post to you Facebook page…the flavours went completely through the ribs.
Sounds absolutely wonderful Chuck!!
They were the hit at the CNY party
Have you ever tried these as sousvide? I will make these this weekend as sousvide I think they will be great. Any tips would be appreciated though.
Hi Chuck, No I havent – love to know how they turn out though, keep me updated!
They turned out great mind you I haven’t tried your original. In short what I did was follow your sauces recipe. I then used half to coat around 6 pounds of ribs. I then vac sealed them and sousvide them for 8 hours at 165f. I then dried them off and broiled until slightly crisp I then cooked the other half of your sauce and sauced them and put the under the broiler again until caramelized. I have a pic I’ll try to post to you Facebook page…the flavours went completely through the ribs.
Hi Nagi! Im a huge fan! Im allergic to soy and hoisin sauce has it! Can i leave it out or is there a sub?
Hi Joy, Just add another tbls of oyster and sugar in place of the hoisin – N x
Hi, Nagi. I have made about 30 of your recipes and I am a big fan. I tried this rib recipe and I found that it produced a lot of liquid. With all that liquid, the ribs were tender but I wasn’t able to produce the “stickiness”. Should I have cooked it on a rack? Maybe I put in too much water? Any suggestions? I’m not ready to give up on this recipe. The marinade is amazing!
Hi Ann, if the ribs produced too much liquid, you can always remove it from the oven and reduce on the stove, then proceed to baste the ribs – N x