Sweet and Sour Spareribs
Sweet and Sour Spareribs (糖醋小排) is an authentic (and famous) Chinese dish that literally translates into “sugary and vinegary” small ribs. It is different from the sweet and sour pork you may be used to, but just as good!
- Prep time
- 20 min
- Cook time
- 1 hr 10 min
- Yield
- 4 servings
- Difficulty
- MEDIUM
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 1.5 pounds horizontally cut spareribs or baby back ribs
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 60 g rock sugar (can be substituted with 3 tablespoons white sugar)
- 60 g Chinese vinegar (can be substituted with 4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar)
- Some hot water (about 1-2 cups depending on your pot)
- 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce3 (can be substituted with ¼ teaspoon light soy sauce and ½ teaspoon molasses)
- 1 tablespoon Chinese Shaoxing Cooking wine (can be substituted with 1 tablespoon dry white wine
- saki
- or rice wine)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon roasted white sesame seeds
Instructions
- 1
Cut the spareribs or baby back ribs into individual pieces (since the ribs are in a long string, there are clear parts where the bones are; make sure to cut the ribs along the meat part). Rinse the rib pieces in cold water a few times to remove visible blood.
- 2
Measure the right amount of rock sugar (60g) and vinegar (60g) separately (alternatively, use substitutes mentioned above). Use a cleaver or meat pounder to break the rock sugar into small pieces.
- 3
Fill a medium saucepan or pot half way with water and set the heat to medium-high. When small bubbles start appearing from the bottom of the heated pot, add the rib pieces and blanch them for a few minutes until the scum begin to form on the water surface. Then take the rib pieces out of the pan and clean them thoroughly under running water. Use a kitchen towel to thoroughly dry the rib pieces. (The main purpose of this step is to further remove impurities and blood from the rib pieces. You don’t need to wait until the water is boiling before adding the ribs. Also, do not blanch the rib pieces for too long as the meat can become too hard. Take them out when you see scum floating on top).
- 4
In a large wok or pot that comes with a lid, turn the heat to medium. Add the 2 tablespoons of oil, and then add the rock sugar prices. Do not wait for the oil to turn hot before adding the rock sugar.
- 5
Slowly stir and toss the rock sugar pieces until they all dissolve into caramel; about 5 minutes. Be patient here and watch the process closely. The sugar will first turn into a light golden color, then into an amber color. Once all the rock sugar pieces dissolve into the oil, raise the heat to medium high and immediately add the ribs. Quickly stir and toss to cover all the ribs with the caramel.
- 6
Add enough hot water to cover all the ribs, then pour in the 60g of vinegar, 2 teaspoons of dark soy sauce, and 1 tablespoon of Chinese Shaoxing cooking wine. Mix gently then cover the lid. After the liquid starts boiling, lower the heat to low with lid closed to maintain a rolling boil and cook for up to an hour.
- 7
After the time is up, the amount of liquid sauce in the pan should be around ¼ of the original amount. At this time, add the 1 teaspoon of salt. With lid open, raise the heat to medium-high to further thicken the liquid sauce. The ribs are ready when the sauce begins to have large numbers of bubbles. (Watch closely, it should take only a few minutes as the sauce can easily dry out)
- 8
Transfer the ribs along with the remaining sauce to a plate. Sprinkle the 1 tablespoon of roasted white sesame seeds on top before serving.