Sweet and Sour Ribs (糖醋排骨)

This dish exists in many regional cuisines of China, such as Shandong cuisine (Lu Cai), Shanghai cuisine (Ben Bang Cai), Sichuan cuisine (Chuan Cai), Jiangsu cuisine (Su Cai), etc. Home cooks usually have their own twists and taste preferences.

A simplified method

Most traditional recipes for sweet and sour ribs involves a particular cooking process called Chao Tang Se/炒糖色, which refers to melting sugar in oil (or water) until it becomes sticky and amber to coat the meat. This technique can be tricky to master as it would lead to burnt sugar if not controlled perfectly. Also, you’d expect lots of splatters.

Today’s recipe skips this old-school method and introduces a fail-proof approach that any home cook can manage. Sugar is added during the braising process and lightly caramelised in the end when thickening the sauce by boiling down the liquid.

I’ve applied the same twist to my recipe for Red Braised Pork Belly and the feedback from my readers is very positive. Believe me! It works perfectly and the result is just as satisfying.

Ingredients

Only a few common Chinese condiments are required for making sweet and sour ribs. Here is the list:

Pork ribs

If you’ve had this dish in Chinese restaurants, you must have noticed how small the pork ribs look. Instead of using regular-sized ones which measure around 10 cm/3 in, Chinese prefer chopping them into small chunks which can be easily picked up by chopsticks. That said, please feel free to cook this dish with whichever sized ribs are available to you.

Sugar and vinegar

The combination of sugar and vinegar creates the iconic sweet and sour taste. Different from the formula used in my Sweet and Sour Fish recipe, this rib dish doesn’t require tomato ketchup. Also, black rice vinegar, instead of white rice vinegar, is used for its more complex flavour. Choose the most popular variety Chinkiang vinegar (镇江香醋) if available.

Not only does sugar provide sweetness and a hint of caramelised taste to the dish, it also helps to make the sauce sticky enough to coat the ribs very well (so no cornstarch is required). Traditional recipes usually calls for rock sugar. However, regular white sugar does the same job.

Through experiments, I found that the ideal sugar and vinegar ratio is about 5: 4 by VOLUME. For example, for 5 tablespoons of sugar, you need 4 tablespoons of black rice vinegar to match.

Light and dark soy sauce

They provide the dish with saltiness and umami taste. Also, the dark version enhances the appetising brown colour of the cooked ribs.

Garlic, ginger and scallions

Collectively, these three aromatics lend a subtle aroma to the pork during the braising process.

Cooking process

The process of making sweet and sour ribs can be broken down into three steps: blanching, braising and broth reduction. Although it’s a lengthy process, it is straightforward. I’d say it’s beginner-friendly. Here are the instructions:

Step 1: Blanch the ribs

Blanching meat before braising is a common practice in Chinese cooking. It’s to remove excess blood and impurities from the meat and to reduce its gamey taste.

Put pork ribs into large cookware (it can be a wok or a pot). Add plenty of tap water to fully immerse all the ribs. Turn on the heat to bring the water to a gentle boil (uncovered). Leave to simmer for about 3 minutes. During this process, you’ll see greyish foam accumulating on the surface. Use a spoon to frequently skim it off. Drain the ribs in a colander.

🛎TIP: Unlike how you’d blanch vegetables, make sure you start the process with cold water instead of hot water.

Step 2: Braise the ribs

In a clean wok, deep pan or pot, heat up a little oil and add the drained ribs, along with whole garlic cloves, a piece of ginger and sections of scallions. Stir fry over medium heat until the surface of the ribs become lightly golden.

Add all the condiments, namely sugar, black rice vinegar, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce and a little salt. Then pour in hot water just enough to level with the ribs. Bring to a full boil then cover with a lid. Leave to simmer over low heat for about 50 minutes until the meat becomes tender (but not falling off the bones).

🛎TIP: If your lid isn’t tightly fitted, too much water might evaporate during this process. I suggest you check the water level halfway through and top up a little if necessary.

Step 3: Thicken the sauce

The last step involves reducing the remaining broth and turning it into a thick and sticky sauce. Remove the lid and pick out all the garlic, ginger and scallions. Turn the heat up to high and leave to boil vigorously.

During this process, don’t forget to add a little more black rice vinegar to enhance the sourness since previously added vinegar has lost some of its tangy flavour during the prolonged simmering.

Be attentive and stir the ribs from time to time. As the liquid reduces its volume, it thickens. It’s very important that you stop cooking at the right moment. If too early, the broth isn’t sticky enough to coat the ribs. But if too late, the sugar in the liquid will be overly caramelised thus getting a burnt taste.

🛎TIP: Remember that the sauce will become thicker as it cools down, so you should turn off the heat a little before the sauce reaches the perfect consistency (see video below for reference). It took me about 8 minutes from the beginning of this step. But it may vary in your case as we use different heat sources and cookware.