Every bit comforts me. That’s today’s recipe – sweet and sour ribs. It is a quite popular dish in China, named after the taste. Sweet and sour is a traditional Chinese flavor taste loved widely. It is a well-balanced sauce that combines soy sauce, sugar, and Chinese black vinegar. Let’s learn how to make the perfect sweet and sour ribs with a simple process at home.
Restaurant vs Home version
For restaurant-style sweet and sour ribs, spare ribs are first marinated and then deep-fried in hot oil for less than 1 minute. This step creates a crispy surface and a tender inner part, at the same time, ribs are almost cooked.
In this home version, we simmer the ribs along with the sauce and then thicken the sauce at the last stage. The texture is slightly different from the restaurant version but quite comforting.
Traditional Sweet and Sour Taste
Sweet and sour is a popular taste in many Chinese cuisines. But it has several versions. Some of the sweet and sour sauce calls for ketchup to create a more fruity sour taste.
However, for this recipe, we use black vinegar, soy sauce, and sugar color (dark red rock sugar color) to create a bright red color.
Sugar color (糖色) is melted sugar with oil or sometimes with water, usually presenting a red dark color. This cooking method is also used in many other dishes like this red braised pork belly. Compared with the color bought by light soy sauce or ketchup, sugar color has stronger viscidity.
Instructions
Step 1. Blanch the ribs
Cut ribs into 1-inch to 1.5-inch sections. Load a wok with cold water, add the ribs, ginger, scallion, and Shaoxing wine. Continue cooking for around 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer out and rinse under running warm water. Set aside to drain.
For beginners, I recommend pat dry the ribs with kitchen paper to avoid oil sprinkling.
Now, let’s make a sugar color – Add cooking oil and smashed rock sugar in a wok, and heat over a slow fire. Keep stirring until the sugar melts and turns into dark red.
Add ribs to coat the sugar color, and place light soy sauce, and black vinegar. Continue to stir fry for 2 minutes and pour enough hot water to cover. Optionally add star anise to add a naughty flavor.
Cover the lid and simmer for 25 minutes over slowest fire. Stir once or twice in the process.
Turn over the fire to the middle, remove the lids, and start thickening the sauce. Keep stirring at the last stage so the sugar can cool down during the moving and attach to the ribs.
Watch out carefully at this stage, don’t get the ribs burnt.
Add Black Vinegar Twice
Black vinegar will volatilize along with the simmering process, thus we need to add extra black vinegar at the very last stage. This creates a well-balanced sweet and sour taste.
You can sprinkle some toasted white sesame seeds as decoration.
My favorite way of serving sweet and sour ribs is to serve with steamed rice. The sauce will make the very grain of the rice so comforting and delicious.
Sweet and Sour Spare Ribs
Ingredients
Blanch the ribs
- 1 pound spare ribs , cut into 1 to 1.5 inch sections
- cold water to cover
- 4 green onion
- 3 ginger slices
Make sweet and sour ribs
- 2 tablespoons cooking oil
- 35 g rock sugar
- 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons cooking wine
- 3 tablespoon black vinegar
- 1 star anise , optional
- hot water as needed
- 1 tbsp. extra black vinegar
Garnish
- 1/2 tablespoon white sesame seed for garnishing
- Spring onion for garnishing
Instructions
- Cut ribs into 1-inch to 1.5-inch sections. Load a wok with cold water, add the ribs, ginger, scallion, and Shaoxing wine. Continue cooking for around 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer out and rinse under running warm water. Set aside to drain. For beginners, I recommend pat dry the ribs with kitchen paper to avoid oil sprinkling.
- Melt the sugar – Add cooking oil and smashed rock sugar in a wok, and heat over a slow fire. Keep stirring until the sugar melts and turns into dark red.
- Add ribs to coat the sugar color, fry until the ribs are well colored.
- Pour enough hot water to cover. Add light soy sauce, black vinegar and optionally add star anise to add a naughty flavor.
- Cover the lid and simmer for 25 minutes over slowest fire. Stir once or twice in the process.Turn over the fire to the middle, remove the lids, and start thickening the sauce. Keep stirring at the last stage so the sugar can cool down during the moving and attach to the ribs.
- Add extra 1 tablespoon of black vinegar before transfer out. Watch out carefully at this stage, don’t get the ribs burnt.
- Garnish chopped spring onions before serving.
Notes
- When stir frying the sugar color, use slowest fire and keep stirring. Remove the work from fire if the temperature is too hot.
- The ribs should be drained completely before adding to the wok, otherwise the sugar color might splash out.
Cooked this snd I love it! Yummy!
Hi Elaine,
This recipe turned out wonderful. I had slightly too much liquid after 30 minutes of simmering so removed the ribs to reduce the sauce more forcefully, then returned ribs to the sauce when it was almost syrupy and very concentrated by flavour. Excellent.
One question: I served this with plain rice but we longed for some vegetables on the side— what would usually accompany the ribs according to Chinese tradition or your own preferences?
Very nice blog, much appreciated
Thanks Mark,
Usually we do not serve blanched vegetables along with sweet and sour ribs since the sauce is quite thick and hard to attach other ingredients. Usually we serve Chinese vegetable stir fry or light Chinese soups like this tofu soup with bok choy.
Can you please recommend a type or brand of rock sugar? I’ve never heard of it before and don’t know what to look for. Also, is there a reasonable substitute for the black vinegar? Thanks!
Learn more about rock sugar here. You can use balsamic vinegar to replace black vinegar.
Can you use plain granulated sugar instead in rock sugar?
Sure.
Hi elaine,
This recipe is soooooo yummy! Thank you!
You got it IC. The most comforting dish for me.
So delicious. And not too difficult!
Thanks Erin!
Love the photos.
Really helps
I am looking forward to trying this recipe. In the first step of Instructions: “Continue cooking for around 2 to 3 minutes.” Do you mean 2-3 min after bringing to a boil?
Thanks so much for your help. Your blog is a main source of fantastic Chinese recipes for me.
Hi，Hinshaw
Yes, after bringing to a boil, continue cooking for around 2 to 3 minutes. There is some ambiguity in my expression here, which caused you to misunderstand. I’m sorry.