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.
Nice recipe and pictures and looks really good! I have not made this dish at home in a long time. Thnaks for sharing!
Bill,
Thanks for visiting and commenting. This is not a usual dish for me too. But honestly I love it.
What is a half bowl of broth???? Please explain
Hi Morgan,
Half rice bowl of chicken stock or other stock. You can also use water instead.
This looks AWESOME! Do you think it will work with pork belly? Also, just to clarify, in the post you talk about deep frying until crispy but in the recipe there is only a bit of oil used so is it just supposed to be pan fried? Or deep fried? Thank you!
Both deep frying and pan frying are ok. Deep frying is quicker but pan-fried with less oil is healthier. The sauce might go well with pork belly. However fatter pork belly might be greasy. I still need experiment to figure that out.
Sorry, another question! When do you add the stock/water??
Hi Nagi,
Stock should be added in step 4 before you turn up the fire to thicken the sauce.
Hi.. this recipe is very helpful and my boss like it..
Hi i see in your recipe the vinegar but i didnt see which step you add the vinegar. Please reply.
Hi Jonelyn,
The recipe is updated. Thanks for bringing that to my attention.
Thanks for your recipes! They’re great! 🙂
You are the most welcome. Macaque. Happy cooking!
When do I add the ginger, green onion, and star anise?
Sorry I miss that out. I add ginger, green onion and star anise after pouring the water to simmer.
This is my daughter’s favorite dish to order! I have to save this recipe and try making it next time. Looks so good!
This looks delicious…curious, will the meat be “Fall off the bone”? Is rock sugar similar to Palm sugar?
Hi Lyn,
25 minutes simmer will not make the meat “fall off the bone”. We like this dish to be slightly tender and chewy. If you love to have it fall off the bone, use high pressure cooker for simmering process.
Good job Elaine, can one use chicken cubes in batter or minced meat balls for this recipe too? Also, didn’t see ketchup or pineapple in this recipe,is sugar their replacement?
Hi,
This sweet and sour ribs does not require ketchup. There are so many ways to achieve sweet and sour taste. For this recipe, ribs are highly recommended. But you can use meat balls with this sweet and sour sauce with ketchup: https://www.chinasichuanfood.com/chinese-sweet-and-sour-sauce/. For chicken cubes in batter, I recommend this recipe https://www.chinasichuanfood.com/sweet-and-sour-pork-with-pineapple/ with pineapple cubes too. Hope this helps.
Happy cooking!