EASY 12345 Chinese Ribs (5-ingredients)
User Reviews
5
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Prep Time
5 mins
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Cook Time
45 mins
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Brining: overnight
8 hrs
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Servings
4 people
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Calories
403 kcal
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Course
Side Dish, Main Course
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Cuisine
Chinese
EASY 12345 Chinese Ribs (5-ingredients)
Description
This Chinese ribs recipe features pork ribs simmered in a sauce made from Shaoxing wine, soy sauce, rice vinegar, brown sugar, and water. An optional brining step overnight helps tenderize the meat, but it can also be skipped for convenience. The ribs are cooked on low heat covered to gradually absorb the flavors while staying moist.
After simmering, the sauce is uncovered and brought to a sizzle to thicken and caramelize, coating the ribs in a sticky glaze that clings to the meat. The sauce develops balanced layers of sweet, salty, and tangy notes from the brown sugar, soy, and vinegar. Garnishes such as green onion, sesame seeds, and coriander add freshness and texture.
This dish works well as a main course accompanied by rice and simple side dishes. Since Asian meals often involve multiple dishes, portions may need adjustment depending on appetites. Doubling ingredients requires care with sauce reduction times as excess liquid slows caramelization.
Practical advice includes simmering the ribs in water as a shortcut to tenderize if skipping brining, and using reserved pork stock for cooking. Managing the heat during sauce reduction is key to avoid burning the glaze while achieving the ideal sticky texture.
Ingredients
- 1 lb pork ribs i.e. 454g Ask the butcher to cut it for you to make your life easier!, cut into small pieces
- salt Optional step, to brine the meat overnight
- water Optional step, to brine the meat overnight
- For the sauce See Variations in the pot above for how to vary the sauce once you've got the basic one down.
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine Substitute: a dry sherry
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce Not to be confused with light soy. You can also make your own dark soy, dark
- 3 tablespoons rice vinegar Substitute: white wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar or chinkiang vinegar (note the latter will make the ribs very black and it's hard to tell if they burn.)
- 4 tablespoons brown sugar Substitute: granulated white sugar or rock sugar
- 5 tablespoons water If doubling or tripling the recipe, e.g. if you use 2 or 3 lbs of pork, you double/ triple all the ingredients for the sauce except the water. (Too much water will lengthen the cooking time.)
- green onion Optional garnishes. You can use these instead of spring onions, sliced etc
- sesame seeds
- Coriander
Instructions
- Optional: Mix the salt and water till the salt has dissolved to make the brine. Place the pork into the brine and refrigerate overnight.
- Half an hour before cooking, remove the ribs from the fridge, rinse and pat dry. Leave till the ribs are room temperature/ about 20 minutes. Note: Cooking cold meat turns it hard and dry!
- Put the meat in a pot over high heat. Add the rest of the ingredients and give them a stir to make sure everything is mixed well. Once it's come to a boil, turn down to low heat whilst maintaining a gentle simmer.
- Cover and leave it for 40 minutes over low fire. Give it a stir every now and then, making sure there's enough liquid in the pot and that you give the ribs a toss.
- After 40 minutes, uncover the pot and increase the heat so that everything comes to a sizzling boil. This is the key step to making the pork caramelised you want a thick, sticky sauce but you don't want it to burn. (Turn the heat down if the sauce looks like it's burning.)
- Keep stirring till most of the sauce has evaporated and is a thick glaze consistency. Serve with white rice!
Notes
- Brining ribs overnight tenderizes the meat but can be skipped if short on time.
- If not brining, simmer ribs in water for an hour to create a pork stock, then cook in the sauce.
- Adjust portion sizes as this recipe serves best as part of a multi-dish meal; increase amounts for main course servings.
- When increasing recipe quantities, sauce reduction time may need to be extended to achieve proper caramelization.
Nutrition Information
Show DetailsNutrition Facts
Serving: 4people
Amount Per Serving
Calories 403 kcal
% Daily Value*
| Calories | 403kcal | 20% |
| Carbohydrates | 20g | 7% |
| Protein | 18g | 36% |
| Fat | 27g | 42% |
| Saturated Fat | 9g | 45% |
| Polyunsaturated Fat | 4g | 24% |
| Monounsaturated Fat | 10g | 50% |
| Trans Fat | 0.3g | 15% |
| Cholesterol | 91mg | 30% |
| Sodium | 258mg | 11% |
| Potassium | 292mg | 6% |
| Sugar | 18g | 36% |
| Calcium | 28mg | 3% |
| Iron | 1mg | 6% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
User Reviews
Overall Rating
5
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