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Sweet and sour dishes have always been a top pick when it comes to Chinese food. If you love a harmonious blend of sweet and tangy, you can easily have it with this sweet and sour pork rib recipe done in 5 easy steps – perfect for first-timers! Enjoy the pork ribs’ caramelized outer coating, as well as the soft and tender meat.
My Take On Sweet And Sour Pork Ribs
Sweet and sour pork ribs, known as “tang cu pai gu” in Mandarin, are simple to prepare because they don’t need to be deep-fried. You only need to blanch the ribs, coat them with caramelized sugar, and simmer with the sauce.
Although some recipes don’t require blanching, I still like to blanch meat with green onions, ginger, and cooking wine to clean it thoroughly and remove gameyness.
This technique is commonly used in making Chinese soups, such as Winter Melon Soup and Chicken Feet Soup.
The ribs become sweet after being coated with melted caramelized rock sugar in the pan.
To get the sour taste, they are simmered in a sauce made with water, green onions, ginger, light soy sauce, oyster sauce, black vinegar, and salt.
After simmering for 40 minutes, the sauce should give the ribs their signature sticky and thick consistency.
This dish is best paired with rice and other Chinese dishes for an authentic Chinese meal such as Chinese chive pockets and Chinese hot and sour soup. Don’t forget to pair this meaty dish with high-fiber vegetables like ong choy with garlic sauce and stir-fry bean sprouts. If you love pork, here are my other pork recipes:
- Pork Jerky Chinese Recipe (Bak Kwa)
- Steamed Pork With Water Chestnuts
- Eggplant And Minced Pork
- Silky Steamed Egg With Minced Pork
- Pan-Fried Pork Belly
- Chinese Cured Pork Belly
- Pork And Shrimp Wonton Soup
- Corn And Pork Floss Sandwich
- Chinese Salt And Pepper Pork Chops
- Air Fryer Char Siu Pork
Ingredient Tips And Recommendations
Check out my top tips and recommendations for each ingredient. You can customize this dish however you like it—whether you like it sweeter or more sour. It is up to you!
- Pork ribs: You will need about 300g of ribs. Any type of ribs will do, such as baby back or spare ribs, for as long as they are cut into small chunks. It should be cut about 2 inches with the bones still attached.
- Blanching ingredients: I blanched the pork ribs in water with green onions, ginger, and cooking wine. Blanching the meat first is needed to remove blood and foul smell. Adding green onions adds a mild sweet onion taste. I also added some fresh ginger to impart an earthy, peppery taste. Lastly, cooking wine is the key ingredient in cleaning the meat and removing bad odor. It also removes the gamey taste and tenderizes the meat while keeping it moist. You can use Shaoxing wine or cooking sake.
- Oil: This is needed in caramelizing the rock sugar and stir-frying the pork ribs. Any cooking oil will do for this recipe. Use olive, avocado, sesame, or safflower oil for a healthier option. If you want a neutral taste, go for peanut, soybean, or vegetable oil.
- Rock Sugar: I prefer using rock sugar since it is less sweet than white sugar. If you don’t have rock sugar, you can also use white sugar, as long as the sugar caramelizes and sticks to the pork ribs. The caramelized coating of the pork ribs helps make the sauce sticky and thick.
- Sauce: The sauce is made with hot water, green onions, ginger, light soy sauce, oyster sauce, black vinegar, and salt.
- Green onion: Green onions are great for freshness and mild sweet onion taste. If you don’t have green onions, you can substitute them with chives, shallots, white onions, yellow onions, or red onions.
- Ginger: Ginger adds a warming kick to the sauce. You can swap fresh ginger with ground ginger to still have the taste of ginger. Use 1/4 to 1/2 tsp ground ginger for every 1 tbsp of fresh ginger.
- Light soy sauce: The sauce becomes salty and umami with light soy sauce. You can swap this with tamari, liquid aminos, coconut aminos, or gluten-free soy sauce. If you want to make the meat even darker in color, you can add a small amount of dark soy sauce. Dark soy sauce is thicker and sweeter than light soy sauce.
- Oyster sauce: In combination with light soy sauce, I also added a bit of oyster sauce for an umami, caramel-like taste. You can substitute oyster sauce with hoisin sauce, teriyaki sauce, kecap manis, Worcestershire sauce with soy sauce and sugar, oyster-flavored sauce, or fish sauce if you don’t have oyster sauce.
- Chinese black vinegar: The secret ingredient to the delicious sour taste of this dish is Chinese black vinegar. This is also known as Chinkiang vinegar or Zhenjiang vinegar. It is fruity, tangy, and slightly sweet. You can get this in Asian supermarkets, in the international section of grocery stores, or on Amazon. Alternatively, you can replace this with balsamic vinegar, date vinegar, or red wine vinegar, but the taste won’t be the same. As a last resort, you can still use white vinegar but it won’t have the same fruity and sweet taste as Chinese black vinegar.
- Salt: Enhance the sauce flavors with a bit of salt. Use any type of salt, such as regular salt, sea salt, pink salt, and kosher salt.
- White sesame seeds: Once the sauce thickens, finish the recipe with a sprinkle of white sesame seeds. White sesame seeds have a nutty flavor and a crunchy texture. You can substitute this with black sesame seeds, but the taste is typically more potent than white. Apart from white sesame seeds, you can also add more chopped green onions as your garnish.
Ingredients And Kitchenware To Prepare
You can use just one non-stick pot or pan for everything – blanching, stir-frying, and simmering. I recommend non-stick kitchenware to make it easier to cook and avoid burning the sugar and coated pork ribs. As for the ingredients, here’s what you need:
- 300g of pork ribs (chopped into small pieces)
- For blanching:
- 1 tbsp chopped green onions
- 1 slice ginger
- 1 tbsp cooking wine
- ¼ cup oil
- 2 to 3 tbsp rock sugar (adjust to taste)
- For the sauce:
- 300ml hot water
- 1 tbsp chopped green onions
- 3 slices ginger
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- 2 tbsp black vinegar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp black vinegar (add to taste)
- A dash of white sesame seeds for garnish
5 Easy Steps To Make Sweet And Sour Pork Ribs
Blanch, stir-fry, and simmer! Just remember these 3 main steps for the recipe. Read my detailed steps below or follow my Instagram or TikTok tutorial video.
When you are done making this recipe, let us know what you think by leaving a comment in the comments section. Remember to snap a photo and tag me @kitchenmisadventures to share your version of this recipe.
Here are the 5 detailed steps to make sweet and sour pork ribs:
- After chopping the pork ribs into 2-inch pieces, go ahead with the blanching step. Start by blanching the pork ribs with chopped green onions, ginger slices, and cooking wine in water. Fill the pot with water until the ribs are fully submerged. Bring the water to a gentle boil and let the ribs blanch for about 3 minutes. During this step, remove the foam that floats to the top. These are the scums or impurities removed from the meat. After blanching, rinse the ribs thoroughly under running tap water to remove any remaining impurities. Drain the water from the ribs. This first step is crucial in removing blood and unpleasant odors from the ribs.
- Next, heat some oil in the pan or pot and add rock sugar to caramelize it. The rock sugar should melt and become sticky and caramelized. Continuously stir the sugar until it fully melts. Be careful not to overcook the sugar. Otherwise, it will leave you with a burnt taste.
- When the sugar is caramelized and melted, add the pork ribs and stir-fry until they are brown and sticky.
- Pour in some hot water, along with green onions, ginger, light soy sauce, oyster sauce, black vinegar, and salt. Cover and simmer for 40 minutes. Finally, add another spoonful of black vinegar and simmer over high heat to reduce the sauce and make it thick and sticky. Add more vinegar depending on how sour you want the sauce to be. If in case the sauce still does not thicken because of too much water, you can first take out the ribs to avoid overcooking them and let the sauce evaporate by cooking on high heat and continuously stirring. Once you reach your desired sauce consistency, bring back the pork ribs to the pot.
- Lastly, sprinkle a generous amount of white sesame seeds before serving. You can also top it with more chopped green onions for color and fresh onion taste. Pair this with steamed rice, a side dish of vegetables, and another main dish.
5-Step Sweet And Sour Pork Rib Recipe
Ingredients
- 300 g pork ribs chopped into small pieces
For blanching:
- 1 tbsp chopped green onions
- 1 slice ginger
- 1 tbsp cooking wine
- ¼ cup oil
- 2 to 3 tbsp rock sugar adjust to taste
For the sauce:
- 300 ml hot water
- 1 tbsp chopped green onions
- 3 slices ginger
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- 2 tbsp black vinegar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp black vinegar add to taste
- A dash of white sesame seeds for garnish
Instructions
- After chopping the pork ribs into 2-inch pieces, go ahead with the blanching step. Start by blanching the pork ribs with chopped green onions, ginger slices, and cooking wine in water. Fill the pot with water until the ribs are fully submerged. Bring the water to a gentle boil and let the ribs blanch for about 3 minutes. During this step, remove the foam that floats to the top. These are the scums or impurities removed from the meat. After blanching, rinse the ribs thoroughly under running tap water to remove any remaining impurities. Drain the water from the ribs. This first step is crucial in removing blood and unpleasant odors from the ribs.
- Next, heat some oil in the pan or pot and add rock sugar to caramelize it. The rock sugar should melt and become sticky and caramelized. Continuously stir the sugar until it fully melts. Be careful not to overcook the sugar. Otherwise, it will leave you with a burnt taste.
- When the sugar is caramelized and melted, add the pork ribs and stir-fry until they are brown and sticky.
- Pour in some hot water, along with green onions, ginger, light soy sauce, oyster sauce, black vinegar, and salt. Cover and simmer for 40 minutes. Finally, add another spoonful of black vinegar and simmer over high heat to reduce the sauce and make it thick and sticky. Add more vinegar depending on how sour you want the sauce to be. If in case the sauce still does not thicken because of too much water, you can first take out the ribs to avoid overcooking them and let the sauce evaporate by cooking on high heat and continuously stirring. Once you reach your desired sauce consistency, bring back the pork ribs to the pot.
- Lastly, sprinkle a generous amount of white sesame seeds before serving. You can also top it with more chopped green onions for color and fresh onion taste. Pair this with steamed rice, a side dish of vegetables, and another main dish.
