How to Make Chinese Sweet and Sour Ribs

Last Updated: May 6, 2021 Tested

Having trouble fusing pork ribs with Chinese food? In this article, you will learn how to make an amazingly tasty and surprisingly historical dish that is commonly eaten throughout all of China. These sweet and sour ribs are a delicious meal that many people have found themselves eating around the world. With only a few simple steps, making these tasty ribs will be a piece of cake.

Ingredients

4 cups (600 g) pork ribs on the rack
1 root of ginger
2-3 strips green onion
1 tbsp (15 mL) Chinese cooking wine
¼ cup (50 mL) soy sauce
50 mL vinegar
3 ½ tbsp (50 g) rock sugar
¼ tsp (1.25ml) olive oil
1 tbsp corn starch

Serves: 3-4

Part 1

Part 1 of 2:
Preparing the Ribs

1
Wash and cut the ginger and green onion. De-root the spring onion and scrub both the spring onion and ginger with water until thoroughly washed. Using a small knife, cut the ginger in 3-4 slices, and then slicing the green onion into small pieces. Set aside for later use.
- Use a cutting board for the sake of hygiene and ease of cutting. A cutting board gives you more room to cut easily where you can focus on slicing both ingredients. It also protects your countertop.
2
Cut the ribs into small pieces. Using a sharp knife, cut your ribs into small pieces that are about 4 centimeters (1.6 inches) long vertically, causing each small piece to have a bone running horizontally through it. Do not remove the bone.
- Make sure each piece of your meat is cut into fairly equally sized piece to improve the look of your dish when you are ready to serve.
3
Soak the meat into cold water. In a large bowl, add the sliced meat and pour over cold water until it completely covers the meat. Allow it to sit and soak for about 30 minutes.
4
Replace the water and allow it to soak further. Carefully drain out the water from the meat, being careful not to drop any pieces and only spilling the water. Repeat by pouring water into the bowl again and allowing it to sit for an additional 90 minutes, making sure to change the water again after 30 minutes have passed.
5
Place the meat into a pot of boiling water. In a separate large pot, boil water at a high firepower while taking the meat out of the bowl. Then, carefully place the meat into the boiling pot of water. Boil for 10 minutes while stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.
6
Remove the ribs from the pot. Turn off the heat and place the ribs into a large bowl. While removing the ribs from the pot, use a strainer to keep as much water in the pot as possible.

Part 2

Part 2 of 2:
Cooking the Ribs

1
Prepare the wok and stove for cooking. Preheat the stovetop to high heat. Place a medium-sized wok over the stovetop and drizzle a bit of oil over it before you begin cooking.
- Keep the oil amount to a minimum. Because pork is already very high in oil, you won't need a large amount as you're drizzling it over the wok.
2
Place the ribs into the hot wok and flip continuously. Using a spatula, gently flip the meat over 3-4 times on both sides to prevent overcooking.
3
Add the Chinese cooking wine and continue flipping to adjust its texture. Pour in the wine and keep flipping based on the preference of your ribs. For softer ribs, flip the meat pieces 4-5 times. Flip extra if would like more harder, chewier ribs.
4
Pour the soy sauce and stir. Pour in the soy sauce and stir gently. Flip once or twice so that it incorporates into the meat. You can slightly adjust the amount of soy sauce you add to meet your personal preference.
5
Add the vinegar, rock sugar, and water. Pour over the vinegar and flip the meat once or twice so that the vinegar incorporates in with the meat. Put in the rock sugar and then add enough water where it covers the ribs.
6
Mix in the ginger and green onion. Add the ginger and batch of green onion pieces into the wok. Mix well in order to let your whole dish fully soak in these two flavors.
7
Place a wok lid and cook for 30-40 minutes. Switch the firepower to medium-small and cover the wok with a lid. Allow it to cook for about 30-40 minutes, or until the sauce is almost dried out. Every once in awhile, occasionally flip the meat and check to ensure there is enough water in the wok.
- Putting on the lid while the meat cooks will trap the heat from the water, keeping the moisture in and allowing the meat to cook faster.
8
Pour in the starch water. Fully mix your starch with a little bit of cold water. This is very important because it helps make the sauce sticky, allowing it to stick onto the ribs when served.
- Test the flavor and adjust as needed. Add more soy sauce if it is not salty enough and add more vinegar if it is not sour enough. In any case in which your dish's flavor is too strong, you can add water.
9
Flip until ready. Use the same flipping method as maintained throughout the whole process until your meat's sauce is sticky and no longer watery..
10
Remove meat from wok. Using a flat spatula, carefully remove your meat from the wok and place it into a serving bowl. Pour some of the leftover sweet and sour sauce that cooked alongside the meat and into the serving bowl as well for more strongly flavored ribs.
11
Garnish and serve warm. Sprinkle the remaining batch of green onions over the ribs and add white sesame, if desired. Serve while warm in a serving bowl and enjoy!