Sweet and Sour Ribs
Sweet and Sour Ribs is a home-style meat dish at difficulty 4/5 (Advanced), about 1022 kcal. Sweet and Sour Ribs is a traditional famous dish known for its sweet and sour ta. Ingredients and step-by-step instructions are below, with notes for home cooking.
4 / 5
★★★★☆
1022 kcal
Ingredients
- Pork ribs
- White sugar
- Cooking oil
- Light soy sauce
- Oyster sauce
- Dark soy sauce
- Chicken bouillon powder
- Sliced ginger
- Sesame seeds
- Ketchup
- Sherry vinegar
- Five-spice powder
Steps
- Place the ribs and sliced ginger in a pot with cold water. Heat over high heat until the water boils and large amounts of foam appear, then switch to medium heat. Once the water continues to boil, reduce heat to low and blanch for 2–3 minutes. Remove and set aside.
- Rinse the ribs repeatedly with boiling water 2–3 times to ensure all blood and foam are completely removed.
- Pour enough cooking oil into the pot for deep frying (amount depends on pot size; for general home cooking, approximately 300 ml is recommended). Bring the oil temperature to about 170°C, then fry the ribs for 3–5 minutes until the surface turns golden brown. Remove and drain.
- Take a clean pot and heat 50 ml of hot water on low heat. Add 30 g of white sugar and gently stir until the sugar is completely dissolved and turns a light yellow color. The focus of this step is observing the dissolution of the sugar; do not rely too much on color changes.
- Pour the fried ribs into the pot with the sugar syrup. Quickly stir-fry for 30 seconds, then add 5 ml of sherry vinegar, 5 ml of light soy sauce, 5 ml of oyster sauce, 2 g of chicken bouillon powder, 10 g of ketchup, and 0.5 g of five-spice powder. Stir-fry for another 30 seconds to evenly coat the ribs with the seasonings, then add boiling water until it just covers the ribs.
- Bring the liquid in the pot to a boil over high heat. Add 5 ml of dark soy sauce to color the ribs and quickly reduce the sauce. If the ribs are large pieces, you can switch to low heat and braise for 5–10 minutes to let the flavor penetrate better. Do not use medium heat for long-braising (e.g., 20 minutes) as it will damage the texture.
- Transfer to a serving plate, sprinkle with 2 g of sesame seeds, and serve.
Notes
Sweet and Sour Ribs is a traditional famous dish known for its sweet and sour taste with a crispy exterior and tender interior. It is widely popular. The ribs are rich in high-quality protein and calcium, offering good nourishing effects. This dish involves multiple steps including blanching, deep-frying, making the syrup, and reducing the sauce, requiring control of heat and seasoning. It is not particularly suitable for beginners, but the optimized success rate is high using this guide. Estimated preparation time: Approximately 45 minutes.
Difficulty: ★★★★
Calories: 1022 kcal
Group: Sweet and Sour Ribs
Calculations (single serving):
- Pork Ribs: 300 g
- White Sugar: 30 g
- Cooking Oil: 300–350 ml (adjust amount based on pot size; if deep frying, use enough to cover 2/3 of the ribs)
- Light Soy Sauce: 5 ml
- Oyster Sauce: 5 ml
- Dark Soy Sauce: 5 ml
- Chicken Bouillon Powder: 2 g
- Sliced Ginger: 2 slices
- Sesame Seeds: 2 g
- Ketchup: 10 g
- Sherry Vinegar: 5 ml
- Five-spice Powder: 0.5 g
Additional Tips:
- While frying ribs, you can lightly dust a small amount of dry starch on the surface to improve the crispy texture.
- Watch the heat carefully when blanching: use high heat until water boils and foam appears, switch to medium heat, and finally low heat for blanching. After blanching, use hot water to clean the ribs to prevent the meat from becoming dry due to large temperature differences.
- The key to Step 4 is ensuring the white sugar is completely dissolved; do not rely overly on color changes.
- When reducing the sauce, stir-fry quickly to ensure the ribs are evenly coated to avoid texture loss from long cooking.