Bite-size pork ribs deep-fried (or seared), then braised and reduced in a lacquered sauce of sugar and aromatic vinegar until glossy, sticky and clinging. A cornerstone of Shanghai and Zhejiang home cooking, served warm or at room temperature.
Sweet and sour spare ribs are a popular dish in Shanghai cuisine, where ribs are lightly coated in cornstarch, fried, and finished in a sweet and sour sauce.
The glaze hits first, sweet and then sharply sour, lacquered onto ribs you can almost pull off the bone. The meat underneath is rich and tender, and the sauce is sticky enough to coat your fingers. You end up gnawing every bone clean.
Slow braising breaks down the ribs' collagen into gelatin for fall-apart tenderness, while the final hard reduction concentrates sugar and vinegar into a syrupy glaze. Adding a last splash of vinegar off the boil keeps the sour note bright instead of cooked away.
Variations
Wuxi-style sweeter version, with pineapple, Cantonese gulaorou (sweet-and-sour pork), a deboned offshoot made with pork belly or lean pork formed into nuggets and often cooked with pineapple
On the Palate
Where Sweet and Sour Spare Ribs sits in the Chinese flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4
How it's made
8 steps · 15 min
- 15 min
Blanch chopped pork ribs in boiling water, then rinse off the scum.
Watch outStart the ribs in cold water and skim off every bit of gray scum as it rises — that's what keeps the final glaze clear and clean-tasting.
- 25 min
Brown the ribs in a little oil until lightly golden on all sides.
- 32 min
Add Shaoxing wine, soy sauce, sugar and black vinegar with water to cover.
- 418 min
Bring to a boil, then simmer covered until the ribs are tender.
Watch outSimmer covered until a chopstick slides through the meat easily; if it's still tight now, the hard reduction won't tenderize it.
- 53 min
Uncover and turn the heat up to reduce the sauce.
- 64 min
Keep stirring as the sauce thickens into a sticky glaze that coats each rib.
Watch outReduce until the sauce turns glossy and thick enough to cling to each rib in a sticky sheet — stop before it goes past syrup to hard candy.
- 71 min
Add a final splash of vinegar for brightness and toss to coat.
Watch outSplash the last of the vinegar in off the boil so its sour lift stays sharp instead of cooking away flat.
- 81 min
Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds before serving.
