Sweet and Sour Spare Ribs

I was still craving Chinese food and had been wanting to eat some spare ribs.  When I found spare ribs at the supermarket I got really excited and decided to try out another new recipe.

Sweet and Sour Spare Ribs (糖醋排骨）

Another recipe adapted from Easy Recipes- A Selection of Simple Classics by Christine Ho

serving size: 3-4

ingredients:

  • 1 tbsp shaoxing wine

  • 2 tbsp light soy sauce

  • 3 tbsp white sugar*

  • 4 tbsp chinkiang/zhenjiang vinegar*

  • 5 tbsp water

  • 600g spare ribs

*As i didn't have this specific kind of vinegar, I substituted it for rice wine vinegar.  i also SUBSTITUTEd the white sugar for brown sugar.

Method:

  1. Cut spare ribs into 3-inch pieces.  Blanch in boiling water for about 3 minutes to remove any blood.  Rinse and drain well.

  2. Use a deep pot to bring the sauce ingredients to the boil over medium-high heat.  Add the spare ribs.  When it boils again, reduce the heat and simmer for about 1 hour, covered, until the sauce is reduced and the spare ribs become caramelized and glossy. (i checked them every 20 minutes and turned the meat).  Serve hot.

This actually turned out better than i thought it would.  It was very tasty and the meat just fell off the bone, but i would say it was more sweet than sour.  as it might be hard to find this specific vinegar i just used rice wine vinegar and as the original vinegar is quite dark i decided to substitute the white sugar for brown sugar to maybe get some color into the dish.  it actually worked out quite well with the SUBSTITUTIONS.  i served the spare ribs with some steamed rice and some simple stir-fried vegetables.  what a delicious and quite simple dish to make.  next time i will try with the right vinegar and see if it really does taste that much different.

cooking, chinese, dinnerJackie Wongspare rib, sweet and sourComment