Our Taste of Home: 糖醋排骨 Chinese Style Sweet and Sour Pork Ribs
by Esther Tam
Chinese Style Sweet and Sour Pork Ribs 糖醋排骨, spoken in Cantonese as “tong4 cou3 paai4 gwat1” in my Hong Kong household is a special treat of a dish in my family. We only eat it for special occasions because it’s a lot of work to make and high in sugar. Thus the below recipe has been customized to fit my family’s taste.
I also want to clarify that this dish does not originate from Hong Kong or the southeast Canton region of China. There is a different sweet and sour pork (the one with orange color sauce) that is Cantonese style called 咕嚕肉 (gu1 lou1 juk6) or 生炒排骨 (saang1 caau2 paai4 gwat1). The Chinese-style sweet and sour pork that I’m writing about has brown sauce and is actually from central/northwest China, although I’m not sure exactly where. My family likes to make this Chinese-style, brown sauce sweet and sour pork ribs at home because it’s actually easier since it doesn’t require breading the meat and frying like the Cantonese-style, orange sauce one.
The reason I picked this dish to represent my taste of home is because my family has a big sweet tooth so it’s one of our favorite dishes. Especially because growing up my parents rarely cooked. Instead, we ate out or got takeout most nights for dinner from the same rotation of Hong Kong cafes in the west SGV. However, Hong Kong cafes don’t make this Chinese-style, brown sauce sweet and sour pork, so I only got to eat it on the rare times we would decide to eat at a northern-style Chinese restaurant for dinner. So now that I’m older and my parents started cooking more, it’s extra special and nice to get this dish homemade. We always get super excited when we smell the fragrant sweet & sour scent and see the glistening brown pork ribs!
Recipe:
Ingredients (listed in order matching the photos):
1 lb. pork spareribs
Cross-cut (aka cut across the bones) into thin strips like pictured
This cut is preferred because it’s easier to stir fry, absorbs the sauce better, and cooks faster.
This cut is usually only found in Asian supermarkets.
1 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine
2 tbsp less sodium soy sauce
3 tbsp rock sugar
2-3 star anise
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
4 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (not pictured)
Preparation:
Wash the ribs in water to rinse off any dirty blood.
The ribs are usually sold in long strips like pictured, so cut them into smaller pieces in between the bones to make them bite-sized.
3. Blanch the pork ribs in boiling water for 3-4 minutes until the pork turns white. This is to clean the ribs from impurities. You will see the scum rise to the surface as the pork is boiling.
4. Using a fine sifter, scoop out the scum from the surface of the water.
5. Then remove the pork ribs from the boiling water and you are ready to cook!
Cooking Directions:
Heat the wok on high heat.
Once the wok is hot, coat the wok with 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil. Swirl the wok to evenly coat the bottom with the oil.
When the oil starts to slightly smoke, put in the pork ribs and keep stirring the pork until it turns slightly golden brown.
4. Now add the 1 tbsp rice wine, 2 tbsp less sodium soy sauce, 3 tbsp rock sugar, and 4 tbsp of rice vinegar. Mix well to incorporate all the ingredients.
5. Add hot water and 2-3 star anise. Make sure the water is enough to cover all the pork ribs.
6. Once the water starts to boil, reduce the heat to medium, and cover the wok with a lid.
7. Let the water simmer for about 30 minutes.
8. Then remove the lid and turn the heat back to high to reduce the water quickly and thicken the sauce to a sticky honey texture. Keep stirring so the pork ribs don’t stick to the bottom or burn.
9. Add in 1 tbsp dark soy sauce and stir for 1-2 minutes. Then the sweet and sour pork ribs are ready to eat!