If you love those Chinese Sticky Ribs from your favorite Chinese restaurant, then you'll love this recipe! Tender pork ribs marinated and baked in an awesome and flavorful sauce! These turn out perfectly everytime!
Serve as an appetizer or entree and don't forget the hand wipes:) They ARE sticky!
The steam-cooked method and marinade are what really set these Chinese Sticky Ribs apart from other types of ribs. The marinade has just enough salty, sweet, sour and umami flavors to accompany a side of steamed vegetables, rice or a cup of Wonton Soup.
Why this recipe works
- All-natural ingredients: no preservatives, additives or fillers
- One pan clean-up! After you marinade the ribs, all you have in the baking dish to clean
- Super flavor - the combination of spices and herbs in the marinade is what gives these Chinese sticky ribs their restaurant-quality-flavor!
Here's what you'll need
Typically, Chinese sticky ribs are pork ribs, but you can use beef ribs if you prefer. After that, you'll need the marinade ingredients: sesame oil, shaoxing wine, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, oyster sauce, fresh lemon juice, ground chili paste, honey, ketchup and Chinese Five Spice Blend. Garnish with toasted sesame seeds and/or green onions or parsley.
How to make it
You can serve these Asian-inspired ribs as an appetizer or entree!
- Slice the slab of ribs into individual ribs
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the marinade ingredients
- Place the individual pork ribs in a large plastic storage bag or a large baking dish; pour marinade over ribs, cover and refrigerate for at least one hour
- Before baking, allow ribs to come to room temperature
- Preheat oven to 325°F
- Place ribs and marinade in baking dish; add 1 cup of water; cover and bake for one hour
- After an hour, remove foil, turn or flip the ribs and continue baking uncovered for 30-40 minutes; flip the ribs frequently
- Allow cooked chinese ribs to rest 10-minutes before serving
Recipe FAQ
Shaoxing wine is a Chinese rice cooking wine-it is not the same as Chinese rice vinegar, so don't confuse the two.
If you cannot find shaoxing wine, substitute with dry sherry (not dry cooking sherry, but real dry sherry) or Mirin. Mirin is sweeter than shaoxing wine, so use just a little if you use this as a substitute.
Chinese five spice blend is a prepared spice blend that contains anise, fennel, cinnamon, cloves and szechuan pepper. You can find it on the spice aisle at your grocery store or, if you already have these ingredients, you can make it at home. Use one teaspoon of each.
Gluten free version
If you want to make Chinese sticky ribs gluten-free, check the ingredient labels first!
- Soy sauce has gluten and so does the Chinese cooking wine so, if you want GF ribs, plan on using dry sherry instead of the shaoxing wine.
- Substitute Tamari sauce for the soy sauce
- As for the hoisin and oyster sauces, check the labels for wheat. This recipe used Lee Kum Kee Panda brand Oyster Sauce ( make sure it's the Green Label) and Dynasty brand Hoisin Sauce, both Gluten-Free.
Storage and reheating
Store Chinese sticky ribs in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. For best results, wrap ribs in foil and place on a baking sheet in a 300°F degree oven for 15-20 minutes.
There's no reason to spend a fortune going out to eat Chinese food! Make these delicious sticky pork ribs in your own kitchen!
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📋 Recipe
Chinese Sticky Ribs
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ - 2 lbs. pork spare ribs slice ribs individually
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- juice of one lemon
- 2 tablespoons Chinese Cooking Wine (also known as shaoxing) this is NOT rice wine vinegar!
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
- 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
- 2 tablespoons ground chili paste (also known as Sambal Oelek)
- 4 tablespoons honey
- 3 tablespoons ketchup
- 2 teaspoons Chinese Five Spice Blend
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- green onions and/or parsley for garnish
- sesame seeds for garnish
Instructions
- Slice individual ribs and set aside1 ¾ - 2 lbs. pork spare ribs
- Combine marinade ingredients into a bowl; mix well1 teaspoon sesame oil, juice of one lemon, 2 tablespoons Chinese Cooking Wine, 3 tablespoons soy sauce, 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce, 2 tablespoons oyster sauce, 2 tablespoons ground chili paste, 4 tablespoons honey, 3 tablespoons ketchup, 2 teaspoons Chinese Five Spice Blend, 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- Place ribs in large plastic bag; pour marinade over ribs; massage until all ribs are well coated; refrigerate for at least 1 hour
- Preheat oven to 325°F
- Place ribs and marinade in a deep baking pan; add 1 cup of water to pan; cover with foil and cook for 1 hour
- After an hour, remove foil from pan; turn ribs (coating each with the marinade) and continue to cook uncovered for 20-40 minutes
- Remove ribs from oven; pour marinade over ribs; allow ribs to rest for 10 minutes
- Garnish with toasted sesame seeds, chopped green onions and/or parsleygreen onions and/or parsley, sesame seeds
