Mom’s Chinese-Style Sticky Ribs

These ribs are delicious.  It’s the recipe my sister bugs my mom to make all the time, the one she misses watching a movie with her friends for.  Pork ribs are braised in dark soy sauce and rock sugar, with a hint of ginger and garlic, until the meat is tender and practically falling off the bone.  Then the braising liquid is reduced until it forms a glaze, coating the meat with a delicious depth of flavor.

They’re actually really easy to make, with just a handful of ingredients – my favorite kind of recipe.  We made two racks of pork loin back ribs tonight, and between the five of us, demolished the mountain of ribs in no time flat.

I wouldn’t say they’re healthy by any means, but they are pretty darn yummy.  While I was living in China, I heard that these ribs are pretty good made with Coca-Cola.  I haven’t tried that yet, cause Coke kind of scares me, but it sounds interesting.

Mom’s Chinese-Style Sticky Ribs

Dark soy sauce is essential in this recipe – it is less salty, but has a more intense flavor, than regular soy sauce.

2 racks pork loin back ribs
1/4 cup dark soy sauce (must be dark, not regular!)
1/3 cup Chinese rock sugar*
3 cloves whole garlic, peeled
1-inch piece of ginger, sliced
2 tbsp corn oil
water

*can substitute 1/4 cup brown sugar, but this will change the taste

Cut up the racks into individual ribs. Put into a large bowl and pour the dark soy sauce over. Using your hands, mix the soy sauce into the ribs until they are covered. Let marinate at least 1/2 hour (place in refrigerator if marinating longer).

Heat oil in a wok over high heat. When oil is hot, add garlic cloves and ginger slices, and stir around a little bit until aromatic. Sear the ribs in batches until browned on the outsides. Put all the ribs in the wok, arrange them as compactly as possible, and add water just to cover (tops of ribs should be poking out). Add the rock sugar and cover wok.

Reduce heat to medium and simmer, covered, for about 40 minutes.

Uncover wok, turn heat up to high, and let the liquid boil off, stirring occasionally, until liquid is reduced to a brown glaze and coats the ribs, another 10 minutes or so.

Serve and enjoy!