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Chinese Pork Spare Ribs / Char Siu Ribs

Introduction & method

These ribs are cooked char siu style, which means a long marinade, brief cooking and delicious tender pork.

Chinese Pork Spare Ribs / Char Siu Ribs Recipe

Prep the Pork


If your ribs are on the rack, you might want to separate them into individual ribs, depending on the size of the rack. This will allow the marinade to penetrate more of the meat.

Make the Marinade


Peel and crush the garlic, and mix together with all the marinade ingredients. Pour the marinade into a zip-lock bag and add the meat. Give it a good massage to get everything coated. Zip it up and stick it in the fridge for ar least 4 hours, but preferably overnight.

Cook the Ribs


You can, of course, barbecue the ribs, but if that option isn't available, the oven does a grand job. Preheat the oven to 160°C (320°F) if it's a fan oven, or 180°C (356°F) if it's not. Line a roasting dish with aluminium foil, put a wire rack over it, and place the ribs on top. Keep any leftover marinade for basting.

Pop the ribs into the oven and cook for about 25 minutes. Take them out, spoon more marinade over them and cook for a further 10 minutes.

Serve with savoury rice or anything else that takes your fancy.




 

Ingredients & Info


MEAT
 500 grams meaty pork ribs
  MARINADE
 2 tbsp light soy sauce
 1 tbsp hoisin sauce
 1 tsp Chinese five-spice powder
 2-3 cloves garlic
 1 tbsp rice wine or sherry
 1 tbsp honey
  red food colouring (optional)

UNITS:
Metric
US Customary/Imperial

Serves 2 
Prep time: 10 minutes.
Marinading time: 4 hours.
Cooking time: 35 minutes.
Total time: 4 hours 45 minutes.