Recipe from Katie Workman and Carolyn Phillips
Adapted by Julia Moskin
- Total Time
- About 2 hours, and at least 4 hours' marinating
- Rating
- 4(642)
- Notes
- Read community notes
These are the best oven-roasted ribs ever, and they can also be finished on a grill for extra smoky flavor. Creating steam in the oven is the key to tender meat. The ingredients here are close to the ones used by traditional Cantonese barbecue masters to produce sticky-salty-sweet meat that has a reddish, caramelized crust — with ketchup standing in for Chinese red fermented tofu. (It can be left out if desired.) Although these ribs are presented as an appetizer in many American Chinese restaurants, barbecued meat is traditionally a main course, served with freshly cooked rice and a green side likesmashed cucumber salador stir-fried bok choy. —Julia Moskin
Featured in: Mastering Chinese-Style Ribs at Home
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Ingredients
Yield:4 to 8 servings
- 3cloves garlic, smashed and peeled
- 4scallions, white and pale green parts only, plus additional sliced scallion for garnish
- ¾cup hoisin sauce
- ½cup ketchup, or 4 tablespoons tomato paste or Chinese red bean paste (nan ru)
- ¼cup honey or light corn syrup, more to taste
- ¼cup soy sauce, more to taste
- ⅓cup Chinese rice wine or vodka
- ¼cup rice vinegar or cider vinegar
- ½teaspoon five-spice powder
- 2racks baby back or St. Louis-style pork spareribs, 5 to 10 pounds total (see note)
- Cilantro leaves, for garnish
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)
1341 calories; 102 grams fat; 33 grams saturated fat; 1 gram trans fat; 37 grams monounsaturated fat; 18 grams polyunsaturated fat; 28 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 20 grams sugars; 69 grams protein; 1476 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
In a food processor or blender, mince garlic and scallions. Add hoisin, ketchup, honey, soy sauce, rice wine or vodka, rice vinegar and five-spice powder. Process until well blended. Taste for sweetness; the mixture should be sweet like barbecue sauce, not candy. Adjust the taste with honey, soy sauce and vinegar.
Step
2
Set aside ⅓ cup marinade for basting. Transfer remaining marinade to a container or pan large enough to hold the ribs, or to large resealable plastic bags. Add ribs and turn until well coated. Refrigerate at least 4 hours, and up to 2 days, turning occasionally in the marinade.
Step
3
Heat oven to 300 degrees. Set up a rimmed baking sheet (or two) with an oven-safe wire rack that fits inside, the kind you’d use for cooling cookies. Line the bottoms of the pans with foil or nonstick baking mats. Place the racks inside the pans and place the empty pans on the bottom rack of the oven. Pour in hot water until it comes about halfway up the sides of the pan. (Do not skip the water: The steam helps cook the meat to the right tenderness.)
Step
4
When the oven is hot, remove the ribs from the marinade and place on the racks, meaty side up. Bake without basting, 1 hour for baby back ribs, 2 hours for St. Louis style ribs. Check the water level occasionally to make sure it hasn’t cooked off.
Step
5
Remove ribs from the oven and raise the oven temperature to 450 degrees. Pour off any water from the baking sheet and return the ribs to the racks. (Alternatively, you can finish the ribs on a medium-hot grill; see below.)
Step
6
Return ribs to the oven and roast (or grill), basting 2 or 3 times with reserved marinade, for 20 to 30 minutes (less time for baby backs, more for spareribs). Watch the ribs carefully to make sure that the edges don’t burn, and don’t baste them too close to the end; they should be dry and sticky, not wet on the surface.
Step
7
Use a big knife to cut between the bones, making sure that each rib has meat on both sides. Mound on a platter, sprinkle with scallions and cilantro, and serve immediately.
Tips
- 1. If you're using 2 slabs of full-size spareribs, double the amount of marinade.
- 2. The water in the baking pans acts as a steam bath. It should not be high enough to touch the meat or the racks. You can use as little as ¼ inch of water, but check the pan during the baking and top up with boiling water if it boils dry. Some recipes call for placing a separate pan of water on the bottom of the oven to create steam, but the process works much better when the steam source is close to the meat.
Ratings
4
out of 5
642
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Cooking Notes
Pups
I’m confused about the rack and the water. Does the water touch the meat?
Preethi
I'm confused, aren't baking sheets a bit too shallow to put water in them?
Kathleen
Something no one ever mentions in rib recipes is that it is important to remove the membrane on the underside of the ribs before cooking. It's pretty easy if you lift the corner of it with a knife and grab it with a paper towel and pull carefully down the length of the slab of ribs. You may have to start it several times to get it all. I usually run a knife down the center to make a slit in it and that helps as I pull it down the slab. The ribs still hold together during cooking.
Roak
"A basic hoisin is just something like.." - maybe black beans are magical. But hoisin is a sweetened and spice ground brown bean sauce. It's brown and saucy. Black beans are individual puckered dry...beans. No nuts in hoisin. Your variation may be tasty but it's not hoisin.
JMR
I don't believe for one minute that marinating is useless. That said, I have found that, when cooking chicken with skin on on the bbq grill, it's better to slash the thicker parts in several places to allow the flavor of the marinade to permeate the meat. Also, any kind of tough meat such as tri tip, London broil, flank/skirt steak benefits hugely from marinating. That's my ever-so humble opinion after 50 years of cooking - for what it's worth.
Golem18
Many years ago there was a recipe for Chinese ribs that called for cutting out every other bone so that each portion had a more substantial portion of meat. Start with the "second" bone, cut the top lengthwise and then trim around the bone with a paring knife to release. Continue with every other bone. A lot of work the first time but it can be done swiftly once you get the hang of it. Makes for an impressive hunk of meat to chew on. Big taste too.
Rita
No, the water does not touch the ribs. The concept is that the water becomes very hot and gives off steam which makes the ribs juicy due to the water evaporating.
Elaine
It is confusing. rack and water go into rimmed baking sheet. Place baking sheet/with rack/water in the oven and preheat them. When the oven is hot place ribs on rack. Close oven. Pour some good wine. Drink.
Brad
I love this recipe. My one really big change is to omit prepared hoisin entirely. It's redundant, and most of the store versions hoisin are bland and too sweet. A basic hoisin is just something like 4 tbsp sugar, 3 tbsp black bean, 1.5 tbsp nut paste, 2 tsp vinegar; 5 spice, rice wine, chili paste. The only additions to the main recipe are the black beans (these are magic pantry items, go out and buy them if you don't have them) and a blob of peanut butter.
Margareta
I’ve been using this basic recipe for decades. Marinate at least overnight. My cooking method is to have a pan of water and then suspend racks of ribs using s hooks from the highest oven rack. The suspended ribs drip into the water.
sb
Can you cook these ribs at low temperature in a smoker
Confused Cook
Totally confused. Where is the water and where are the ribs. And how do you line a baking sheet with foil after you've already put the racks in them? Ugh!
Wordsworth from Wadsworth
Anybody know of a brand of hoisin sauce available at an Asian market that is not too sweet, and really superior?
KR
Can you make these in a slow cooker?
stephanie
in the video, she turns the heat up on the oven before the basting step is shown, which is the same as in the written recipe: "Return ribs to the oven and roast (or grill), basting 2 or 3 times with reserved marinade, for 20 to 30 minutes." that said, without any text or voiceover, it wasn't very clear. i also agree that the video should have shown the water & rack as that seems to be the crux of this recipe and also the part most people got confused about.
irj
I found the five spice, though only a tiny amount is added, dominates the flavor too much.
John A
reasonably good.. not as spicy as I had hoped... needed to cook for upwards of 3 hours...
Brandon from Woodside
For anyone looking to get that red color you see in a Chinese restaurant without using red dye, using a piece or two of fermented red bean curd and a little dry red wine will get you close. It will NOT have that neon red glow, but it won’t be totally brown like this recipe will certainly be. This tip comes from a Chinese restaurant chef for a char siu recipe, which is basically the same flavor profile and marinade as this. And, yes, I would DEFINITELY marinate this overnight for way more flavor.
ED
It was really hot so I didn't want to use the oven for too long after I'd already marinated the ribs. So I arranged them in my crockpot standing up with the bones vertical, put all the marinade in, and cooked on high until it started bubbling and then low for like 8 hours. I then put them on a rack on a foil lined baking sheet, collected the braising liquid, removed the fatty layer, reduced it a bit, used that to baste the ribs before reheating at 450 for 10 minutes.
Susan
These are outstanding! Follow directions exactly. There is room for water if you are using a rimmed sheet pan. These are a resounding hit!
Mr Cee
I tried every suggestion for removing the membrane on the back of the ribs. Once it tore I couldn’t get any more off and gave up. I can’t imagine that the ribs could have tasted better — they were fantastic — if I had succeeded. I’ll try again next time, but I really don’t think that it’s worth a great effort.
Marla
Followed the recipe to the T! Delicious and will make these ribs again. Next time I will double the marinade as it would be delicious on chicken too. Served with rice, steamed broccoli and stir fry asian mushroom sprinkled with sesame seeds.
Kayla
I found this to be a bit salty, I would half the soya sauce next time. Skipped the prep method and simply added some water to the sheet pan with all of the the marinade, covered tightly with foil and braised for 3.5 hours, basted and removed foil to finish browning the ribs. Serves with garlic gai lan and simple rice.
florence
I addd lemongrass to the marinade. So good!
vaughn
Delicious as written! This is going in our rotation
Rheta
These are great! They taste like the ribs from the Chinese American restaurants I grew up loving. I marinated them overnight, used soju instead of Chinese wine. Cookie cooling rack inside a slightly larger baking pan or jelly roll pan (with sides), lined with foil. Simple clean up after a soapy soak. 2 hours cooking time with only 10 mins on high heat.
AnnabelleS
Delicious! I took one of the commenters suggestion and replaced 2T of ketchup with doubanjiang and it added depth and a little kick of spiciness. Marinated overnight. Instead of using a baking sheet I filled a roasting pan about 2/3 with water, heated it on the stovetop until simmering, then put a cooling rack over the top. You still have to worry a little about spilling when you put it in the oven, but there was no worry about the water evaporating. Finished on the BBQ. It was great!
Ping W Leung
In Step 4, I bake at 300 degrees for 2 hours, following the recipe for St Louis-style ribs. Unfortunately, this proved to be much too long, most of my ribs were burned, possibly because I was using a convection oven. Next time I would shorten it to 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
Michelle
our favorite recipe for ribs. I follow the recipe exactly except that instead of nan ru or ketchup, I use doubanjiang. It gives it a nice kick but not too spicy. Even my kids like it and they cannot handle too much heat.
Cook from NJ
Delicious!!!! Easy and great. I used St Louis ribs and had the store cut them in half so they were about 3 “ long.
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