This is the way my mom makes Chinese Sweet and Sour Spare Ribs (aka “Tang Cu Pai Gu” 糖醋排骨) ! It’s a very tasty dish that goes very well with white rice. If you’re looking for the American sweet and sour pork version, this is not yet, but this is just as tasty, if not more!

Are spare ribs beef or pork?

Spare ribs are pork! Spare ribs are very popular in Chinese and Asian cuisine and in Mandarin Chinese, it is called “Pai Gu” 排骨. Beef ribs are known as short ribs.

We bought ours from our local Asian super market! If you can’t find any locally, you could try online meat ordering places! For example, Crowd Cow – they ship to anywhere in the US other than Alaska and Hawaii sustainable and healthy meats/seafood!

Why are they called spare ribs?

Spare ribs are called spare ribs because it comes from the German word Rippenspeer, which translates to “Spear Ribs”. It was called this because it was traditionally roasted on a spear!

How many pounds of spare ribs per person?

It is a rule of thumb to get about 3/4 lb to 1 lb of pork spare ribs per person. That’s about 2-3 ribs. Of course if you are eating it with lots of rice and other dishes (family / chinese style) you could end up eating less. The rule of thumb is good for planning purposes though.

How long to cook sweet and sour ribs?

How long you cook the sweet and sour spare ribs really depends on how thick you want your sauce. If you like it thicker, you may end up cooking it 45 minutes to an hour. However, if you like some sauce that you can add to your rice and not just stick to the sweet and sour ribs, then you can cook it half hour to 45 minutes.

What goes with sweet and sour spare ribs?

For this sweet and sour spare ribs, I recommend serving with rice of course. For veggies, I recommend something a little lighter, in order to balance out the heaviness of the sweet and sour ribs.

Some ideas include my Stir Fry Asparagus with Garlic, Shanghai Bok Choy Stir Fry with Garlic or Stir Fry Napa Cabbage with Dried Shrimp!

How to make Sweet and Sour Spare Ribs

There are many ways to make this dish, and this is the way we make it at my home!

Ingredients

• 1 pound spare ribs
• Water, as needed
• 2 tablespoons cooking oil
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 5 cloves garlic, smashed
• 2 tablespoons michiu
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 3 tbsp rice vinegar or black vinegar
• 2 red chili peppers, chopped
• 2 stalks of green onions, cut 1 inch pieces

Instructions

Place spare ribs in a pot and fill with water. Bring water to a boil for about 2 minutes, and then remove spare ribs from water. Throw out the water with impurities.

In a wok or cooking pan, heat cooking oil, garlic and brown sugar on low heat, stir fry for about a minute while the sugar melts.

Add spare ribs to the woke/pan. Add light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, michiu, vinegar, and red chili pepper. Stir to mix well.

Now add hot water to the pan, just enough to cover the spare ribs. Turn heat on high, and cover. Once it starts to boil, bump down the heat to medium low to let it simmer for about 30 mins to 45 mins or until meat is tender and the water and sauce has been reduced. During this, stir occasionally and while you’re at it you can check how the reduction of the sauce is going.

Add green onions, mix well, turn off the heat, and serve!

If you are a fan of these spare ribs, you may also want to check out my Chinese Steamed Spare Ribs with Black Beans recipe here!

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