This Chinatown Char Siu Ribs Recipe Tastes Great Cooked Indoors Or Out (2024)

FAQs

Why are Chinese spare ribs so good? ›

One of the recognizable factors for a dish like Chinese spare ribs is the sweet, caramelized flavors, which used to come from heating the sugary marinade over the fire. Spare ribs are usually served as an appetizer or small dish, though you can make the char siu in buns or as part of your main meal, as well.

The characteristic red hue of char siu comes from red food coloring, which you can add to the marinade if you'd like, but I prefer to go au natural. It's plenty pretty on its own. Hoisin sauce—a fermented soy bean-based sweet and savory barbecue sauce—is the primary flavoring agent in the marinade.

How do you make char siu sauce? Our recipe for char siu marinade calls for garlic salt​, brown sugar​, oyster sauce​, light soy sauce​, hoisin sauce​, red wine, Shaoxing wine, red fermented bean curd, and five spice powder. Check the instructions above for specific amounts.

We'll use a ChefAlarm^® to keep track of the temperature, basting our pork once it reaches 145°F (63°C) and then again when it reaches 165°F (74°C), finishing the meat at 170°F (77°C).

Worst: Barbecue Spare Ribs

No bones about it, these are a high-fat choice. At Chinese restaurants, they're coated in a salty-sweet barbecue sauce. One order can pack in 1.5 times the sodium you should get in a day, along with 64 grams of fat. They also can have more sugar than a can of soda.

Like most meats, a rack of ribs is incredibly low in carbs and fiber; it's all protein and fat. So as long as you're not slathering on that sticky sweet barbecue sauce all the time, ribs (especially nutrient-dense Ibérico pork ribs like St. Louis Ribs or a 4-Rib Rack) are ideal for keeping carbs to a minimum.

Free-Range Pork Ribs

Our chinese pork spare ribs come from rare-breed Saddleback and Gloucester Old Spot outdoor reared pigs that have taken longer to mature and carry the essential extra fat that produces really succulent, flavoursome meat.

Traditionally, this dish would be served up sliced over rice with a side of steamed greens, but you can also serve with noodles or in steamed buns. Don't forget to read our tips further down, including marinating the pork the day before, to allow time for the sauce to penetrate better into the meat.

The red hue on the pork comes from the sticky, crave-able barbecue sauce in which it's marinaded before roasting. Often, this deep crimson hue comes from a combination of Hoisin sauce, ketchup, soy sauce, and fermented red bean curd (aka fermented tofu, bean cheese, or tofu cheese).

Hoisin sauce

The original sauce uses fermented soybean paste which is quite tricky to find. I cannot always find it, so instead, I use hoisin sauce which is more widely available. Hoisin sauce adds a kick of umami and a subtle tanginess. You can use store-bought or follow my recipe to make your own hoisin sauce.

What is char siu in English? ›

Char siu literally means "fork roasted" (siu being burn/roast and cha being fork, both noun and verb) after the traditional cooking method for the dish: long strips of seasoned boneless pork are skewered with long forks and placed in a covered oven or over a fire.

A good char siu recipe has depth of flavor––a salty/sweet contrast with a hint of spice that compliments the pork and allows it to stand alone with just a simple mound of steamed rice and blanched choy sum.

How do you tenderise pork for stir fry? Velveting is a Chinese technique that helps keep meat tender during stir frying. Adding cornstarch and bicarb to your meat during the marinating process helps to coat your meat, giving it a velvety feel that makes the meat feel extra soft.

Wait until the thermometer reads at least 140 °F (60 °C). According to the USDA, pork needs to be cooked to between 145 °F (63 °C) and 160 °F (71 °C) in order to be safe to eat. However, you can take the pork out of the oven a few degrees prior to the 145 mark to avoid overcooking.

4. Red food colouring – to make the pork red, like you get at the Chinese barbecue shop. This is optional. Authentic Char Siu uses red bean curd for colouring and a touch of flavour – it can be found at Asian stores, use about 2 tbsp of the liquid and no red food colouring.

They're made from a boneless pork butt (which is actually from the shoulder of the pig). The pork is cut into thick slices, roasted, and then cut into long thin lengths. Chinese takeout restaurants popularized this method years ago.

They are usually already prepared, but room temperature or cold. The ribs are then “oil blanched” which means a quick 30 second to one minute deep fry to revive them and also gives an added flavor. Same is true for green beans in a Chinese restaurant, dump'em into the fryer for quick time, and voila!

Meatier than the Back Rib, Spareribs – also known as side ribs - are thick, juicy, and come from the belly section of the pig (where bacon comes from). They usually come with the sternum, costal cartilage and flap still attached. From the Sparerib you can get St. Louis style or Louisiana style ribs.

No matter which type of rib you get your hands on, cook it low and slow for super tender meat and don't forget a sticky, spicy-sweet glaze.