Barbecued Spare Ribs
If you've got pork spare ribs, hoisin sauce and sake, you're most of the way to this pork: about 65 minutes of cooking across 7 steps. You'll find the full ingredient list (with a scaler to change the servings), 7 steps of method, substitutions, and ideas for what to serve alongside.
You'll mainly reach for oven and saucepan. At medium difficulty across 7 steps, it's manageable with a little attention.
What you'll need
Shopping list (4)
Pantry staples (you likely have these)
π Unit converter
How to make it
- Cut the spare ribs into individual ribs or leave them as a slab, pat dry, and place in a large bowl or zip-top bag.
- Mince the garlic and grate the ginger, then whisk them together with the soy sauce, honey, hoisin, white vinegar, sake, and sugar to make the marinade.
- Pour the marinade over the ribs, turn to coat every surface, and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight, turning once or twice.
- Heat the oven to 160 C (325 F), lift the ribs onto a foil-lined rack set over a tray, reserve the marinade, and bake for about 1 hour 30 minutes until the meat is fork-tender and reaches at least 90 C (195 F) internally for easy pull-off-the-bone texture.
- While the ribs bake, pour the reserved marinade into a small saucepan and simmer for 5 minutes until slightly thickened and glossy, which also makes it safe to brush back on after contact with raw pork.
- Raise the oven to 220 C (425 F), brush the ribs all over with the cooked glaze, and roast for a final 10 to 15 minutes, basting once more, until lacquered and caramelized at the edges.
- Rest for 5 minutes, scatter with toasted sesame seeds, and serve hot.
You'll use: Oven Β· Saucepan Β· Pan Β· Whisk
Ingredient substitutions
- Soy Sauce
- tamari (gluten-free) Β· coconut aminos
- Honey
- maple syrup Β· agave
Tips & common questions
How long does Barbecued Spare Ribs take to make?
About 65 minutes from start to finish β an estimate based on the 7 steps and 10 ingredients. Times vary with your kitchen and how much prep you do ahead.
What can I use instead of soy sauce?
Try tamari (gluten-free). See the substitutions section above for more swaps.
Can I scale this recipe up or down?
Yes β use the servings control above the ingredients and every quantity rescales automatically (fractions included). Cooking times stay roughly the same; very large batches may need a little longer.
How should I store leftovers?
Cool leftovers quickly, refrigerate in an airtight container, and eat within 3 days. Reheat until piping hot throughout.
Related recipes
Barbecued Spare Ribs is an original recipe developed in-house by Consomee. Photo: Spare ribs with Chinese barbecue sauce cropped.jpg (Public domain) via Wikimedia Commons. We add the serving scaler, ingredient tools, timing and structure on top β how we source recipes.