Takeout-Style Chinese Spare Ribs

Article by Layla Khoury-Hanold

Chinese spare ribs are a type of Cantonese-style barbecue with sweet, caramelized flavor that makes them a staple appetizer on Chinese restaurant menus. With a little prep work and an overnight marinade, spare ribs are easy to make at home. Jeff Mauro’s take-out style Chinese spare ribs recipe teaches you how to make a flavorful marinade, how to grill ribs using indirect and direct heat and the technique for achieving a caramelized crust and lacquered finish.

How to Make Chinese Spare Ribs Like a Pro

Reach for St. Louis-style ribs. Jeff recommends using St. Louis-style ribs, which are spareribs that have been trimmed of cartilage and breastbone, allowing them to lie flatter and brown more evenly on the grill.

Make a flavorful hoisin-based marinade. Hoisin sauce, a sweet-savory barbecue sauce made with fermented soybeans, anchors the flavorful marinade for Chinese spareribs. Jeff mixes in soy sauce for savory depth, brown sugar and honey for sweetness, aromatic granulated garlic and warming spices including fresh ginger and five-spice powder.

Add red food coloring for an authentic look. Jeff also adds a small amount of red food coloring to achieve the signature red-tinged meat that’s signature to Cantonese-style barbecue.

Use a resealable plastic bag to evenly marinate the ribs. Jeff recommends pouring the marinade into a zip-top bag large enough to accommodate the ribs, then adding the ribs and tossing to coat evenly.

Marinate the meat overnight. Jeff recommends marinating the meat for at least 3 hours, but marinating the ribs overnight is ideal to allow the marinade to penetrate the meat for maximum flavor infusion and moisture retention.

Start grilling the ribs over indirect heat. Spareribs take a long time to cook, so Jeff cooks the ribs low-and-slow on a wire rack on the cooler side of the grill to ensure a juicy, tender result, about 2 to 3 hours.

Baste the meat while it cooks. Basting the meat a few times throughout the cooking process ensures flavorful meat and a glossy, sticky finish.

Finish the ribs with more honey over direct heat. Jeff drizzles the ribs with honey then quickly chars them over direct heat to achieve a caramelized crust and lacquered finish.

Marinade for Pork Spareribs

For this style of Chinese pork spareribs, the marinade base starts with hoisin sauce, a sweet-savory barbecue sauce made with fermented soybeans. In addition to hoisin, the pork sparerib marinade includes soy sauce, brown sugar, honey, garlic, ginger and five-spice powder, which is a blend of cinnamon, fennel, cloves, star anise and Sichuan peppercorn.

What Are Ribs Made Of?

Spareribs come from the belly of the pig and are meaty with a lot of flavor and richness, but the meat requires low-and-slow cooking to render them tender. St. Louis-style ribs, which Jeff recommends for this recipe, are spareribs that have been trimmed of cartilage and breastbone, allowing them to lie flatter and brown more evenly on the grill.

What to Serve with Chinese Spareribs

Serve Chinese-style spareribs with sides such as steamed rice, fried rice, noodles, like our Cold Peanut-Sesame Noodles, stir-fried, roasted or steamed vegetables, such as our Chinese Broccoli (Gai Lan) with Oyster Sauce or Healthy Spicy Steamed Baby Bok Choy, and cold salads like Jeff’s Quick Pickled Asian Slaw or Crispy Asian Brussels Sprouts Salad.