How to make sweet-and-sour pork ribs: tender meat, a glossy sauce and crisp vegetables

Sweet-and-sour ribs are right when the meat is tender but has not fallen off the bone, the surface carries a glossy coat of sauce, the sweet and sour are balanced, and the peppers and onion still have some crunch. This recipe cooks the ribs tender first and then coats them quickly, which avoids a burnt outside with raw meat next to the bone.

Quick facts

• Serves: 4-5 people.
• Preparation: 30 minutes.
• Cooking: 45-55 minutes.
• Difficulty: medium.
• A deep pan or a heavy-based pot.

Ingredients

• 900 g of pork spare ribs, cut into 4-5 cm pieces.
• Red and green peppers, and onion.
• Just-ripe pineapple and tomato, optional.
• Garlic and shallot.
• Fish sauce or soy sauce.
• Sugar, rice vinegar or tamarind.
• Tomato ketchup, tapioca starch and cooking oil.

Choosing the ingredients decides the quality

Choose ribs with small bones, naturally pink meat, white fat and no sliminess. The pineapple should be just ripe so the pieces hold; the peppers should be taut and glossy and the onion firm. Use a mild rice vinegar or strained tamarind water so the acidity is easier to control.

Prefer ingredients with a clear origin, still within their date and kept at the right temperature. Frozen food should be thawed in the fridge, in the microwave or under cold running water, not left on the worktop for hours. Vegetables eaten raw must be washed under clean running water, drained and kept apart from raw meat and fish.

Preparing and laying out before you turn on the heat

Rinse the ribs quickly and pat them dry; you can blanch them for 3 minutes and rinse them if you want a cleaner sauce. Marinate them with shallot and garlic, a little fish sauce and pepper for 20 minutes. Cut the vegetables to a similar size. Mix the sauce in advance from water, sugar, the acid, ketchup and the seasonings; mix the tapioca starch separately with cold water.

Weigh the seasonings into small bowls and keep the utensils for raw and cooked food in two separate areas. Have a clean plate ready for the finished items; never put cooked food back on a plate that has held raw meat or seafood. Read all the steps through first, so the parts that have to be done quickly are not interrupted.

Step 1: colour the surface of the ribs

Sear the ribs in batches in a little oil until they are evenly golden; they do not need to be cooked through. The pan must be hot enough and the pieces must not overlap; do not tip in the leftover marinade while searing, because it boils the ribs.

Step 2: braise the ribs until tender

Put all the ribs back in, add hot water to come about halfway up them, leave the lid ajar and braise over a low heat for 20-30 minutes. Check that the meat next to the bone is safely cooked and properly tender. Take the lid off and let most of the remaining liquid reduce before you add the sauce.

Step 3: stir-fry the vegetables separately

In a hot pan, stir-fry the onion, peppers and pineapple in order of firmness, only until the surfaces are glossy and they still have some crunch. Move them to a plate. Cooking everything together from the start leaves the vegetables limp before the ribs have taken up the sauce.

Step 4: reduce the sauce and coat the ribs

Pour the sauce mixture into the pan with the ribs and simmer gently until the flavours come together. Add the starch slurry a little at a time, turning the ribs so the sauce clings in a thin coat; do not use too much or the sauce turns gluey. Taste and adjust the sour, sweet and salt.

Step 5: return the vegetables and finish

Return the vegetables, toss quickly for 1-2 minutes so they heat through and take on the sauce, then turn off the heat. Scatter over pepper and spring onion. The sauce thickens further as it cools, so on the stove it should be slightly looser than you want it.

Small tips that make the dish more consistent

1. Choose ribs with small bones.
2. Pat the ribs dry before searing.
3. Brown them in batches.
4. Braise with hot water.
5. Do not braise until it falls off the bone.
6. Stir-fry the vegetables separately.
7. Mix the tapioca starch with cold water.
8. Add the thickener a little at a time.
9. Taste before the vegetables go back in.
10. Turn off the heat while the vegetables are still crisp.

Every kitchen has a different hob power, pan thickness and level of moisture in the ingredients. The times are therefore only a reference; judge by colour, smell, tenderness, the rate of evaporation and the core temperature together. Note down the amount of liquid, the size of the equipment and the actual timings so it is easier to repeat next time.

Common mistakes and how to rescue the dish

The ribs are tough

They were not braised for long enough. Add hot water, cover and braise gently until tender, and only then reduce the sauce again.

The sauce is too thick

Add hot water a spoonful at a time and stir gently; next time use less starch.

The sauce separates

The thickener was not boiled enough, or there is too much oil. Skim off the oil, heat it gently and add a little more of the mixed starch slurry.

The vegetables are limp

They went in too early. Lift them out and add a fresh quickly stir-fried batch to bring the texture back.

A systematic way to taste and adjust

Taste a spoonful that has both liquid and a representative piece of the ingredients, let it cool for a few seconds and then work out whether the dish is short on salt, sweetness, acidity, richness or aroma. Change only one element at a time and wait until the seasoning has dissolved completely before tasting again. Fish sauce, salt, sugar and acid should go in a small amount at a time; this is far safer than trying to fix everything in one go.

If the dish is too salty, the real answer is to add suitable unsalted ingredients or liquid; adding sugar only masks the sensation and does nothing to the sodium. If it is too sweet, increase the liquid slightly and rebalance the salt before adding acidity. If the spices are harsh, take the solids out and let the dish rest rather than carrying on cooking it for a long time.

Controlling the heat and the equipment

The equipment has to suit the quantity: too wide a pot boils the liquid away quickly, too small a pot leaves the ingredients piled on top of each other, and a thin pan creates hot spots that burn. Heat it in a controlled way, watching the sizzle, the size of the bubbles and the rate of evaporation rather than just the position of the dial. When you need to top up a hot dish, use hot water so the cooking is not interrupted.

A food thermometer is a useful checking tool. Put the probe into the thickest part, away from bone and the base of the pan, and clean it before and after each reading. Poultry needs to reach 74C, minced meat 71C and fish 63C; for a dish where a direct reading is not practical, make sure every raw component is cooked through and the dish is held at a safe temperature.

Scaling the recipe up or down

For 2 kg of ribs, sear them and stir-fry the vegetables in several batches; you can braise them in one large pot and then split them between two pans for the coating. Do not double the starch exactly from the start.

When you double the recipe, use wider equipment or work in batches so the food meets the heat in the same way as in the original recipe. Start strong seasonings at about 1.7 times and taste again, because the surface area for evaporation does not scale linearly. When you halve it, switch to a smaller pot to keep the depth of liquid and stop it drying out too quickly.

A schedule so the dish is ready on time

The stock, the base sauce and anything that needs marinating can be done in advance, following the storage guidance. The herbs, the frying, grilling, griddling and the assembly should be left until close to the meal. If you are cooking several dishes, work backwards from serving time: leave whatever has to be crisp or hot until last, and finish the cold work and the preparation first.

While you cook, clear away any utensil that has touched raw food straight away, change a dirty cloth and keep the worktop dry. For each batch, use the same ladle or weigh the portions so the results are even. Never taste with a spoon and then put that spoon back into the pot.

Serving and presentation

Use a deep plate, put the ribs in the middle with the vegetables around them and spoon over just enough sauce. Serve it with hot rice, without pouring on so much that it quickly becomes cloying.

Warm the plates or bowls for a hot dish and chill them for a cold dessert. Leave some space around the food so the main components are easy to see. Herbs, nuts, fried shallots or a finishing sauce should only go on just before serving, to keep their colour and texture.

Preparing ahead and storing

Chill the ribs and the sauce within 2 hours and use them within 3-4 days. Reheat to 74C, adding a little water if the sauce has thickened. The vegetables gradually soften, so it is best on the first day.

Cooked food should not stay at room temperature for more than 2 hours, or more than 1 hour when the surroundings are above 32C. Divide leftovers into shallow containers so they chill quickly and use them within 3-4 days; when reheating, bring the whole portion to 74C. Only reheat what you are going to eat, and throw away anything with an odd smell, sliminess or other unusual sign rather than tasting it.

Allergy and safety notes

Fish sauce contains fish, and soy sauce contains soy and may contain wheat. Bottled ketchup should be checked for its ingredients if anyone has an allergy.

Pregnant women, young children, older people and anyone with a weakened immune system should eat food that is cooked right through, and should be especially careful about cross-contamination. Read the label on packaged seasonings, as fish, crustaceans, soy, wheat, egg, milk, sesame or peanut can appear in ready-made sauces.

A checklist for the finished dish

• The raw components have reached a safe temperature with no undercooked areas left.
• It smells as it should, with no old oil, burnt or oddly sour note.
• Salt, sweetness, acidity and richness are balanced when tasted at eating temperature.
• The main texture is what you were aiming for: tender without falling apart, crisp without being raw.
• The serving plate and the tongs are clean and have not touched raw food.
• The garnish went on close to serving time and the allergens have been announced.