Sticky Ribs
Chinese-style pork spare ribs, braised under foil until tender, then roasted bare until the soy, honey and hoisin marinade turns to a glossy glaze.
Ribs you eat with your fingers, lacquered dark and shiny, with meat that lets go of the bone when you pull. The oven does almost all of it.
Recipe inspiration
This is the Friday-night, feed-a-crowd, nobody-wants-to-stand-at-the-stove recipe. Fifteen minutes stirring a marinade, then two hours where the oven works and you don't. It also travels: braise it the day before, glaze it when people walk in.
About this dish
Spare ribs come from the lower ribcage and belly of the pig, flatter and bonier than baby back ribs, with plenty of connective tissue. That tissue is why they need time: fast heat makes them chewy, a long, wet braise makes them soft.
In China they are paigu, cut into short pieces and fried, steamed or braised; Cantonese cooks roast them with a sweet, savoury sauce as part of siu mei, the family of roast meats that includes char siu. This version borrows that sauce: soy for salt, honey and hoisin for sweetness and colour, Shaoxing wine, garlic, ginger and five spice for depth.
Done right, the outside is sticky and slightly charred at the tips, the inside soft and juicy, and the kitchen smells of honey and star anise.
Additions & substitutions
- Beef short ribs: same method, an extra 45 to 60 minutes under foil.
- Chicken wings: skip the covered braise. Roast uncovered at 200°C (180°C fan) for 40 to 45 minutes, turning twice.
- No Shaoxing wine: dry sherry, or more stock.
- Gluten-free: tamari, plus gluten-free hoisin and oyster sauces.
- Spicier: double the chilli sauce, or add a pinch of ground Sichuan pepper.
- Vegetarian: the glaze, not the ribs. Swap the oyster sauce for a mushroom "oyster" sauce and the honey for brown sugar, then roast thick cauliflower wedges or pressed firm tofu at 200°C (180°C fan), turning and spooning, until charred and sticky.
Expert tips
Shopping
- Ask the butcher to cut a rack of pork spare ribs into single ribs. It takes them seconds; at home it takes a heavy knife and patience. Single ribs cook faster and every side catches glaze.
- Buy meaty ribs, not the trimmed, bony ends: you want a finger-thick layer of meat over the bone.
- Shaoxing wine and hoisin live in the Asian aisle of most supermarkets.
Preparing
- Use a snug dish. The ribs should sit in one layer, just touching. In a big tray the marinade spreads thin, evaporates under the foil and burns before the meat is tender.
- Go easy on water. Add only enough to reach a third of the way up the ribs. Too much and the sauce stays thin; then you are reducing it for half an hour.
- Seal the foil tightly. Loose foil lets the steam out, and steam is what softens the meat.
- Test, don't trust the clock. After the covered braise, a skewer should slide into the meat with almost no push.
- Watch the last 10 minutes. Honey goes from glossy to bitter fast. Pull the dish when the sauce coats a spoon and bubbles thickly.
Make ahead, or for a crowd
- Braise (step 4) up to 2 days ahead, cool, and refrigerate in the liquid. Lift off the set fat, then glaze straight from the fridge, adding 10 minutes.
- For 8, double everything and use two snug dishes, not one big one. Swap their oven shelves halfway through the glazing.
- Raw ribs freeze well in the marinade. Thaw overnight in the fridge.
Serving suggestions
- Steamed jasmine rice to catch the sauce, or fried rice made with yesterday's rice.
- Something green and quick: bok choy with garlic, or a stir-fry of whatever is in the crisper.
- Something sharp: smashed cucumber with rice vinegar cuts through the sweetness.
- Wet cloths or a stack of napkins. Nobody eats these with cutlery.
Sticky Ribs
Published 2 Oct 2026
Ingredients
- 1.5 kg (3 lb) pork spare ribs, cut into single ribs
Marinade
- 80 ml (⅓ cup) soy sauce
- 3 tbsp honey or brown sugar
- 3 tbsp hoisin sauce
- 3 tbsp tomato sauce (ketchup)
- 2 tbsp Shaoxing wine (or dry sherry)
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 5 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp finely grated fresh ginger
- 1 tsp Chinese five spice
- 1 tbsp chilli sauce, such as sambal oelek (optional)
To serve
- 2 spring onions, finely sliced
- 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
- 1 long red chilli, sliced (optional)
Method
- Marinate. Mix the marinade ingredients in a large bowl. Add the ribs and turn to coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or overnight. Longer gives the salt time to reach the middle.
- Warm up. Take the ribs out 30 minutes before cooking. Heat the oven to 160°C (140°C fan).
- Pack the dish. Lay the ribs in one snug layer in a baking dish and pour over every bit of marinade. Add water to come a third of the way up the ribs, no more.
- Braise. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 1 hour 30 minutes. The meat should be tender when poked with a skewer, but still holding to the bone.
- Brown. Remove the foil and turn the ribs. Raise the oven to 180°C (160°C fan) and bake uncovered for 20 minutes, until the edges brown and the liquid has dropped by about half.
- Glaze. Turn the ribs again and spoon the pan juices over. Bake 10 to 20 minutes more, basting once, until the sauce is thick, glossy and bubbling in big, slow bubbles. It smells of caramel, not smoke.
- Rest and finish. Rest 5 minutes. Scatter with spring onion, sesame seeds and chilli.
Notes
- Sauce still thin when the meat is ready? Lift the ribs onto a tray, pour the liquid into a pan and boil it on the stove for 3 to 5 minutes until syrupy, then toss the ribs back through.
- Tips catching before the sauce thickens? Lay a loose sheet of foil over the ribs, not the whole dish, and keep going.
- Meat still tough after step 4? Re-cover and give it another 20 to 30 minutes. Ribs vary; the skewer decides.
- Keeps 3 days in the fridge. Reheat covered at 160°C (140°C fan) for 15 minutes with a splash of water.
Sources
- "Sticky Chinese Pork Spare Ribs", RecipeTin Eats, https://www.recipetineats.com/sticky-chinese-pork-spare-ribs/
- "Chinese sweet sticky ribs", BBC Food, https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/chinese_sweet_sticky_80618
- "Oven Pork Ribs with Barbecue Sauce", RecipeTin Eats, https://www.recipetineats.com/oven-baked-barbecue-pork-ribs/
- "Spare ribs", Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spare_ribs
