6 Delicious and Easy Ways to Cook Sweet and Sour Ribs

Sweet and sour ribs are undoubtedly a familiar dish in Vietnamese family meals. The succulent pork ribs soaked in sweet and sour sauce, accompanied by nutritious vegetables, satisfy the taste buds of many. But do you know how to make delicious, rich sweet and sour ribs quickly and easily? Hurry into the kitchen with Mytour and explore 4 ways to cook irresistible sweet and sour ribs for a warm and comforting family meal!

How to Cook Delicious and Attractive Sweet and Sour Ribs at Home

Ingredients for sweet and sour ribs for 4 people

Preparing the ingredients is the first step to creating an irresistibly delicious sweet and sour ribs dish. To prepare this enticing meal for a serving of 4, you'll need:

Easy Recipe for Sweet and Sour Ribs

Don't have much time for cooking but still want to enjoy the delicious and perfectly seasoned sweet and sour ribs? Waste no more time and quickly jot down the simple recipe for sweet and sour ribs as follows.

Step 1: Preparing

The next thing you need to do after preparing all the ingredients for the delicious sweet and sour ribs is to start the preparation process.

For the Mytour Blog pork ribs, here are two suggested preparation methods:

• Method 1: Dissolve 3 tablespoons of salt and 3 tablespoons of vinegar in warm water, then wash the ribs thoroughly. Rub the ribs multiple times to clean off dirt and blood. After that, rinse the ribs several times with clean water until the water is clear. Drain the ribs and proceed to cut them into bite-sized pieces.
• Method 2: After washing the ribs several times with water, you'll blanch the ribs briefly in boiling salted water for about 3 – 5 minutes. Then, remove the ribs from the pot and let them drain.

For ingredients like onions, bell peppers, garlic, chili, cilantro, etc., wash them thoroughly and cut them into your preferred sizes.

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Step 2: Pan-fry the Ribs

Before pan-frying the ribs, marinate them in a bowl with 2 teaspoons of fish sauce, 1 teaspoon of sugar, and 1 teaspoon of seasoning. Let the ribs absorb the flavors for about 15 minutes.

Next, prepare a suitable amount of cornstarch or corn flour for 500g of non-bone ribs. Roll the ribs in the flour to preserve the meat's natural sweetness. Meanwhile, heat the pan and cooking oil. Once the oil is hot, fry the flour-coated ribs on high heat until golden on both sides, then remove.

Step 3: Stir-fry Non-Bone Ribs with Ingredients, Make Sweet and Sour Rib Sauce

The success of your sweet and sour ribs lies in the sauce. To create a flavorful sauce for the delicious sweet and sour ribs, you'll need: 

• 3 tablespoons of vinegar (or you can substitute with lime)
• 2 tablespoons of fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• 1 teaspoon of ground pepper
• 2 minced garlic cloves, 1 minced chili (adjust the amount of chili based on your and your family's preference)

You can add chili paste if you want a spicier flavor. Mix the sauce thoroughly and don't forget to season it to taste.

Simultaneously, heat the pan on the stove, sauté garlic or shallots until fragrant. Then, add bell peppers and the fried ribs into the pan to stir-fry together. When the bell peppers are almost cooked, add onions and the prepared sweet and sour sauce mixture, stirring evenly.

Finally, to make the sweet and sour ribs irresistibly delicious, dissolve a little cornstarch (or use cornflour if available) in water and add it to the rib pan. Cook until the ribs reach the desired thickness.

Step 4: Finished Dish

Sweet and sour ribs are an incredibly rice-friendly dish. Therefore, you should enjoy this delicious dish with hot rice. Each piece of tender and flavorful rib, soaked in well-balanced spices, combined with the sweet and sour sauce, offers a mouthwatering satisfaction.

Explore more about how to make delicious Northern-style sweet and sour ribs

How about trying the flavorful Northern-style sweet and sour ribs? Start by preparing essential ingredients such as pork spare ribs, onions, garlic, vinegar, and some basic spices (sugar, fish sauce, cooking oil, chili sauce, pepper, etc.).

The steps to make Northern-style sweet and sour ribs with all four flavors - sour, spicy, salty, and sweet - are as follows:

• Step 1: Clean the spare ribs to remove odor and dirt. Cut the cleaned ribs into bite-sized pieces.
• Step 2: Prepare the sweet and sour sauce by mixing 3 teaspoons of sugar, 3 teaspoons of vinegar, 3 teaspoons of fish sauce, 3 teaspoons of chili sauce with 4 teaspoons of water. Stir the sauce mixture well to dissolve all spices.
• Step 3: Stir-fry the cleaned and drained ribs with cooking oil over high heat. When the ribs slightly change color to yellow, place them on a plate. Next, sauté the finely chopped onions and garlic in fragrant oil. Then, pour the prepared sauce into the pan, simmer for a while, and add the spare ribs. Cook the ribs over low heat until they are tender, and the sauce is almost dry. Turn off the heat and plate the dish.

Explore the recipe for Southern-style sweet and sour ribs that will leave you craving for more.

The Southern-style sweet and sour ribs recipe from the South is a bit more intricate due to a diverse range of ingredients. Specifically, prepare the following ingredients: spare ribs, onions, pineapple, tomatoes, cucumber, bell peppers, cilantro, and seasonings (fish sauce, sugar, bouillon, pepper, salt, etc.). The quantity will depend on the number of servings.

To indulge in the Southern-style sweet and sour ribs, follow these steps:

• Step 1: Properly prepare the spare ribs to ensure the complete removal of any unpleasant odors.
• Step 2: Cut the spare ribs into bite-sized pieces. Place the ribs in a bowl and marinate with fish sauce, sugar, and pepper. Let the ribs soak up the flavors for about 10 minutes.
• Step 3: While waiting for the ribs to marinate, wash various vegetables like tomatoes, cucumber, bell peppers, onions, pineapple, and cilantro. Cut the tomatoes into wedges and dice the pineapple, cucumber, bell peppers, onions, and cilantro.
• Step 4: Heat cooking oil in a pan and fry the marinated ribs until they are cooked and golden on both sides. Place the ribs on a plate.
• Step 5: Continue by sautéing tomatoes, cucumber, bell peppers, onions, and pineapple for about 2 minutes. Then, add the fried ribs and season with salt, bouillon, sugar, and pepper. Adjust the seasoning to taste and cook for an additional 3 minutes before turning off the heat. Plate the dish and serve.

Share the method for making sweet and sour ribs with tomatoes

Making sweet and sour ribs with tomatoes is incredibly simple and doesn't require much effort. The ingredients are easy to remember, including spare ribs, tomatoes, green onions, minced garlic, basic seasonings (sugar, bouillon, pepper, cooking oil, chili sauce, etc.).

The steps are straightforward. Even if you're not accustomed to cooking, don't worry because this recipe is far from complicated as you might think.

• Step 1: After buying the ribs, rinse them with water and blanch with boiling water to remove the meaty smell. Then, marinate the ribs with bouillon and pepper. Let the meat absorb the spices completely for about 10 minutes.
• Step 2: Clean the tomatoes and green onions. Cut the tomatoes into small pomegranate seed-shaped pieces. For the green onions, finely chop them to enhance the flavor of this sweet and sour rib dish.
• Step 3: Heat a pan with cooking oil and fry the ribs until golden on both sides. Once the ribs are golden, remove them from the pan and let the excess oil drain.
• Step 4: In the same pan, sauté minced garlic until fragrant. When the garlic releases its aroma, add the chopped tomatoes and stir well. Cook the tomatoes until they become smooth.
• Step 5: Adjust the seasoning to taste. You can use chili sauce to add spiciness and enhance the visual appeal of the dish.
• Step 6: When the tomato mixture is slightly thickened, add the fried ribs and stir well. Continuously stir until the tomato sauce permeates the meat and coats the ribs evenly.
• Step 7: Arrange the sweet and sour ribs with tomatoes on a plate. Don't forget to sprinkle pepper and green onions to make the dish more appealing and flavorful.

Handy tips for preparing sweet and sour ribs

Besides mastering the art of creating irresistibly delicious sweet and sour ribs, here are some additional tips to consider.

Tips for selecting high-quality, fresh pork ribs

Choosing good, clean, and fresh pork ribs is the key factor determining the deliciousness of your sweet and sour pork ribs dish. Here are some tips from Mytour Blog on selecting the best pork ribs:

• The color of the pork ribs should be light pink to reddish-pink. When you press the meat with your hand, you should feel the elasticity and firmness of the meat. Avoid buying meat that is too soft to preserve the deliciousness of the dish.
• You should choose ribs with flat and small bones. These ribs will have more meat compared to the bones.
• Avoid selecting ribs with unpleasant odors, meat with a bluish tint, or meat that has lost its elasticity when pressed.

Preparing pork ribs, eliminating unpleasant odor

Properly preparing pork ribs will effectively eliminate the unpleasant odor from the meat, ensuring you have a delicious sweet and sour pork ribs dish. Here are some useful ways to remove the odor from the ribs:

• Method 1: Parboil the ribs in boiling water for about 3 minutes. Then, rinse the ribs thoroughly with water.
• Method 2: Using vinegar, lemon, or white wine is also one of the ways to remove the odor from the ribs. Apply vinegar, lemon, or white wine to the ribs for about 5 minutes and rinse them with water immediately afterward.
• Method 3: Using purple onions, garlic, and pepper to marinate the ribs also helps eliminate the meat's odor while adding a much more aromatic flavor to the dish.

Hoping that you've learned how to make delicious sweet and sour pork ribs through this article to treat your family or yourself! Making sweet and sour pork ribs is easy and doesn't take much time. Additionally, you can customize existing recipes to create your own version of sweet and sour pork ribs. 

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