My grocery store had boneless pork spare ribs on sale this week and I immediately started to crave the sweet and sour ribs that one can get at most US Chinese restaurants. Online recipe research made me balk based on the amount of sugar involved to achieve that result so I compromised - delicious sticky ribs flavored with orange and five spice but not quite the thick gooiness of restaurant ones and their cup of brown sugar and ketchup in the sauce...
2 lbs boneless pork spare ribs
1 orange, juiced and zested
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup mirin or sweet white wine
3/4 cup chicken stock or water
1 tsp Chinese five spice
1 Tbsp brown sugar
Mix the orange juice, soy sauce, stock, mirin and five spice powder together in a deep oven safe dish. Lay the ribs in one layer in the sauce and marinate for a couple of hours, turning once half way through.
Preheat oven to 325.
Bake the ribs in the sauce for 90 minutes, turning at the half way mark.
After 90 minutes, remove the dish from the oven. Drain the sauce into a saucepan and set the ribs aside.
Turn the heat on high under the saucepan and bring the remaining sauce to a boil. Add the brown sugar and orange zest and stir until the sugar has melted. Lower the heat to medium and allow the sauce to reduce by about half, until it is thick and glossy.
Add the ribs to the pan and stir until each piece of meat is coated on all sides with the sauce and has acquired a glossy, lacquered sheen.
Remove from the pan, shaking off excess sauce before serving with lots of napkins. This is finger food par excellence!