How to cook ADDICTIVE sweet and sour pork ribs that kids love

Sweet and sour pork ribs are surely a favourite dish for many people at family meals, especially in cool weather. However, not everyone knows how to make this dish well, with the sweet and sour flavours blended evenly. In fact, making sweet and sour ribs is not too difficult, and you only need to understand how to prepare the sauce to get a plate of golden, fragrant ribs soaked in an eye-catching sweet and sour sauce. A meal with this delicious dish goes wonderfully with rice and stimulates the taste buds of young children, helping them eat better. 

Image: ADDICTIVE sweet and sour pork ribs

Below, school catering company STAVI shares with you some "ADDICTIVE" sweet and sour rib recipes that are sure to give home cooks more cooking experience for their children!

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Choosing good pork ribs properly for ADDICTIVE sweet and sour ribs

To get sweet and sour ribs that taste just like the chefs make them, the first thing you need is to choose fresh, meaty pork spare ribs. When choosing, go for large ribs with thick, bright red meat and not too much fat, as fat will make the dish feel greasy to eat.

Choose good, fresh, meaty pork ribs

Generally, the loin ribs must meet a number of criteria such as:

• Ribs with plenty of meat but small, flat bones, because these rib sections have more meat and less bone.

• The loin ribs should be of moderate size; choose a pig that is neither too old nor too young. If too old, the pork will be tough, and if too young, you may end up buying a sick pig.

• For tasty ribs that look beautiful and rich when cooked, choose thick meat with little fat.

• Buy ribs from supermarket chains or clean pork shops to ensure food safety and hygiene, and avoid buying meat from sick pigs that could affect your health.

Wash the ribs, let them drain, then chop them into pieces of about 4 - 5 cm. Or you can buy pre-chopped ribs packed in trays at shops. If you want the ribs golden and firm, fry them until golden in hot oil before making the sauce so that they have a beautiful colour. However, this method is a little elaborate, and many people choose to parboil the ribs and then go straight to the sauce; the result is still tasty and attractive but quicker, and limits the oil and grease that are not good for health.

Recipes for ADDICTIVE sweet and sour pork ribs

Sweet and sour ribs are a dish that goes down with a lot of rice and has become a favourite of many people, partly because of the very appealing sweet and sour flavour and partly because the main ingredient, pork ribs, is very common and easy to buy. Each region has its own way of cooking it, creating different flavours, but 4 tastes are indispensable: sour – spicy – salty – sweet.

ADDICTIVE recipe 1:

To apply this sweet and sour rib recipe, follow these steps:

Ingredients:

• Pork spare ribs: 500g

• Shallots: 3 bulbs

• Garlic: 1 bulb

• Vinegar: 3 teaspoons

• Other seasonings: seasoning salt, sugar, fish sauce, chilli sauce, pepper, cooking oil, vinegar...

Preparing the ingredients:

Wash the ribs; if not yet chopped, chop them into pieces of about 4 - 5 cm, then let them drain. Put a pot of salted water on the stove and bring it to the boil. Note that the rib pieces should be of moderate length, as pieces that are too large are very hard to eat and take longer to cook. 

When the water boils, blanch the ribs to remove the scum and reduce any odour. Then rinse the ribs again with water and drain.

Peel, wash and finely mince the shallots and garlic.

Put 3 teaspoons of sugar, 3 teaspoons of fish sauce, 2 teaspoons of seasoning powder, 3 teaspoons of vinegar, 1 teaspoon of oyster sauce, 4 teaspoons of water and 3 teaspoons of chilli sauce, plus the minced garlic, into a small bowl and mix well until the seasonings dissolve into a thick mixture. Marinate the ribs for about 15 minutes so they absorb the seasoning evenly.

Cooking the sweet and sour ribs

Put 1 teaspoon of cooking oil in a pan and heat it, then add the minced shallots and garlic and fry until golden. Next, add the marinated ribs and stir-fry steadily for about 5 minutes. By now the ribs are partly cooked and firm; pour the sauce into the pan and cook. Keep stirring until the ribs turn a golden-brown colour and are cooked through and tender, then turn off the heat and transfer to a plate.

Image: Super delicious sweet and sour pork ribs 

ADDICTIVE recipe 2:

With this second way of making sweet and sour ribs, the dish will be even tastier thanks to the added fresh vegetables, which make the stir-fry more colourful and much less greasy! What are you waiting for? Let's explore this super delicious sweet and sour rib recipe together.

Ingredients:

• Pork spare ribs: 400g

• Onion: ½

• Pineapple: ½

• Tomatoes: 2

• Cucumber: 1

• Bell pepper: 1

• Celery

• Other seasonings: seasoning powder, sugar, fish sauce, chilli sauce, pepper, cooking oil, vinegar...

Image: Super appetising sweet and sour pork ribs

Preparing the ingredients:

Wash the spare ribs, let them dry and chop them into bite-sized pieces. Then blanch the ribs in boiling water to remove impurities and any odour, and drain them. Next, put the ribs in a large bowl, season with fish sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, pepper and vinegar, mix and leave for about 30 minutes for the ribs to absorb the seasoning.

Wash the tomatoes and cut them into bite-sized wedges. Peel the pineapple, remove all the eyes and cut it into small pieces. Cut the bell pepper into small pieces. Peel, wash and thinly slice the onion; wash the celery and cut it into bite-sized lengths.

Cooking the sweet and sour ribs

Once all the ingredients have been prepared, put a pan on the stove and fry the ribs for about 10 minutes until they firm up and turn slightly golden, then transfer them to a plate. Next, add cooking oil, fry the shallots and garlic until fragrant, then add the freshly cut vegetables and stir-fry until fragrant for about 2 minutes. 

Then add the ribs and celery to the pan, season with seasoning salt and MSG to taste, stir well for about 3 minutes and turn off the heat. The ADDICTIVE sweet and sour ribs are now complete.

Truly eye-catching, isn't it? With the two recipes above from STAVI school catering company, you can alternate between the two rib dishes to change things up for the whole family! On cool days, there is nothing better than savouring these ADDICTIVE sweet and sour ribs with hot rice, is there?