Sweet-Sour Spareribs

 

This is one of my favorite dishes, using the recipe my mother used whenever she prepared this dish for me when I came home from college or for a visit with my young family.

I make it often, mostly substituting chicken for the pork spareribs. But whenever I find soft-bone spareribs on sale, I buy a few pounds and indulge in this most tasty and addicting dish. This recipe tastes extra good the next day, when the vinegar-pineapple tastes permeate into the vegetables.

 

Ingredients

 

• PORK SPARERIBS, 3 pounds, lean soft bone
• FLOUR, ¼ cup
• CANOLA OIL, ¼ cup
• DARK BROWN SUGAR, ¾ cup
• CIDER VINEGAR, ½ cup
• PINEAPPLE JUICE, 1 cup (+ optional ½ cup)
• SHOYU (SOY SAUCE), 2 tablespoons
• GARLIC, 2 cloves, crushed
• GINGER, 3 two-inch pieces, smashed
• SALT AND BLACK PEPPER, to taste
• ONION, 1 large, chopped in large pieces
• SWEET GREEN PEPPER, 1, chopped in large pieces
• CARROTS, 5 small (3 medium, or 2 large), in ¼-inch slices
• CELERY, 1 stalk, in ¼-inch pieces
• DAIKON (long white Japanese radish), 1 medium, sliced into thin "coins"
• PINEAPPLE CUBES, 1 can

 

Directions

 

1. Cut the individual ribs apart. Dredge the ribs in flour. Heat olive oil in large pot or Dutch oven, and brown the ribs thoroughly.
2. Remove the ribs and drain on paper towel. Remove the fat and oil from the liquid in the pot.
3. Add brown sugar, vinegar and pineapple juice to pot, and bring to a boil. Add browned spareribs, salt and pepper, shoyu, garlic and ginger.
4. Bring to a boil again, reduce heat and simmer covered for one and a half hours, stirring often until meat is very tender.
5. (Optional: If possible, let cool, remove from pot, and refrigerate overnight. The next day, remove all visible fat from the pot. Add the optional ½ cup of pineapple juice to the pot before reheating the meat and gravy, to prevent the meat from sticking to the pot.)
6. Bring the pot back to a near-boil, then add the vegetables just before serving. Cook an additional 15 minutes.
7. Garnish with the pineapple chunks, and serve with steamed rice.