Soft fried sticky ribs with garlic (软炸蒜香排骨). I have found this dish in a nearby restaurants. The ribs are fried directly with relatively low oil temperature. You will find the ribs are so tender and along with the strong aroma of garlic. It is quite amazing.
Ribs are one of the most popular ingredients in Chinese cuisine, quite similar to pork belly. We love to cook ribs in various ways for example rib soups, steamed rib with fermented black beans and pan-fried crispy ribs. And they are also excellent ingredients for soups.
In Chinese cuisine, we usually have two ways of making fried dishes. One is the most famous and traditional common fried dishes including Sichuan fried crispy pork , fried squid and Taiwanese fried chicken. The other one is soft fried dishes (软炸). With soft-frying, we use less starch to create a softer shell like soft fried shrimp.
Cook’s Note
- Garlic is used here as the biggest highlight, but they can be easily burnt in the hot oil. Here are some tips to help you prevent garlic from getting burnt. Firstly, use knife cutting and make sure the chopped garlic are similar in size (avoid extremely small ones). Secondly, wash the garlic to remove the sticky tissue on the surface.
- Marinate the ribs for a longer time. Overnight marinating is recommended if you are not in a hurry (at least 4 hours marinating is needed)
- Fry the ribs twice. At the first time, we use slow fire so the ribs can be cooked evenly. But they may absorb more oil in lower temperature. So in the second frying, use high oil temperature can help to drive the extra oil out and make the ribs drier and more sticky.
- Adding more starch can help to make a harder and crispy shell if you prefer.
- I have gotten lots of feedbacks from Chinese steamed ribs with black bean sauce and know some of the ribs are quite hard to cook. So please choose ribs from younger pigs.
Ingredients
- 500g ribs, select ribs from younger pigs
- 1/4 cup to 1/3 cup starch
- oil for deep-frying
Marinating
- 6-8 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- 3-4 slices ginger
- 1 tbsp. light soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp. dark soy sauce
- 1 tbsp. oyster sauce
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp white pepper
Steps
Soak the ribs in clean water for around half an hour to remove the blood water (so we get more pure taste)
Roughly chop the garlic and rinse under running water. Drain and set aside.
Pat dry with kitchen paper and add all the other marinating at least 4 hours or overnight in fridge.
Before frying, add starch and mix well.
Heat oil until 140 to 150 degree C and slow down the fire. Fry the ribs until slightly brown (this may takes around 6-10 minutes until the ribs are well cooked). Transfer out.
Heat the oil until almost smoky (at least 200 degree C, depending on the oil you are using), place the ribs in and fry for another 20 to 30 seconds. Keep stirring in the second deep-frying process to avoid burnt garlic.
The garlic might drop from the ribs. Do not discard them. Strain them out and top with the ribs. Add some fresh pepper circles and coriander. Serve directly or with dipping sauces for even hotter versions.
Fried Garlic Ribs
Ingredients
- 500 g ribs ,select ribs from younger pigs
- 1/4 cup to 1/3 cup starch
- oil for deep-frying
Marinating
- 6-8 garlic cloves ,roughly chopped
- 3-4 slices ginger
- 1 tbsp. light soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp. dark soy sauce
- 1 tbsp. oyster sauce
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp white pepper
Dry spice mixture dip
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tbsp. chili pepper flakes
- 1 tbsp. ground cumin
Spicy dip
- 1 Thai chili peppers ,cut into small circles
- 1 tbsp. light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp. sesame oil
- ½ tbsp. black vinegar
- 1 tsp. chopped garlic
- 1 tsp. chopped green onion
Instructions
- Roughly chop the garlic and rinse under running water. Drain and set aside.
- Soak the ribs in clean water for half an hour to remove the blood water.
- Pat dry with kitchen paper and add all the other marinating at least 4 hours or or overnight in fridge.
- Before frying, add starch and mix well.
- Heat oil until 140 to 150 degree C and slow down the fire. Fry the ribs until slightly browned (may takes 6-10 minutes). Stir from time to time during the process. Transfer out.
- Heat the oil until almost smoky (until 200 degree C), place the ribs in and fry for another 20 to 30 seconds. Keep stirring in the second deep-frying process to avoid burnt garlic.
- Serve hot!
Nutrition
Hi There,
I really appreciate your web site. I Love sichuan style cooking.
In this recipe for Fried Garlic Ribs I was confused by the difference between the ingredients list at the beginning and after scrolling down the ingredients list near the end. Could you please clarify.
Thanks, kelly
Kelly,
I happen to paste the ingredients from another recipe. Sorry for the trouble, already updated!
Love your recipes and photography! I’d like to give this one a try but have a dumb question: how do you cut the ribs into small pieces?
In our supermarket, the butcher helps us to cut the ribs. But it is quite easy to cut with a heavy cutting knife.
Très,très appétissant ! Je pense le faire bientôt pour changer un peu de la recette aux haricots noirs à la vapeur.
Merci pour ce partage Elaine ! ??
Thank you Jean!
Très bonne recette à faire et qui change des recettes habituelles aux haricots noirs et autres…Je pense la réaliser très bientôt ? .
Merci pour ce partage culinaire Elaine,vous ferez encore plus d’ un heureux sur cette planète !!! ?
Greetings, from San Francisco CA USA! I’m looking forward to your newsletters; the food looks Beautiful… I just love it. Thanks…. Robin
Hi, can you show me a photo of Thai chili peppers and starch as l am from Australia and trying too find a substitute but it can mean sooo many things. I really want too try this dish.
Amber,
It is ok to use any fresh peppers, either hot or mild. You can check this for more information.
Hi there, this looks soo good! What kind of starch do you use for this recipe? Will corn starch be ok?
Thanks!
Ann,
You can use only cornstarch for sure.
Sounds delicious, looking forward to trying it. I really enjoy the website.
I have a question, when you say “Heat oil until 140 to 150 degree C and slow down the fire” what do you mean “slow down the fire” ? Maintain 150° ?
I mean when you heat the oil until 140 to 150 degree C, slow down the fire. After adding the ribs, the oil temperature actually will drop a little bit. Use lower oil temperature to cook the ribs completely.
These were amazing! I made them with some shaoxing wine with the marinade. I cooked them in the pressure cooked for 20 mins then let the pressure release for 10 mins. Then deep fried them in the deep frier. Sooo good.
Cooking them in high pressure cooker in advance really creates a soft texture. Thanks so much for the feedback and comment!
Hi, do you add water when cooking them in the pressure cooker ?
Where can I get light soy sauce and black vinegar?
In Asian stores or on amazon.