Vietnamese Pork Ribs
Serves: 2
Tasty Vietnamese Pork Ribs, perfect serves with steamed white rice.
Ingredients
- 1 shallot, or small red onion, finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 1 teaspoon oyster sauce
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon black peppercorns
- 300 g (10 ½ oz) pork spare ribs, cut in short lengths
- vegetable oil, for deep-frying
- 250 ml (1 cup) coconut water, unsweetened
- 1 red onion, or brown onion, sliced thickly
- coriander, (cilantro) to garnish
Instructions
- Prepare the marinade by mixing together the shallot, half the garlic, fish sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, salt and pepper.
- Separate the pork ribs and marinate them in the mixture for at least 20 minutes.
- Heat the oil in a saucepan until 180°C/350°F.
- Using chopsticks or tongs, remove the pork ribs from the marinade, shaking off any excess (but keep the marinade), and deep-fry the pork ribs in small batches until golden brown. Skim off any bits of caramelised shallots and garlic (which are not burnt) and save these to add colour to the sauce later.
- In a separate saucepan or wok, bring the coconut juice with the reserved marinade to the boil.
- Add the pork ribs and any caramelised bits, reduce the heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes until the liquid has reduced.
- There should be enough sauce for the meat to sit in, but they should not be completely submerged.
- Taste for seasoning (you may wish to add some water or more black pepper).
- Add the onion and remaining garlic, and cook for a further 5 minutes.
- Garnish with coriander and serve with Steamed Jasmine Rice.
Kitchen Notes
- The pork ribs will need to be chopped into short lengths to make them quicker to cook and easier to eat, especially if you are eating them Vietnamese-style with chopsticks. Unless you are handy with a meat cleaver, it is best to ask your butcher to do this for you. For pork baby back ribs, I often just ask the butcher to cut a rack of ribs down the middle. For a rack of larger sized pork spare ribs, ask your butcher to cut them into 2 cm to 4 cm lengths (1 inch to 1.5 inches).
- OVEN & STOVE TEMPERATURES
All recipes on this website have been tested on an induction stove and/or with a conventional oven (i.e. an oven without fan). All recipes on this website use temperatures for a conventional oven, unless otherwise mentioned. Convection ovens (i.e. fan-forced ovens) are typically 20°C/70°F hotter than conventional ovens, but please check your manufacturer’s handbook. - CONVERSIONS
To convert from cups to grams, and vice-versa, please see this handy Conversion Chart for Basic Ingredients.