1-2-3-4-5 Ribs is a dish that’s come in and out of my consciousness with an almost mystical quality. I didn’t know the origin of the name, nor had I ever tried it. But every so often, I’d hear of it again and wonder what everyone else seemed to know that I didn’t!
So when I heard recently from a cousin that it’s her go-to rib recipe and that her kids love it, I finally was able to demystify the dish that’s eluded me all these years.
So Why Is It Called 1-2-3-4-5 Ribs?
I don’t know who invented this wickedly tasty Chinese rib recipe, but when you see a name like 1-2-3-4-5 Ribs, you know it’s going to be easy.
Basically, the 1-2-3-4-5 refers to the ratios of 5 basic ingredients: Shaoxing wine, light soy sauce, black vinegar, sugar, and water. The result is a sticky sweet and sour sauce that perfectly coats the ribs.
Depending on whether you prefer your sweet and sour sauce to be primarily sweet or sour, you can feel free to switch around the sugar and vinegar ratios (use 4 tablespoons vinegar and 3 tablespoons sugar as opposed to the other way around).
Just one word of advice—restrain yourself from changing the recipe in any other way! Even I had to control myself, because I wanted so much to add some dark soy sauce to make the color a little darker. But I decided to have faith, and as you can see, the black vinegar helped do the job nicely! In this case, the basic simplicity of the dish really works.
I will say that 1-2-3-4-5 ribs do call for a fair amount of sugar, so make it as an occasional treat. That said, I’m very glad this recipe is no longer a mystery to me!
1-2-3-4-5 Ribs: Recipe Instructions
Select meaty ribs, and have the butcher cut them into 1.5” to 2” long pieces. Rinse and pat dry with a paper towel.
Preheat a wok until it starts to smoke lightly (see my post on how to prevent food from sticking to a wok). Add 2 tablespoons oil, along with the ginger slices. Over medium heat, fry the ginger for 1 minute.
Add the ribs.
Turn up the heat to high, and take a few minutes to brown both sides.
Turn down the heat, and add in:
1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine…
2 tablespoons light soy sauce…
3 tablespoons Chinese black vinegar…
4 tablespoons sugar…
And 5 tablespoons water.
Stir and mix everything well. Turn up the heat to bring it to a boil.
Once boiling, cover and reduce the heat to medium/low. Simmer for 25 minutes (20 minutes if the ribs are less meaty than mine). Halfway through the process, check to make sure the liquid is not drying up. If so, reduce the heat further and add in a little more water if needed.
After 25 minutes of simmering, remove the lid. There should be quite a bit of liquid left.
Time to turn up the heat to reduce the sauce and make the ribs glisten. With the heat on high, continuously stir and toss the ribs. This process takes only a couple of minutes.
Reduce the liquid until there is ¼ cup of liquid left and the ribs are gleaming with sauce! Serve immediately.
1-2-3-4-5 Ribs
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds pork ribs (680g, the meatier the better, cut into 1.5- to 2-inch pieces)
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 4 slices ginger
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
- 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons Chinese black vinegar
- 4 tablespoons sugar
- 5 tablespoons water
Instructions
- Select meaty ribs, and have the butcher cut them into 1.5” to 2” long pieces. Rinse, and pat dry with a paper towel.
- Preheat a wok until it starts to smoke lightly (see my post on how to prevent food from sticking to a wok). Add 2 tablespoons oil, along with the ginger slices. Over medium heat, fry the ginger for 1 minute. Add the ribs, turn up the heat to high, and take a few minutes to brown both sides.
- Turn down the heat, and add in 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine, 2 tablespoons light soy sauce, 3 tablespoons Chinese black vinegar, 4 tablespoons sugar, and 5 tablespoons water. Stir and mix everything well. Turn up the heat to bring it to a boil.
- Once boiling, cover and reduce the heat to medium/low. Simmer for 25 minutes (20 minutes if the ribs are less meaty than mine). Halfway through the process, check to make sure the liquid is not drying up. If so, reduce the heat further and add in a little more water if needed.
- After 25 minutes of simmering, remove the lid. There should be quite a bit of liquid left. Time to turn up the heat to reduce the sauce and make the ribs glisten. With the heat on high, continuously stir and toss the ribs. This process takes only a couple of minutes. Reduce the liquid until there is ¼ cup of liquid left and the ribs are gleaming with sauce! Serve immediately.
Nutrition
Crewe says
Making this dish is actually the first time I’m working with Chinese black vinegar, so when I added the amount indicated in this recipe the smell permeated our entire kitchen so intensely that I ended up adding about two more tablespoons of sugar (I used rock sugar) without tasting the sauce for acidity first. It was my mistake, and the resulting dish turned out sweeter than it probably should have, but it was still! So! Good! I’m happy to report that it was SO DELICIOUS that my mom, brother, and I ate it ALL! No leftovers! I honestly can’t wait to cook this again, it’s so easy and simple yet so full of flavor.
Oh, also, I added chili flakes to the sauce about five minutes before serving for spice because my family is addicted to spice, and I think it upped the level of this dish a bit higher hehe.
Judy says
Hi Crewe, I hear you, it’s understandable that you have doubts :-)
RL Maiden says
Excellent recipe.
Question: Can I double this recipe, or is this one that should not be doubled, but instead cooked in batches?
Judy says
Hi RL, you can double the recipe, just know that you might have to increase the cooking time a little.
H says
Just wondering if you used spare ribs or baby back ribs? Which type would be best for this recipe? Thanks!
Judy says
I like baby back ribs because they’re meatier.
Adrian says
Hi these ribs were delicious! Reduced to a nice sticky glaze. The sauce was easy to make during quarantine with pantry items I always keep in stock.
I’m Cantonese and I texted my mom this recipe and she already knew about it because of her girlfriends! This website is very popular for us Cantonese folk craving familiar flavors during these quarantine times. Thanks so much!!
Judy says
Awesome, so glad to hear that, Adrian!
Rachel says
I’ve been using your recipes all throughout this time in quarantine and my family has been loving it all. This is by far, my favorite recipe out of all of them. The ribs were tender and full of flavor! I followed your recipe to a T and they came out perfect. Thank you so much for these amazing recipes :)
Judy says
That’s wonderful, Rachel.
Emily says
great, as usual! we made these in our instant pot, cooking on pressure for 30min, and it came out tender and juicy.
Judy says
Lovely, Emily, and thank you for the cooking tip using the instant pot.
Greg says
We didn’t have ribs so I used country ribs instead. After browning the meat in the wok i took the extra step (and dishes) to transfer the meat to the waiting sauce in the pressure cooker and cook on high pressure for 18 minutes. After doing a manual pressure release, i put it all back in the wok to reduce. The results were amazing. Perfectly tender and flavorful with just the right amount of chew. Well done!
Judy says
Kudos to you, Greg! You did it :-)
Leo Woessner says
Came out great. Could have braised a little longer
Judy says
Sounds good, Leo, braise a little longer next time :-)
Carol says
I was wondering if you had the recipe for pigs feet and ginger and black vinegar that is cooked traditionally for a woman post-partum. I had it at a Cantonese friends home, and thought it was wonderful. I tried this, and while it was good, it did not hit the same ginger note for me. BTW — I love your blog and am so happy you are doing this.
Blessings,
Carolyn
Judy says
Good timing, Carol, plan to blog it this weekend. Hope to hit the right notes.