Summer is officially here, which means that we Americans are feeling our yearly license to picnic and BBQ to our heart’s content. While hamburgers and hot dogs will always have their place, we’ve found that ribs are an extra special crowd pleaser for summer get-togethers, and these Honey Glazed Ribs or mì zhī pái gu (蜜汁排骨) are no exception.
Crowd-Pleasing Sweet Chinese-Style Ribs
These ribs are normally fried at Chinese restaurants, but we’re always looking for ways to enjoy our favorites with less guilt-inducing versions, so we’ve reworked this recipe by baking the ribs instead! If you’re getting tired of your go-to BBQ sauce, these ribs are a great alternative.
(We did actually both bake and fry these honey glazed ribs when preparing this recipe, so that you can see the difference between the two versions. Honestly, though, the baked ones tasted just as good as the fried ones!)
If you’re looking for even more ways to prepare baby backs or regular pork ribs, we have a handful of recipes that are perfect for addressing all of your porky cravings. My personal favorites are Fried Chinese Spare Ribs, Jasmine Tea Rub Ribs, Chinese Ribs with A Sesame Crust, and Peking Style Ribs.
Ribs for everyone!
Honey Glazed Ribs: Recipe Instructions
Wash the ribs and thoroughly pat them dry with paper towels. Next, marinate the ribs with a mixture of onion powder, garlic powder, 1 tablespoon light soy sauce and 2 tablespoons Shaoxing wine for one hour.
Next, preheat the oven to 400 degrees, and put the ribs on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes. Turn and flip the ribs every 10 minutes until all sides are golden brown.
Alternatively, you can fry the ribs until golden. Here’s what that looks like:
About 10 minutes before the ribs come out of the oven, prepare the sauce. Heat the oil in a wok over medium low heat. Add the rock sugar, and let it melt, taking good care not to burn it.
Next, add the water, honey, cider vinegar, and 1 tablespoon of light soy sauce.
Turn up the heat slightly to bring the sauce to a low boil, and turn off the heat.
Once the ribs are done, coat them in the hot (temperature-wise) sauce while the ribs are still hot. Only when the ribs are straight out of the oven will they properly absorb the sauce and get that coveted sheen.
Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and serve.
Make these honey glazed ribs part of your next summer party!
Honey Glazed Ribs (蜜汁排骨) – Oven Baked
Ingredients
- 2 pounds baby back ribs (900g)
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons light soy sauce (separated)
- 2 tablespoons Shaoxing wine
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 15 grams rock sugar
- ⅓ cup water
- 2 tablespoons honey
- ½ teaspoon cider vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
Instructions
- Wash the ribs and thoroughly pat them dry with paper towels. Next, marinate the ribs with a mixture of onion powder, garlic powder, 1 tablespoon light soy sauce and 2 tablespoons Shaoxing wine for one hour.
- Next, preheat the oven to 400 degrees, and put the ribs on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes. Turn and flip the ribs every 10 minutes until all sides are golden brown.
- About 10 minutes before the ribs come out of the oven, prepare the sauce. Heat the oil in a wok over medium low heat. Add the rock sugar, and let it melt, taking good care not to burn it. Next, add the water, honey, cider vinegar, and 1 tablespoon of light soy sauce. Turn up the heat slightly to bring the sauce to a low boil, and turn off the heat.
- Once the ribs are done, coat them in the hot (temperature-wise) sauce while the ribs are still hot. Only when the ribs are straight out of the oven will they properly absorb the sauce and get that coveted sheen. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and serve.
An Standing ovation I got for these ribs, from some very critical persons. I am always surprise how easy is it is to follow your recipes even the more complicated one’s , only problem I had this time was the quantity, as had to made it for 6 big eaters, so just double everything and still clean plates .
How sweet! Thank you for your kind comment, Jos!
Another great recipe from this site that got thumbs up ? from the family! Beats BBQ sauce, hands down.
Can’t wait to try some more. Thanks for sharing and posting!
How great is that! Thank you for sharing your comment, Verna!
This looks tasty.I will definitely going to make this one Awesom recipie
Thank you, Mike!
I have just seen these on G+ and wanted to see how they were made. I love ribs & these looks delicious. Pinned ready to make!
Hope you will make it soon. It’s easy and yummy.
Hi Judy,
This recipe looks amazing! Im Hui Chinese and do not eat pork, is there a similar cut for beef or lamb I can use? Have you tried this with beef short ribs? Thanks!
Hi Ming, I have not tried it with beef short ribs. Please let me know how it goes if you decide to try it out :-)
Aweosome! Great, i have never been able to cook ribs with this great ease and they were so delicious.
Awesome, Akmal! High-Fives.
Fantastic recipe Judy, and really easy to follow! Can we also use another raw sugar like demerara instead of the rock one?
Exceptional work, can’t wait to give this a try in our next BBQ!:)
Sending you lots of hugs!
xoxoxo
Hi Panos and Mirella, I have never used demerara, just know that you can just use regular granulated sugar. Hope you will give this recipe a try :-)
I wanted to do ribs as part of our 4th of July gathering meal and I just found the recipe I’m going to use. Thanks Judy
It’s going to be an awesome meal, Craig.
Hi Judy,
These ribs look so good. I am guessing by the pictures that you separate the ribs after rinsing and drying?? Not mentioned in the instructions…. Thanks
Hi Rie, yes, I did a batch fried and another batch baked.
This looks great…can’t wait to try…Is the rock sugar a must? I don’t have any…I have regular sugar or raw sugar…may I sub?
Hi Lyn, yes, you can use regular sugar.