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Tang cu pai gu is a perfect blend of sweet, sour and savory flavors that tantalize the taste buds and leave you wanting more.
What are Chinese sweet and sour pork ribs?
Tang means sugar, Cu means vinegar, Pai Gu means pork ribs. The pork ribs are braised in spices, sugar, and vinegar concoction until tender and then the cooking liquid is reduced until it’s thick and glossy, coating the ribs. The results are finger-licking food ribs. It’s often served as a main course in Chinese restaurants or as a popular party dish.
Why you’ll like this recipe
1. No deep-frying
Traditional tang cu pai gu involves deep-frying the ribs before cooking them with the sauce. With this recipe, you only need to pan fry until the ribs are golden brown
2. All cook in one pot
This recipe is done in one pot, which is the inner pot of the Instant Pot pressure cooker
3. Easy fool-proof recipe
This recipe doesn’t require any advanced skills to make
4. Finger-licking good
My kids love this tang cu pai gu. The sauce really makes the dish
5. Tender fall-off the bone meat
You can pull the bone out from the meat and the meat stays intact without falling apart but tender
Instant Pot Chinese Sweet and Sour Pork Ribs (Tang Cu Pai Gu)
Ingredients
- 1 kg pork spare ribs you can use baby back ribs too
- 2 Tbsp cooking oil separated
- 10 g ginger sliced
- 4 stalks green onion separate greens and whites
- Water
Spices:
- 1 star anise
- 1 large cinnamon
Seasonings:
- ¼ cup Shaoxing wine
- 40 g rock sugar
- 2 Tbsp soy sauce or more as needed
- 1 Tbsp dark soy sauce
- 3 Tbsp Chinese black vinegar or more as needed
- Brown sugar as needed
Instructions
Prepare the pork ribs:
- I use spare ribs and I bought whole spare-rib and I trimmed it into what they call St.Louis-style spare ribs. Refer to my post above for detail. If you use baby back ribs, you don't need to do any extra trimming other than trimming any excess fat if you want
- Flip the ribs to the bone side and use a sharp knife to loosen a corner of the membrane from one end of the rack. Once you have a grip on the membrane, you can use a paper towel to grip the membrane and pull it off in one piece. Membrane is a connective tissue and can't be chewy when cooked. It also can prevent seasoning and marinades from penetrating the meat, which can result in a less flavorful and less tender rib.
- Then separate each rib by cutting it into individual pieces. Usually, the Chinese would cut each rib into 2 or 3 smaller pieces. You can ask the butcher to do this or like me, you can leave it whole in one piece
Brown the ribs:
- Press saute on Instant Pot, when it says "hot". Add 1 Tbsp of oil. Place half of the ribs, meat-side down on the pot and let them cook until brown and then remove and put the rest of the ribs inside the pot to brown. Remove from the pot
Saute spices:
- Add another 1 tbsp of oil. Add the ginger, white part of green onion, garlic, star anise, and cinnamon. Stir fry for about 3-4 minutes until fragrant. Deglaze the pot by pouring 1/4 cup of Shaoxing wine. Use the spatula to scrape the bottom of the pot
Pressure cooking the ribs:
- Place the ribs inside the pot, meat side down, followed by the seasonings. Pour water, just enough to cover the ribs
- Close the lid. Turn the pressure release valve to "sealing". Press "pressure cooker" and make sure it's on "high pressure". Set the timer to 35 minutes for large pieces of ribs (uncut). If you use smaller pieces of ribs, you may only need 12-15 minutes to pressure cook on high. Allow natural release after that
Reduce the liquid:
- Remove the ribs from the pot. Turn on saute mode. Let the cooking liquid comes to a simmer and let it cook until the sauce is reduced by more than half and it can thinly coat the back of your spoon. Have a taste of the sauce and adjust it to your liking. It should be sweet, tangy, and savory.
- The sauce thickens further once it cools down. I don't want to reduce too much because my kids love the sauce to go with the rice too.
- Add the cooked ribs back into the sauce and gently combine to let the sauce coats the ribs evenly
To serve:
- Garnish with some chopped green onion for visual contrast. Serve warm or at room temperature
RECOMMEDED TOOLS
*Nutrition facts are just estimates and calculated using online tools*
What ribs to use
You can use baby back ribs or pork spare ribs. Pork spare ribs are meatier and have more fat. Most Chinese pork rib dishes use spare ribs, mainly because they are cheaper and meatier. Baby back ribs come from higher up on the pig’s ribcage, closer to the backbone. This area of the pig has less meat and fat compared to the lower section where spare ribs come from. Therefore, fewer baby back ribs can be obtained from each pig, making them a more premium cut of meat. Spare ribs can be tender too when cooked long enough. If you don’t like to trim the spare ribs your own, buy St.Louis style spare ribs, which have a uniform shape as it has been trimmed.
How to trim spare ribs
If you buy whole spare ribs, you will have some trimmings to do, but in the end, you will get some rib tips and some extra meat you can use for other recipes. I trim the spare ribs following the St.Louis style, meaning, the bones are trimmed into a rectangular shape, with the breastbone and cartilage removed. This creates a more uniform shape and size, which makes them easier to cook and serve. You can refer to this video on how to trim it that way. It’s very straightforward.
How to cook Chinese sweet and sour pork ribs with Instant Pot pressure cooker
1. I bought a whole slab of spare ribs and did the trimmings myself. Separate each rib by cutting it into individual pieces. Usually, the Chinese would cut each rib into 2 or 3 smaller pieces. You can ask the butcher to do this or like me, you can leave it whole in one piece
2. Press saute on Instant Pot, when it says “hot”. Add 1 Tbsp of oil. Place half of the ribs, meat-side down on the pot and let them cook until brown and then remove and put the rest of the ribs inside the pot to brown. Remove from the pot
3. Add another 1 tbsp of oil. Add the ginger, white part of green onion, garlic, rock sugar, star anise, and cinnamon. Stir fry for about 3-4 minutes until fragrant. 
4. Deglaze the pot by pouring 1/4 cup of Shaoxing wine. Use the spatula to scrape the bottom of the pot. Place the ribs inside the pot, meat side down, followed by the seasonings. Pour water, just enough to cover the ribs
5. Close the lid. Turn the pressure release valve to “sealing”. Press “pressure cooker” and make sure it’s on “high pressure”. Set the timer to 35 minutes for large pieces of ribs (uncut). If you use smaller pieces of ribs, you may only need 12-15 minutes to pressure cook on high. Allow natural release after that
6. Remove the ribs from the pot. 
7. Turn on saute mode. Let the cooking liquid comes to a simmer and let it cook until the sauce is reduced by more than half and it can thinly coat the back of your spoon. Have a taste of the sauce and adjust it to your liking. It should be sweet, tangy, and savory.
8. Add the cooked ribs back into the sauce and gently combine to let the sauce coats the ribs evenly
9. The sauce thickens further once it cools down. I don’t want to reduce too much because my kids love the sauce to go with the rice too.
10. Garnish with some chopped green onion for visual contrast. Serve warm or at room temperature
Did you make this Instant Pot sweet and sour pork ribs recipe?
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