Ming-Na Wen’s 12345 Spareribs

Name: Ming-Na Wen's 12345 Spareribs
Total time: PT-497781H9M52S
Ingredients: 1 1/2 pounds pork spareribs, uncooked and cut into 2-inch bone-in pieces (see Cook’s Note); 2 tablespoons Shaoxing Chinese cooking wine; 6 tablespoons Chinkiang vinegar (or rice vinegar); 4 tablespoons light soy sauce; 1/2 cup granulated sugar

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Makes 4 servings 1x

Time about an hour and a half

Units Scale

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds pork spareribs, uncooked and cut into 2-inch bone-in pieces (see Cook’s Note)
2 tablespoons Shaoxing Chinese cooking wine
6 tablespoons Chinkiang vinegar (or rice vinegar)
4 tablespoons light soy sauce
1/2 cup granulated sugar

Instructions

Fill a large pot with water and bring it to a boil. Add the spareribs to blanch the meat and cook for about 4 minutes. Drain and discard the water. Rinse the cooked ribs and return them to the pot. Turn the heat to medium-high and add the cooking wine, vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, and 3/4 cup water, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Bring it to a boil. Lower the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer gently until the meat is tender, 45 minutes to 1 hour, turning the ribs occasionally.
Remove the cover and bring the remaining liquid to a full Stir until the water is mostly evaporated and only a shiny sauce is left on the ribs, about 5 minutes.
Serve hot!

Cook’s note: If you don’t have a cleaver to do the job, have your butcher cut the spareribs into 2-inch pieces.

– Excerpted from Have You Eaten Yet? Copyright © 2026, Ming-Na Wen. Photography copyright © 2026 by Jennifer Chong. Reproduced by permission of Simon Element, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. All rights reserved.