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Char Siu-Style Baby Back Ribs
A popular style of Cantonese barbecued meat, char siu means “fork roasted,” a reference to the traditional way it was prepared. Long, thin strips of pork cut from the shoulder or butt were marinated in a sweet, spiced sauce, then suspended from long forks around a fire and basted until deeply glazed. Today, you’ll find variations made with pork belly and even tenderloin, but we use baby back ribs and cook them in an Instant Pot. Pressure cook them quickly or slow cook them for several hours—it’s your choice. Finished with a sticky glaze and broiled in the oven, the ribs are deliciously and satisfyingly salty and sweet. Any type of molasses works, even blackstrap, so use whatever is convenient.
4 to 6
Servings
Tip
Don’t use pork spareribs. They’re larger than baby backs and won’t fit in the Instant Pot; they also require a slightly longer cooking time. Don’t skip the marinating step for the ribs—it infuses the meat with deep, rich flavor.
FAST: 1½ hours
Slow: 8½ to 9½ hours
25 minutes active, plus marinating
Ingredients
-
⅓
cup white sugar
-
¼
cup soy sauce
Directions
-
01In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, soy sauce, hoisin, Shaoxing wine, garlic, ginger, five-spice powder and 1 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Measure ⅓ cup of the mixture into a small bowl and stir in the molasses, honey and ½ teaspoon pepper; cover and refrigerate to use later as a glaze. Add the rib sections to the remaining mixture in the large bowl and turn to coat all over. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to overnight.
Reviews
May 26, 2024
10 Stars!
So awesome & change of pace doing a BBQ!
April 15, 2026
Love it!
A great change from “regular” ribs. I also love that it’s a four season rib recipe.
September 12, 2024
Doesn't really work in a slow cooker
This tasted fine, but I didn't achieve the camerlization in my slow cooker.
Hi Nancy -
Unfortunately, we don't have a conventional recipe for the Char Siu-Style Ribs. If we were to modify this recipe we would probably do Step 1 as written (the marinating process) and then follow Step 3 from our recipe for Hoisin-Glazed Baby Back Ribs. Then broil as written in Step 3 of the Char-Siu Style Baby Back Ribs recipe. Since we haven't tested this we can't say for sure that it will work perfectly, but it should be pretty close! Good luck!
Best,
The Milk Street Team
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If you have a regular (e.g. Fagor) pressure cooker, would the pressure settings and cooking time be the same for the fast version of this recipe?