A round white porcelain plate holds pork spare ribs with a crisp and golden-brown coating, topped with garlic fried to a golden color and accompanied by ginger, with wooden chopsticks resting beside the plate.
Pigs as food: breeds, cuts, blood and offal.
Suanxiang paigu is a dish of pork spare ribs cooked with a lot of garlic. In 2 signed recipes, the ribs are marinated with oyster sauce or soy sauce, ginger and garlic, coated in starch, fried 2 times and topped with golden fried garlic. In a 3rd recipe, the ribs are set over taro and steamed for 20 to 25 minutes. Steaming with garlic is a common Cantonese technique. The listed recipes do not identify the dish's birthplace, and no dated record was found.
What
Suanxiang paigu is a dish of pork spare ribs cooked with a lot of garlic. In the fried version, the ribs are cut up, marinated, coated in starch, fried until crisp and topped with golden fried garlic. In the steamed version, the ribs are set over taro and steamed with garlic.1,2,3
When
No dated record or origin of the dish was found. The listed home-cooking recipes date from 2021 to 2025.1,2,3
Where
The 2 fried recipes feature this Chinese dish; 1 author's father makes it at home. Steaming with garlic is a common Cantonese technique. The listed recipes do not tie the dish to one province.1,2,3
How
Fried version: marinate the ribs in oyster sauce or soy sauce, ginger and garlic, for 1 hour in 1 recipe, then coat in starch, fry 2 times and top with golden fried garlic. Steamed version: marinate the ribs, set them over taro and steam for 20 to 25 minutes.1,2,3
Why
The 3 recipes do not explain the dish's origin or why the 2 fried recipes fry the ribs 2 times.1,2,3
Impact and influence
Several English-language cooking articles carry garlic rib recipes, some fried and some steamed.1,2,3
No tale about this food has been found.
Grandma Li
This is a simplified home version, not the traditional restaurant method.
This is my home version of the fried garlic ribs. The weight of the ribs and the marinade follow one signed recipe: 500 g of ribs with oyster sauce, salt, pepper, ginger and garlic, marinated for an hour. I add 1 teaspoon of light soy sauce, which that recipe does not use; that is my own addition. That recipe gives no amount of starch for the coating. Another recipe coats 900 g of ribs in 70 g of starch and sticky rice flour, so I scaled that down to about 40 g of cornstarch, which is my own conversion. The two recipes give different oil temperatures and frying times, so the heat is how I do it at home, and I give the signs I use to tell when the ribs are done. The third recipe is a steamed version, which I did not follow.
Ingredients
- Pork spare ribs 500 g, chopped into pieces about 4 cm long
- Garlic, for the marinade 5 cloves, minced
- Ginger 5 slices
- Oyster sauce 1.5 teaspoons
- Light soy sauce 1 teaspoon (my own amount)
- Salt 1 teaspoon
- White pepper 1/2 teaspoon
- Cornstarch about 40 g (my own conversion)
- Garlic, for the golden topping 4 cloves, finely minced
- Cooking oil about 500 ml for frying the ribs, plus 2 tablespoons for the garlic
Steps
- Rinse the ribs and pat them dry with paper towels. Put them in a large bowl and mix in the 5 cloves of minced garlic, the ginger, oyster sauce, light soy sauce, salt and pepper. Marinate for 1 hour.
- Pick out the ginger, sprinkle in the cornstarch and toss until every piece has a thin coating. Shake off any extra starch.
- Pour about 500 ml of oil into a heavy pot and heat it over medium heat until small bubbles rise around a dry chopstick put into the oil. The ribs must be dry, because wet food makes the oil spatter, so keep water away from the pot. Fry the ribs in two or three batches until the coating is set and light gold, which takes a few minutes, and I go by the color rather than the clock. Lift them out to drain and rest for 5 minutes.
- Heat the oil a little hotter and return the ribs to fry again until deep golden and crisp, which usually takes me about a minute. Take out one piece and cut into the thickest part: the pork is done when no pink is left. If it is still pink, fry a little longer over medium heat.
- In a small pan, heat 2 tablespoons of oil, add the 4 cloves of minced garlic and cook over low heat until golden. Take it out at once, since garlic scorches quickly. Sprinkle the garlic over the fried ribs and serve hot.
Tips
- I fry the minced garlic over low heat and take it out as soon as it turns golden, because the leftover heat keeps darkening it. That is my own way.
- Before frying I shake off the loose starch, so fewer crumbs end up in the oil. That is my own habit.
Allergens: shellfish, soy, wheat