Delicious, juicy, sticky ribs with a distinct Asian flair – there’s nothing wrong with that. Except, perhaps, how long it takes to make good ribs. Our Instant Pot Asian ribs recipe produces fantastic ribs in a fraction of the time it takes to make them in the oven or on the grill.
We’ve made this same recipe with beef ribs, baby back pork ribs, short ribs, and spare ribs, and you can adapt the recipe for any of these, just by adjusting the cooking time (slightly). We like using pork spare ribs, sine they are a little meatier, and we also slice them into separate ribs before cooking so we can get the spices to cover more surface area on the meat.
The Asian flavor comes from a combination of an initial dry rub with cinnamon and Chinese Five Spice. The sweet and rich finishing sauce has Hoisin sauce, mirin (rice wine), spicy sriracha sauce, and soy sauce.
Full disclosure: this is one of our few recipes that is finished outside the Instant Pot. We grill the ribs on the barbecue or in the oven after apply the sauce, to create caramelization.
Here are some additional Instant Pot recipes you might enjoy:
Instant Pot Asian Ribs
Sticky Asian-spiced ribs cooked in the Instant Pot to get juicy, fall-off-the-bone ribs in a short time. They're finished with a spicy/sweet sauce made with Hoisin, Mirin (rice wine), and Sriracha Sauce and Rice Vinegar.
Ingredients
- 4 lbs Pork or Beef Ribs
- 1 1/2 cups Beef Stock
Dry Rub
- 2 tsp Salt
- 2 tsp Black Pepper
- 2 tsp Cinnamon
- 2 tsp Onion Powder
- 2 tsp Garlic Powder
- 2 tsp Paprika
- 3 tsp Chinese 5 Spice seasoning
Sauce
- 4 tbsp Hoisin Sauce
- 2 tbsp Rice Vinegar
- 2 tbsp Mirin
- 2 tbsp Soy Sauce
- 1 tbsp Sriracha Sauce
- 1 tsp Brown Sugar
- 1 tsp Sesame Oil
Garnish
- Sesame Seeds
- Chopped Fresh Chives
Instructions
Mix all the dry ingredients for the rub together in a bowl, set aside.
Depending on the type of ribs you are using, there may be a membrane attached to the back of the rack. You can have your butcher remove this, or remove it yourself by holding one end with a paper towel and carefully pulling the tough membrane away from the meat.
If using spare ribs or beef ribs, cut the ribs into individual pieces. This allows for more surface area to apply the rub. For smaller baby back ribs, trim the ribs into sections of two or three ribs apiece. If using short ribs, they should already be trimmed into individual pieces!
Rub the rub generously on all sides of the meat, massaging the spices into the meat. Cover in plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.
To cook the ribs, add the stock to the bottom of the Instant Pot. Place a trivet or basket into the pot, and then arrange the ribs vertically around the pot.
Close the top, set the valve to "sealing", and set the Instant Pot to manual, for the times depending on your type of rib:
Baby Back Ribs: 22 minutes
Pork Spareribs or Short Ribs: 25 minutes
Beef Ribs: 28 minutes
Allow to naturally release for an additional 10 minutes.
Mix the sauce ingredients tether, mixing thoroughly.
Remove ribs from Instant Pot and place in a bowl.
Pour sauce over ribs, gently tossing to ensure that all surfaces are covered in sauce.
Place ribs on a hot grill or under the oven broiler for 2-3 minutes per side to caramelize the sauce.
Serve immediately, garnished with sesame seeds and chopped chives.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 1481Total Fat: 89gSaturated Fat: 31gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 48gCholesterol: 460mgSodium: 2444mgCarbohydrates: 20gFiber: 4gSugar: 9gProtein: 141g