I love cooking with ribs because it’s a cut that gives you the right amount of lean-fat ratio and maximum flavor. In the past I’ve shared a fair number of rib recipes, such as Chinese Dry Rub Ribs, Chinese BBQ Ribs, Instant Pot Pork Ribs, and Mom’s Best Braised Pork Ribs. Today I want to share one of my favorite rib dishes of all time – Chinese garlic ribs.
What are Chinese garlic ribs
Chinese garlic ribs, or Suan Xiang Pai Gu (蒜香排骨), is a famous dish from Shanghainese cuisine. Although it’s so popular that you will see it alongside different regional cuisines such as Sichuan, Northern, or Cantonese. To cook the dish, small single riblets are marinated in a savory aromatic sauce, then deep fried until the outside is golden crispy. It is then quickly stir fried with a TON of crispy garlic to finish up. The finished ribs are bursting with flavor, with a juicy texture and crispy exterior. Paired with crunchy garlic bits, it’s super addictive.
Why this recipe
To make Chinese garlic ribs more suitable for a casual home cooked dinner, I developed this air fryer version. With this Air Fryer recipe:
You do not need a ton of oil for deep-frying.The cooking is hands-off and pretty quick.The clean up is easy peasy.You can enjoy amazing tasting ribs that taste like fried but are much healthier!
Ingredients for air fryer garlic ribs
What kind of pork ribs to use
The best ribs to use for this recipe are the ones that have a good amount of fat layered in, and the meat on the ribs is not too thick. Because you will use a very short amount of time to cook a rather tough cut of meat, you want a decent fat layer to protect the lean meat from drying out. You also want to control the cooking time so the meat is just cooked through, which stays juicy. The ginger in this recipe will work to tenderize the pork, but it works better when the cut is not too thick. Since we want to achieve a crispy crust and very flavorful meat, small single riblets work better than a whole rack of ribs. It is also how this dish is served in China. If you have access to an Asian market, it’s best to buy chopped up ribs. The length of those ribs is half that of the regular ribs and it’s perfect for this dish. You can also find packaged single ribs at regular grocery stores, but they are not halved lengthwise. Alternatively, you can buy half a rack of ribs at the butcher and ask them to cut it in half across the bones. The butcher will use a saw to do it. Then you can easily cut the split rack into single riblets at home with a knife.
Key ingredients
Air fryer garlic ribs use only a few pantry ingredients to create maximum flavor, but you might not have those ingredients on hand if you don’t cook Chinese food a lot.
Oyster sauce
Shaoxing wine
Another key ingredient in Chinese cooking, Shaoxing wine adds depth of flavor to the dish and it’s hard to replace. However, if you cannot find it, the next best alternative is dry sherry. Alternatively, you can also replace it with Japanese sake, which can be found in regular grocery stores these days. If you need the dish to be alcohol-free, you can also skip this ingredient.
How to make air fryer garlic ribs
These air fried garlic ribs are golden brown on the outside with a crispy crust, the inside is extra tender and juicy. Plus, this recipe is so easy that it takes no time to put together (although you do need to get a bit organized and get that marinating time in!). Fair warming: you might end up consuming too many ribs, but at least this recipe is so much healthier than other deep fried ribs and those BBQ ribs that’re full of sugar.
Other delicious air fryer recipes
Air Fryer Salt and Pepper ChickenAir Fryer Fries with Spice MixAir Fryer Tofu with Broccoli and Carrot
