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    Home » Recipes » Asian Recipes

    Sweet and Sticky Cola Ribs

    Jul 13, 2017 • Author: Joyce • 30 Comments • This post may contain affiliate links.

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe
    5 from 7 votes

    A twist from the classic 'Chinese Coca Cola chicken wings', made with baby back ribs. Sweet, sticky and slightly spicy - these Coca Cola ribs will really hit the spot.

    Sweet & Spicy Coca Cola Ribs

    Braised coca cola chicken wings was a very common thing growing up, we drink cola why not eat it too. Seriously though, what kid didn't love sweet and sticky chicken wings made with coke? I'm sure at the time it was weird, but I didn't care - loved it and still do.

    I opted to bake these coca cola ribs, instead of grilling them because our humidex sky rocketed this week and hanging out outside with a sweaty butt didn't seem very appealing to me but you can definitely slap this onto a bbq or a smoker and it would actually make it even more flavorful!

     

     

    INGREDIENTS

    For these coca cola ribs, most of these ingredients can be found at your a local grocery store except maybe for the fish sauce which can be found at a Asian grocery store.

     

     

    Sweet & Spicy Coca Cola Ribs

     

    I don't recommend buying fish sauce online solely because we have no way of knowing how it will be packaged and what condition it will arrive in - and if that bottle spills or breaks, the stink will be gross. We don't want to go there.

    You can substitute the fish sauce with soy sauce in a pinch.

     

    Sweet & Spicy Coca Cola Ribs

     

    Hot sauce is optional. We used Sabal Olek, and to be honest it wasn't super duper spicy. If you enjoy a spicier rib or have a preference of hot sauce - switch up the hot sauce.

     

    For this recipe, we used our Coffee Dry Rub. You can use our rub, or swap it with something you have or enjoy at home. 🙂

     

     

    PUTTING IT TOGETHER

    Removing the Silver Skin Membrane - Always Do It, Seriously.

    All ribs come with a membrane against the bone. It's called a silver skin, and it can be tricky to remove but there is a neat trick that makes it easier to remove, so there's no excuse not to do it! 😛

    Why would you remove it? Usually for 2 reasons:
    • Texture - it makes the ribs softer and less chewy since the skin has a bit of a give. Personally this doesn't bug me, in fact I actually love a bit of a chew/give with ribs.
    • Flavour - This is my main reason for removing it. The skin acts as a impenetrable shield for flavour. It literally feels like a thin sheet of rubber. When you remove it, the meat gets exposed and the rub and sauces can actually penetrate the meat!
    How do you do it?
    1. Flip the ribs on the back so the bone is facing up.
    2. Grab a small knife and try to cut a piece of the skin off the meat. Aim for the corners or sides.
      Sweet & Spicy Coca Cola Ribs
    3. The skin is slippery, so grabbing it with your bare hand and ripping will usually cause frustration and you probably won't rip much off as well. A trick I learned was to use paper towel! Use a piece of paper towel to grip onto the skin and then pull the skin off.
      Sweet & Spicy Coca Cola Ribs
    Preparing the Coca Cola Ribs
    1. Once the skin has been removed, use some oil and lightly coat the ribs.
    2. Add the dry rub on liberally. (We used our 'All Purpose Coffee Rub')
      Sweet & Spicy Coca Cola Ribs
    3. Once the rub is on - Foil it! We will essentially be steaming this bad boy in it's own juices.
      Sweet & Spicy Coca Cola Ribs
    Ready, Set, Bake!
    1. Pre-heat the oven to 250F (121C). We want to bake this low and slow for soft and tender ribs.
    2. The rack of ribs we used was huge, so we didn't have a proper rack for it so we had to improvise. If you have a oven safe pan with a rack big enough - Awesome, use it! Otherwise, you can use foil balls on a cookie sheet as an alternative method.
      Sweet & Spicy Coca Cola Ribs
    3. Once the foil balls or rack is setup, put the ribs on top and put it in the oven. Set a timer for it for 2 hours and 45 minutes to 3 hours. Our ribs will have a different thickness, so adjust the time accordingly. You may need to put it for an extra 15 minutes or reduce it by 15 minutes. You will know the ribs are done when they are soft and jiggly - borderline falling apart.
    Sauce It!
    1. In a food processor, blitz the garlic, shallots and ginger. (If you're a keener, you can grate it! I find grating gives a much smoother sauce but it's a little bit more work)
      Sweet & Spicy Coca Cola Ribs
    2. Set the stove to medium low heat
    3. In a frying pan or wok, add in 2-3 tablespoon of oil and wait for it to get hot.
    4. Add in the garlic/ginger/shallot mixture and brown it. Keep stirring, garlic burns quickly - especially near the edges of the pan.
      Sweet & Spicy Coca Cola Ribs
    5. When it has browned, add in the rest of the sauce ingredients and cook it for 15-20 minutes until it has reduced and has slightly thickened.
      Note: Ketchup, coke and all that jazz splatters like it's nobody's business, so be careful with the splattery hot sugar molten lava.
      Sweet & Spicy Coca Cola Ribs
    6. When the sauce has slightly thickened, turn off the heat and wait for the ribs to finish cooking in the oven.
    The Grand Finale!
    1. Once the ribs have finished cooking, remove it from the foil. (Don't throw out the juices! That stuff is gold! We added it to the sauce!)
    2. Slather the sauce (on the front and back) on the ribs
      Sweet & Spicy Coca Cola Ribs
    3. Set the oven to broil and bake it for 5 minutes each side.
    4. Slather on more sauce and repeat the process of putting it in the oven for 5 minutes to caramelize.
      (We did this about 2-3 times since we like our coca cola ribs sticky and messy, but be careful how often you broil it - you don't want to over cook the ribs and dry them out.)
    5. Enjoy! 🙂
    A twist from the classic 'Chinese Coca Cola chicken wings', made with baby back ribs. Sweet, sticky and slightly spicy - these Coca Cola ribs will really hit the spot.

    Sweet & Spicy Coca Cola Ribs

     

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    Sweet and Sticky Cola Ribs

    A twist from the classic ‘Chinese Coca Cola chicken wings’, made with baby back ribs. Sweet, sticky and slightly spicy – these Coca Cola ribs will really hit the spot.
    Print Pin Rate Save Recipe Saved!
    Course: Main
    Cuisine: American, Asian
    Prep Time: 20 minutes
    Cook Time: 3 hours
    Total Time: 3 hours 20 minutes
    4 Servings
    5 from 7 votes

    Recipe Notes

    • Ketchup, coke and all the sugary condiments splatters like it’s nobody’s business, so be careful when you're stirring the splattery sauce.
    • Hot sauce is optional. We used Sabal Olek, and to be honest it wasn’t super duper spicy. If you enjoy a spicier rib or have a preference of hot sauce – switch up the hot sauce.
    • You will get a more flavourful rib if you remove the silver skin membrane. (Instructions on how to remove it is in the blog post)
    • All Purpose Coffee Dry Rub  - https://pupswithchopsticks.com/all-purpose-coffee-dry-rub/

    Ingredients
     

    • 3 lbs baby back ribs (full rack)
    • oil (canola, peanut or vegetable)
    • All Purpose Coffee Dry Rub

    Coca Cola Sauce

    • 1 355ml can coca cola
    • 1 x 1 cm ginger
    • 2 cloves garlic
    • 3 small shallots (or 1 small onion)
    • 1 tablespoon Chinese cooking wine (or dry sherry, or white wine)
    • ½ teaspoon fish sauce (or soy sauce)
    • 2 tablespoons ketchup
    • 1 tablespoon mustard
    • 2 tablespoon of sambel olek (or any hot sauce of your choice)
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Instructions
     

    Preparing the Ribs

    • Remove the silver skin membrane on the ribs. (Instructions are in the blog post)
    • Once the skin has been removed, use some oil and lightly coat the ribs.
    • Add the dry rub on liberally. (We used our ‘All Purpose Coffee Rub‘)
    • Once the rub is on – Foil it! We will essentially be steaming this bad boy in it’s own juices.

    Ready, Set, Bake!

    • Pre-heat the oven to 250F (121C). We want to bake this low and slow for soft and tender ribs.
    • Put the foiled ribs on a oven safe pan with a rack. If you don't have a big enough rack and pan, you can use foil balls on a cookie sheet as an alternative method.
    • Put it in the oven. Set a timer for it for 2 hours and 45 minutes to 3 hours. Our ribs will have a different thickness, so adjust the time accordingly. You may need to put it for an extra 15 minutes or reduce it by 15 minutes. You will know the ribs are done when they are soft and jiggle – borderline falling apart.

    Sauce It!

    • In a food processor, blitz the garlic, shallots and ginger. (If you’re a keener, you can grate it! I find grating gives a much smoother sauce but it’s a little bit more work)
    • Set the stove to medium low heat
    • In a frying pan or wok, add in 2-3 tablespoon of oil and wait for it to get hot.
    • Add in the garlic/ginger/shallot mixture and brown it. Keep stirring, garlic burns quickly – especially near the edges of the pan.
    • When it has browned, add in the rest of the sauce ingredients and cook it for 15-20 minutes until it has reduced and has slightly thickened.
    • When the sauce has slightly thickened, turn off the heat and wait for the ribs to finish cooking in the oven.

    The Grande Finale!

    • Once the ribs have finished cooking, remove it from the foil. (Don’t throw out the juices! That stuff is gold! Add it to the sauce!)
    • Slather the sauce (on the front and back) on the ribs
    • Set the oven to broil and bake it for 5 minutes each side.
    • Slather on more sauce and repeat the process of putting it in the oven for 5 minutes to caramelize.(We did this about 2-3 times since we like our ribs sticky and messy, but be careful how often you broil it – you don’t want to over cook the ribs and dry them out.)
    • Enjoy!

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1Serving | Calories: 611kcal | Carbohydrates: 16g | Protein: 62g | Fat: 34g | Sodium: 1936mg | Sugar: 11g

    *Nutritional information is calculated using online tools and is an estimate*

    Did you try this recipe?I'd love to hear from you! Let me know how it was and consider giving it a rating! Tag me on Instagram with @pupswithchopsticks to show me!
    Made with ♡ by Joyce | Pups with Chopsticks

     

    More Asian Recipes

    • Chinese Scrambled Eggs and Shrimp
    • Chinese Stir-Fried Ketchup Shrimp
    • Miso Butter
    • Canh Chua (Vietnamese Sweet and Sour Soup)

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Arden Le says

      August 06, 2020 at 6:07 pm

      5 stars
      very good! i used a different rub but the bbq sauce was delicious! I used siracha and it made it pretty spicy at first but once on the meat not spicy at all! Super juicy and fall off the bone! would do it again!

      Reply
      • Joyce Lee says

        September 29, 2020 at 4:06 pm

        Hi Arden!
        Yay I am so happy you liked this one also! Brilliant idea with the sriracha! I bet that made it super flavourful!!

        Reply
    2. Malin says

      October 23, 2019 at 1:59 pm

      5 stars
      First time I make my own rub as well as own glace. Did the coffee rub and the result was very tasty! Will try using the rub on a regular steak next time. Yum!

      Reply
      • Joyce says

        November 04, 2019 at 2:03 pm

        Hi Malin!
        I'm so happy you liked it! The coffee rub taste really got on steak! I like to use it a lot with my steaks, right before I grill it on the BBQ 🙂

        Reply
    3. Elizabeth says

      March 24, 2019 at 8:30 pm

      These were delicious. I followed the recipe exactly, including making the coffee rub (although I had no cayenne for it, so I used a mix of Korean chili powder and Kashmiri chili powder instead). When I tasted the Coca Cola sauce on its own, it seemed strangely bland...I was worried it wouldn’t be good. But once it was broiled on the ribs, it became sticky and flavourful. This is the second recipe I’ve tried from your site...I can’t wait to try more! I’m so glad I found your excellent blog 🙂

      Reply
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