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5 from 8 votes

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.
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time3 hours
Total Time3 hours 20 minutes
Course: Main
Cuisine: American, Asian
Servings: 4 Servings
Calories: 611kcal
Author: Joyce

Ingredients

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)

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!

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/

Nutrition

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