Chinese Salt & Pepper Ribs

These Chinese salt & pepper ribs combine savory, sweet, and spicy flavors together that are sure to become a family favorite. My Dad was actually the one who taught me this recipe and I still cannot get over how easy it is to prepare. No slow cooking in the oven for 2 hours, all it takes is 30 minutes from start to finish.

Chinese Salt & Pepper Ribs

A combination of savory, sweet, and spicy ribs all in just 30 minutes. These are not "fall off the bone" ribs, but do not underestimate how tender and juicy they are. A perfect protein choice if you are running low on time for those weeknight dinners. Recipe video to follow along above!
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes

Ingredients
  

  • 1 rack spare ribs (10-12 ribs)
  • 2 tsp pepper salt
  • 1.5 tbsp soy sauce
  • 2 tbsp sugar
  • 2 tbsp custard powder
  • 1 tbsp oil
  • 1 green onion
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • 1 red thai chilli

Instructions
 

  • Cut up your rack of ribs into individual ribs and let them come up to room temperature if you have time.
  • Season with pepper salt, soy sauce, sugar, custard powder, and oil.
  • Air fry at 375F for 15 minutes flipping halfway through the cooking process. Make sure you don't overcrowd the air fryer.
  • Chop up your garlic, green onions, and chili's and sauté in a pan for 30 seconds until fragrant.
  • Add the ribs from the air fryer into the pan and toss for an additional 3 minutes.
  • Top with more green onions and enjoy!

Notes

Custard powder: The purpose of custard powder is to thicken the seasoning. If you cannot find custard powder, I would use corn starch as a substitute.
Pepper salt: For those of you who don’t know or have never heard of pepper salt, it is a spice blend mixture that consists of salt, white pepper, MSG, and five spice powder.

Check out some of our other rib recipes!