1-2-3-4-5 Ribs DIY Recipe (w/ Step-by-Step Instructions)

This recipe is again picked up from Woks of Life. Gosh, this website is so good. The recipes are easy to understand, super clear step-by-step instructions, and so far all their recipes have been pretty good.

Anyway, when I first heard this dish, I did wonder why it was named 1-2-3-4-5. Was this invented by a kid? But guess what, it’s a mnemonic to help you remember the ingredients, which makes me super happy because (1) guaranteed easy, and (2) easy to remember pa!

Overall, this sauce is EXCELLENT. As in, I was eating rice with just the sauce in the end hehe (also unhealthy because quite a lot of sugar went into this but oh well, Sunday cheat day!). The ribs itself, I will revise in the recipe below because my mom said I really should have cooked it for longer if I went it to be super super tender. Ok, noted for next time and noted below.

 

DELECTABLE DISH FOR THE DAY: 1-2-3-4-5 Ribs

DIFFICULTY: Easy

SERVING SIZE: Good for 5 people

COOK TIME: 1 hour

 

INGREDIENTS FOR 1-2-3-4-5 RIBS

• 750g pork ribs (asked the butcher to cut into 1.5 inch pieces, and to give me really meaty ones!)
• 6 slices ginger
• 1 tbsp rice wine
• 2 tbsp Lee Kum Kee soy sauce
• 3 tbsp Chinese black vinegar (but I didn’t realize we had this and used Worcestershire sauce instead, oops)
• 4 tbsp sugar
• 5 tbsp water

 

STEP-BY-STEP PROCESS TO MAKE 1-2-3-4-5 RIBS

• Pat dry the ribs first before doing anything
• Prepare the ginger slices
• Over medium heat, heat up the wok, add oil then the 6 ginger slices.

• Turn the heat to high and add the ribs. Brown all sides – you can do this in batches if your ribs don’t all fit into the wok

 

• Turn down the heat, add 1 tbsp rice wine, 2 tbsp Lee Kum Kee soy sauce, 3 tbsp Chinese black vinegar, 4 tbsp sugar, and 5 tbsp water. Stir and mix everything well, then bring up the heat to a boil

• Once it’s boiling, cover and reduce the heat until the liquid is simply simmering. Leave it simmering for 45 minutes. Halfway through, check to make sure liquid hasn’t dried up (hmm actually I only did 25 minutes initially, so I’m thinking if you simmer for 45 minutes to make it more tender, you may have to adjust and perhaps double the sauce – e.g. 2 tbsp rice wine, 4 tbsp Lee Kum Kee soy sauce, 6 tbsp Chinese black vinegar, 8 tbsp sugar, and 10 tbsp water instead… Anyway, food for thought). Anyway, halfway through the process, if the liquid is drying up, reduce the head and add a bit more water as needed (but not too much else you dilute your yummy sauce)
• After the simmering, remove the lit, turn up the heat to reduce the sauce and make the ribs glisten. With heat on high, continuously stir and toss the ribs.

• Bon Appetit!