Boneless Salt & Chilli Ribs

Although this recipe uses pork tenderloin fillet, I’ve taken the decision to call it ‘boneless salt & chilli ribs’ because of the cooking process and the resultant texture of the meat.  After drying out in the oven and then being fried briefly in hot oil, the pork fillet texture becomes just a little chewy and very reminiscent of rib meat.  It’s a technique similar to that used in creating the Thai dish Moo Dad Deaw and I’m very pleased with the results it offers.

Of course, as with any salt & chilli dish, the real flavour comes from the Chinese salt & pepper mix which is applied liberally to the cooked meat.  Despite the fact that this recipe requires a few different processes (baking, frying in oil and finishing in a dry wok), the process is simple and so the dish is perfect for preparing in bulk.  If you’re cooking for a few people, it would be just as easy to double or even triple this recipe and produce a mountain of salt & chilli pork for your guests.

5 from 1 vote
Boneless Salt & Chilli Ribs
Prep Time
5 mins
Cook Time
1 hr 5 mins
Total Time
1 hr 5 mins
 
Course: Side Dish, Starter
Cuisine: Chinese, Chinese Takeaway
Keyword: salt & chilli, pork, ribs
Servings: 2
Ingredients
Pork prep
  • Dash light soy sauce
  • Dash dark soy sauce
  • Dash fish sauce
  • 1 teaspoon oyster sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon soft dark brown sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic paste
  • Pinch white pepper
  • 1 tablespoon water
  • 1 pork tenderloin fillet (around 350g) thickly sliced
Time to cook!
  • Oil for deep frying
  • 1 spring onion finely sliced
  • 1 garlic clove finely chopped
  • 1 teaspoon salt & pepper seasoning or to taste, see notes
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried chilli flakes
  • 1 tablespoon Shaoxing rice wine
Instructions
Prep
  1. In a bowl, combine light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, fish sauce, oyster sauce, brown sugar, garlic paste, white pepper and water. Mix well. Add the sliced pork fillet, mix well once again, cover and set aside in the fridge for at least 2 hours or, ideally, overnight.

Time to cook!
  1. Heat the oven to the lowest possible setting (ideally around 80c, if your oven has a 'keep warm' mode this can be used too).

  2. Arrange the sliced pork on a wire rack above a baking tray and place in the oven. Bake for 1 hour.

  3. Heat the oil for deep frying to 180c. Carefully drop the pork slices into the hot oil and fry for around 1-2 minutes until the pork is coloured and crispy. Remove the pork slices from the oil, drain off any excess oil and set aside.

  4. In a dry wok over a low heat, add the spring onion and garlic. Stir-fry for 30 seconds until aromatic. Add the cooked pork slices, season generously with the salt & pepper mix and add the dried chilli flakes. Stir-fry for 20-30 seconds, finish with rice wine and serve.

Recipe Notes

You can find the Chinese salt & pepper mix recipe here.


If you like this Boneless Salt & Chilli Ribs recipe, you might be interested in buying my book: The Chinese Takeaway Secret is packed full of over over 120 takeaway & fast-food recipes and is available to buy in kindle or paperback form here.

1 thought on “Boneless Salt & Chilli Ribs

  1. 5 stars
    Made this recipe today for the boneless salt and chilli ribs and they were amazing! They disappeared very quickly. The 3 cooking processes may have taken a little time but worth it. I’ve tried lots of Kenny’s recipes over the years and they are always spot on.

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