Fire up the grill for these mouthwatering Asian-style BBQ ribs, seasoned with a bold dry rub of five spice, garlic, ginger, and brown sugar. Finished with a sweet and tangy hoisin-soy glaze and topped with green onions and sesame seeds, these ribs are sticky, savory, and impossible to resist. Perfect for your next cookout!
The flavors of ginger and five-spice powder shine through in these tasty morsels. There is also a touch of brown sugar and Tabasco to balance it out. All in all these Asian inspired sweet and spicy BBQ ribs are the perfect addition to your weekend picnic or any weeknight dinner. Take them to your next tailgating party too.
You don't have to be an experienced cook to turn out fabulous ribs, because the result is always wonderful. My recipe includes an Asian style dry rub and a sweet, spicy and sticky BBQ sauce. Here's my never-fail rib technique I want to share with you: Put the dry rub on the ribs and let them rest or marinate for an hour in the refrigerator. Then bake your ribs covered for one hour wrapped in tin foil in a 300°F oven, and finish them on the grill. Brush some of the BBQ sauce while grilling for a nice caramelization. This is what they'll look like when they come off the grill. See photo above. They will be so tender, they'll fall off the bone.
Making these ribs is a piece of cake; it just takes a few steps. To save time in the kitchen, I like to multitask. First, I made my Asian style dry rub and applied it to the ribs. Lay the ribs on a large piece of tin foil. I like to crimp two-pieces foil length-wise so it is wide enough to completely surround the ribs when wrapped from end-to-end. I sprinkle the dry rub on the ribs and pat it down. I then crimp the foil length-wise and then fold up the ends. It is like making a foil sleeve for baking the ribs in.
Then I allow the flavors to penetrate by refrigerating them for 1 hour in the foil. Bring them out of the refrigerator and allow them to come to room temperature for about 15-20 minutes before baking. Leave them in the foil, sealed up, and place them on a baking tray in case of any leaks. Next, I baked them in a 300°F oven for one hour. While the ribs bake, I prepare the BBQ sauce. Finally, the ribs were placed on a hot grill and brushed with sauce. Easy!
Absolutely—this sauce is great for spicing up chicken wings! It should keep for about a week in the refrigerator. I like to store mine in a squeeze bottle for easy use. Just be sure to separate out any sauce you plan to save before using it on raw meat—never store sauce that’s come into contact with raw ingredients.
Cool them completely and you can store them for 4 days in an airtight container.
If your raw ribs are in a vacuum pack those can be frozen for 4-6 months before using for best quality. Once the ribs are cooked they can be stored frozen for 3-4 months wrapped tightly in freezer foil or vacuum freezer bags. Be sure to cool them completely before freezing.
Looking for some delicious sides to pair with your Asian-Inspired Sweet and Spicy BBQ ribs? I recommend Indonesian Coconut Turmeric Rice with Cashews, Korean Kim Chi, or a Lemongrass Vodka Martini if you're feeling spontaneous!
📖 Recipe
Asian Inspired Sweet and Spicy BBQ Ribs
Ingredients
- 2.5 lb ribs
Asian style dry rub
- 2 teaspoon five spice powder
- ⅛ teaspoon allspice
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon ginger ground
- ¼ teaspoon cracked pepper
BBQ Sauce
- 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
- 1 shallot minced
- 3 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 3 tablespoon soy sauce
- 3 tablespoon hoisin sauce
- 1 teaspoon Tabasco
- 2 teaspoon honey
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar
- 2 tablespoon green onion sliced, for garnish
- ¼ teaspoon sesame seeds for garnish
Instructions
To make the dry rub:
- In a small bowl mix together five spice powder, allspice, brown sugar, garlic powder, ginger and cracked pepper until they are well blended.
To make the sauce
- Heat oil on medium and sauté the shallot until tender.
- Stir in the rice vinegar and soy sauce and slowly bring to a boil.
- Turn down the heat, and add in the hoisin, Tabasco and honey. Cook for about 5 minutes on low, and add the tomato paste. Stir until well combined. Cook for an additional 3 minutes on low until ready to use.
- Transfer to a bowls for serving and brushing while grilling.
To make the ribs:
- Crimp 2 pieces of foil length-wise to make a long wide piece of foil that will be large enough to completely cover the ribs. Lay the ribs on the foil over a baking sheet.
- Sprinkle on the dry rub and pat it down to work it into the meaty side of the ribs.
- Crimp the foil length-wise and then fold up the ends. You will have have the ribs in a foil sleeve for resting in the rub and then baking. Rest them in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 300°F.
- Remove from the refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature for about 15-20 minutes before baking.
- Bake the ribs in the foil sleeve for 1 hour on a baking tray in case of leaking.
- At the end of 1 hour, remove ribs from the oven.
- Preheat grill to 400°F.
- Grill ribs 4-5 minutes on all sides while brushing with sauce.
- Transfer to a platter. Cover them with aluminum foil and allow them to rest for about 5 minutes.
- Cut them into individual pieces to serve.
- Sprinkle with green onions and sesame seeds.
Nutrition
Denise says
I love this idea! My family eats ribs a lot in the summer and I sometimes I get sick of the same old recipe. So this will come in handy as I know you have great recipes on this site!
N Mason says
I made these last weekend, they are fantastic, really good.
I did smoke them first for about 2 hrs though.
I did cook them on the grill the whole time. And we all loved them.
This is a keeper.
Analida says
Thank you so much! I am happy to hear you enjoyed the ribs!