Cooking spare ribs is probably one of the best uses for an Instant Pot there is. Ribs are delicious, but they take forever to do the old fashioned way. Dad loves to get out and grill as much as anyone else, but unfortunately there isn't always the time for it. Thats where his trusty pressure cooker comes into play.
You see, Dad's smoked ribs take about 6 hours to cook so doing them on a weeknight is just not possible. However, pork spare ribs are just too good to make a once in a while weekend dish.
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Speaking of Spare Ribs, what exactly is a "Spare Rib"?
When you are shopping for ribs, pork in particular you generally run into 3 kinds. Spare ribs, St. Louis and Baby Backs. Baby backs are located on the back of the animal, on the top of the rib cage. Hence the name "Baby Backs". They are below the loin and in-between the spine and the spare ribs. They have meat between the bones and on top of the bones, and are shorter, curved, and sometimes meatier than spare ribs. They are the most popular rib in America.
The next 2 kinds of ribs are kind of actually the same thing. The St. Louis rib is just a trimmed version of the Spare Rib. I think the diagram below should help show you exactly what we are talking about here. Dad likes to buy the spare ribs and then cut them down into St Louis ribs himself. They are actually cheaper to buy this way and you get the bonus of the extra rib tip and brisket flap meat which is great for stir fry or even tacos.
What was the inspiration for dish?
Dad is a big fan of Star Wars and Disney. So when they finally opened Galaxy's Edge at Hollywood Studios he had to go. While visiting, Dad tried a dish in the "Docking Bay 7" restaurant called "Smoked Kaadu Ribs". All the foods in Galaxy's edge is Star Wars themed so they made up the animal called a Kaadu for the ribs. Dad was disappointed by the ribs, they were over cooked, had way too much cartilage in them and it was an all around fail.
Dad thought he could do better!
Dad decided he could do a better version of Disney's ribs and took the Korean inspired flavors they were using and made his own dish using the Instant Pot. Dad's Instant Pot Spare Ribs dish is borrows a lot from the Korean short rib dish called Kalbi. That is where the soy, the pineapple and the ginger flavor profile came from. These flavors work so well together in the short ribs Dad figured that would work great on spare ribs.
How hard are ribs to cook using the Instant Pot?
Ribs are about one of the easiest dishes you can cook in the instant pot. You can put the whole rack in rolled up or cut them down to single bones like dad does. All you need to do is season them up, throw some spices in along with a cup of water and cook to your desired doneness. If you want fall of the bone ribs then go with 18 minutes if you want a meatier, chewier rib than you can go as low as 10 minutes if they are cut to single bones. When they are done you throw them under the broiler or finish on the grill for that lovely charred texture and taste.
Instant Pot Spare Ribs
Equipment
- Instant Pot or Electric Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
- 1 Slab of Pork Spare Ribs (about 5 lbs)
- 1 tablespoon Garlic Powder For the ribs.
- 1 tablespoon Onion Powder For the ribs.
- 1 tablespoon Sea Salt For the ribs.
- 1 teaspoon Black Pepper For the ribs.
- 1 tablespoon Minced Garlic For the ribs.
- 1 teaspoon Ground Ginger For the ribs.
- 1 Cup Water For the ribs.
- 1 Can Pineapple Tidbits For the sauce.
- ½ Cup Soy Sauce For the sauce.
- ¼ Cup White Vinegar (I use spiced, regular is fine) For the sauce.
- ¼ Cup Honey For the sauce.
- 1 tablespoon Minced Garlic For the sauce.
- 1 teaspoon Ground Ginger For the sauce.
- 1 teaspoon Onion Powder For the sauce.
Instructions
- Trim the the ribs by removing the tips and the flap on the back then remove the silver skin off the back side of the ribs and then cut them into single bones. Watch the video above to see exactly how this is done if you have any questions.
- Add 1 tablespoon of Garlic Powder, 1 tablespoon of Onion Powder, 1 tablespoon of Sea Salt and 1 teaspoon of Black Pepper to a spice shaker. Then evenly coat the ribs with the mixture.
- Open you Instant Pot and put the Trivet inside.
- Add 1 tablespoon of Minced Garlic, 1 teaspoon of Ground Ginger and 1 cup of water to the pot.
- Add the ribs to the Instant Pot, stacking them in on top of each other.
- Put the lid on the Instant Pot and make sure the toggle is set to sealing.
- Press the manual button and select 18 minutes.
- While the ribs are cooking drain the juice from the can of pineapple tidbits and set the tidbits aside.
- Put a medium sized sauce pan or pot on medium high heat and pour the pineapple juice in.
- Add ¼ cup of soy sauce.
- Add ¼ white vinegar.
- Add 1 tablespoon of minced garlic.
- Add ¼ of honey.
- Add 1 teaspoon ground ginger.
- Add 1 teaspoon of onion powder.
- Now whisk the mixture and bring it to a boil. Continue whisking and boiling until the mixture has reduced down by about 50%. It takes about 10 or 15 minutes.
- Add ½ of the reserved pineapple tidbits to the sauce and stir.
- Preheat your oven to broil.
- Once the Instant Pot beeps let it sit for 10 minutes to do a "natural release".
- One the 10 minutes is up move the toggle to venting and release the rest of the pressure.
- Once all the pressure has release take off the lid and remove the ribs and trivet.
- Place the ribs on a sheet pan with a wire rack under it.
- Brush the ribs with the sauce and place on the 2nd from the top rack in the oven and broil them for about 5 to 10 minutes. Just do them long enough until the are nice and browned.
- Top with the pineapple tidbits and serve with the sides of your choice.
Video
Nutrition
Tried this recipe?Mention @DadGotThis or tag #DadGotThis!Dad hopes you give his rib recipe a try and let him know if you do. Dad loves to get feedback on his recipes.
