Smoked Asian Style Ribs
On August 09, 2021 (Updated April 15, 2022)
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These smoked Asian-style ribs are cooked in a sweet and sticky sauce and are the best ribs you never knew you needed. They’re the perfect combination of Asian flavors and traditional American-style BBQ techniques. Warm aromatic spices pair beautifully with wood smoke to create these sweet and tangy sticky ribs.
Asian Style Pork Ribs
I am so excited to finally bring this recipe to my site! It’s my brother’s favorite rib recipe I’ve ever made and he has been requesting an update for years. These ribs have a fantastic balance of flavors with just enough sweetness and smokiness to balance out the heat.
These ribs are also a great option for family dinner! They’re extremely kid-friendly. My kids love teriyaki anything and the flavor notes are similar enough in these ribs that they devour these sticky ribs every time I make them! Kid-friendly AND awesome flavors for adults? Talk about a major win!
How to Make Asain Style Ribs
These sticky ribs vary a little from a traditional smoked rib because I don’t use a low and slow process throughout the length of the cooking time. Here’s how to make these Asian-style ribs.
- Prep. Prepare the ribs for smoking by trimming them and seasoning them well with my Asian-style BBQ rub (ingredients for this rub are in the recipe card below).
- Smoke. The first step gives these ribs the benefit of low temperatures and smoke exposure at the beginning and then tenderize in a higher temperature braise. Start your favorite smoker running at 225 degrees F. You’ll increase the temperature twice for this recipe.
- Braise. The ribs are tightly foiled in a hoisin and soy-based sauce during the braising period and are simultaneously infused with the flavors from the liquid while the tight connective rib tissue softens. After the braise, it’s time for the ribs to get sticky!
- Sauce. Each rib is individually dipped in a sweet BBQ sauce made from the reserved braising liquid, red pepper jelly, and a kiss of tangy vinegar. A final sear on a hot grill takes these ribs from awesome to indescribably delicious.
- Enjoy. I like to finish these up with a sprinkling of sesame seeds and scallions. These ribs taste great with extra BBQ sauce on the side as well.
As a last note, don’t let the ingredients list intimidate you. Everything here is available at your regular grocery store.
More Ribs Recipes
Looking for more tasty rib recipes to try out this weekend? Here are a few popular posts for ribs from Hey Grill Hey.
Asian Style Ribs Recipe
Here’s hoping you enjoy these Asian-style ribs! I can guarantee they’ll put a smile on your face and won’t last long. This post was originally published in February 2018. We recently updated it with more information and helpful tips. The recipe remains the same.
If you loved this recipe, make sure to come back and leave us a review! You can also find us on all social media sites @heygrillhey! We love to hear from you.
Smoked Asian Style Ribs
Ingredients
- 2 racks baby back ribs
Asian Style BBQ Rub
- 4 Tablespoons smoked paprika
- 1 Tablespoon Chinese 5 spice powder
- 1 Tablespoon ground ginger
- 1 Tablespoon ground mustard
- 2 teaspoons Kosher salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground pepper
- 1 ½ teaspoon ground allspice
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Braising Liquid
- 1 cup hoisin sauce
- ½ cup soy sauce
- ½ cup orange juice
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup rice wine vinegar
- ¼ cup white grape juice or apple juice
- 4 cloves garlic crushed
- 3 inch fresh ginger root peeled and sliced
- 6 scallion whites diced
- 1 teaspoon cayenne powder
Sticky BBQ Sauce
- 10 oz red pepper jelly
- ½ cup apple cider vinegar
Garnishes
- sesame seeds to taste
- 6 scallion greens cut on a diagonal
Instructions
- Preheat. Preheat your smoker to 225 degrees F with a fruit wood smoke like apple or cherry wood.
- Prep the ribs. Trim the ends of your baby back ribs and remove the membrane from the back. Combine all of the ingredients for the spice rub and sprinkle liberally on all sides of the ribs.
- Smoke. Place the ribs on the smoker, close the lid, and smoke for 2 hours.
- Make the braising liquid. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients for the braising liquid. Whisk to ensure all of the sugar crystals have dissolved.
- Increase the temp. Remove the ribs from the smoker, place them in an aluminum pan, and increase the heat in your smoker to 325 degrees F.
- Braise. Pour the braising liquid over the ribs and flip the ribs over a couple of times to coat all sides. Flip the ribs so they are meat-side down, cover tightly with foil, and return to the grill. Cook at 325 degrees F for 3 hours, or until you see the bones sticking out of the meat about 1/2 inch.
- Increase the temp again. Remove the pan of ribs from the grill and increase the heat again to 400-450 degrees F.
- Make the sticky BBQ sauce. Carefully remove the ribs from the pan to a cutting board. Strain 2 cups of the remaining braising liquid into a medium saucepan. Add in the red pepper jelly and apple cider vinegar. Bring to a boil and simmer until the sauce has reduced by 1/3.
- Coat the ribs. Slice each rack of ribs into individual ribs. Using tongs, dip each rib into the pan with the BBQ sauce until they are coated on all sides with the BBQ sauce.
- Finish grilling. Return the ribs to the grill for 3-5 minutes, flipping each rib once to tighten the sauce and add just a little char to the edges of the ribs.
- Garnish and enjoy! Remove all of the ribs to a serving platter. Sprinkle with the sesame seeds and the scallion greens. Serve with additional BBQ sauce, if desired.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Fantastic!! Slight variation, I did the braising step in oven using enameled cast iron. Figured save a few chips since they’re not exposed to smoke anyways when wrapped and this worked great. Also rec 3 hrs smoke, 2 hrs braise. Love the concepts in this recipe for both cooking and sticky sauce, def want to try some more variations and flavors using this in the future, thanks for sharing!
My braising liquid turned to a solid after two hours. Ribs were in a black solid. Could only salvage some of the meat. Recipe fail which is hard with ribs.
Either you were cooking way too hot, or you didn’t have a tight enough seal during the braise and lost all of your moisture. Either way, it’s not the recipe that ruined your ribs.
I cooked mine at 325 and after two hours had a similar issue. I’ve never had a misfire with one of your recipes before so this was a big shock for me. I will try this one again and either braise at 250 or for significantly less time. We did have to use two sheets of foil to cover the pan, though, so moisture loss is also a huge possibility, though i didn’t notice much steam coming out of it. Love your recipes, love your site!! I’ve only started bbqing for a couple years now, and cooked almost solely with your incredible recipes. Your rubs, sauces, etc have been a massive hit at family gatherings and other potlucks!
I made this for a large family Christmas Eve party and – everyone loved! So very delicious. Perfect recipe – will be making again and again.
I had the same problem as another reviewer – after the braise my liquid was completely evaporated and the ribs were glued to the bottom of my pan and completely charred. We could only salvage the meat between the bones (which was tasty, but obviously frustrating). Perhaps the seal on my foil pan wasn’t tight enough, but in hindsight, 3 hours at 325 seems too long to be that high above boiling temp. I will try again with a lower temp braise next time.
If the liquid evaporated or leaked out that means your foil wasn’t sealed tightly enough.
HUGE HIT….The family loved it. Made it with jalapeño jelly instead of red pepper jelly due to it not being in stock anywhere. Well worth the time. AMAZING. MUST TRY.
So I have made this recipe several times and it is the bomb!!! However, I do make some adjustments to the cooking time and temp. I use the 3 hours smoke, 2 hrs wrapped in braising liquid. I keep it at about 250 the while time. I do turn it up to about 350 to do the final step. They have been perfect every time. Mind you the final step is quick, don’t want that burning to the ribs.
Quick question. On the first cooking step is it cook @225 or cook on the smoke setting. Assume it means 225 on a smoker.
THANK YOU for this incredible recipe! WaxlThese are definitely the best ribs I have ever made. I was using st louis ribs and a charcoal smoker so my times and temps varied but I was excited to do the braising step because I’ve never tried that. It really kept them nice and juicy. Then the sauce is just so perfectly tangy sweet and sticky, they only needed 30 seconds over a hot grill on each side before serving. This is my go-to rib recipe from now on, for sure!
Sauce burnt to a crisp and ruined the ribs. What did I do wrong? I was so excited. The rub and sauce smelled amazing. Please help!!!
How hot were you cooking?
325 per the recipe, on a Transfer, so it varied from 315 to 330. Dark roasting pan as no aluminum available.
That should say Traeger not transfer
The sauce has sugar in it which will burn if the temp gets to high. A lot of smokers and grills have hot spots which people aren’t aware of. I’d use a thermal gun to check all around it. I bet that was the problem.
Fantastic taste but the meat fell off the bone so I couldn’t sear at the end. Smoked for 2 hours, braised for 3. Maybe 2 hours braise next time because there will be a next time. Thanks for an awesome recipe Susie!