Din Tai Fung came to my hometown years back and became one of my favorite restaurants. Everyone knows about their world famous Xiao Long Bao soup dumplings – and yes they are fantastic, but there are so many other amazing dishes on their menu. One in particular, a dish that completely overwhelmed my taste buds, their Sweet & Sour Pork Baby Back Ribs which is their take on a classic Shanghainese dish. The complexity is hard to describe, initially it’s a familiar sweet and sour sauce taste-but the subtle notes of orange shine brightly in the background finished with the slightest bitterness from the caramelized sugar. The dish is quite small – you only get about 6 riblets for $9! My family devours the appetizer in an instant—the true motivation for me to reverse engineer this culinary marvel. As they say—Necessity is the mother of invention. I present my copycat version for Din Tai Fung’s Sweet & Sour Pork Baby Back Ribs cooked in an Instant Pot Pressure Cooker
You’ll need Pork Riblets or Baby Back Ribs that are cross-cut in half so the ribs are about 1.5-2 inches long.
A few ingredients that may not be in your pantry, you can usually find these at any Asian Market
10 Comments
April
October 2, 2021 at 9:40 pm
We made these tonight and they were amazing! The flavor wasn’t spot on, but I had to make a few substitutions, so I knew it would taste slightly different. Still delicious! Thanks for the recipe.
Patti
November 22, 2021 at 12:34 pm
I would like to make these for an appetizer for a holiday. Can these be made a day ahead? How would you reheat them?
Van
November 23, 2021 at 12:01 am
Hello, yes you can make this a day before. Just reduce the sauce by half, put ribs + sauce into a container & when you want to serve, place into a pot & use med-high heat to continue to reduce the sauce until it’s thick & coats the ribs. Have a nice Thanksgiving!
Quynh
December 2, 2021 at 5:46 am
I tried this today and it was really good!! Ribs were just the right tenderness and sauce was spot on – I was afraid the vinegar would turn out too strong but they were all in harmony and really yummyy. The prep is so quick, I would definitely go for this recipe more often when we crave sticky ribs. Thank you for the great recipe <3
Van
December 2, 2021 at 5:49 am
You’re welcome Quynh! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed it!
Dawn
December 8, 2021 at 12:46 pm
Would love to try these but the ribs I got are 1.97 lbs. Would keeping the same amount of liquid ingredients make it too salty? Amateur cook here, thanks for any advice!! 🙂
Van
December 8, 2021 at 1:10 pm
Hi Dawn, just keep the same amount of ingredients & cooking time, it will turn out fine.
Mara
April 24, 2023 at 10:43 pm
Good recipe! So much easier than stove top versions!
Cathy
April 20, 2024 at 12:20 pm
The sauce was very runny, and I could not get it to the glaze quality. I even put cornstarch slurry Inn At twice, and it still wasn’t the texture of a glaze. Any comments or ideas?
Van
May 12, 2024 at 5:47 pm
Hi Cathy, if the sauce is runny, you didn’t reduce it long enough. It becomes syrupy once most of the liquid has evaporated