Hoisin Lamb Ribs

These hoisin lamb ribs are marinated in the sauce to which garlic, ginger and sesame oil is added. They are then cooked on a low temperature for hours, until the meat falls off the bone.

Hoisin Lamb Ribs
Hoisin Lamb Ribs
Head straight on to the Recipe For ♥ Hoisin Lamb Ribs ♥
What is hoisin sauce?

Common to Cantonese cuisine, hoisin sauce is often used as a glaze for meat.  It makes for a great marinade for lamb ribs and char siu pork. It can also be used when making stir fries, for coating rice noodles and as dipping sauce.  Think along the lines of hand rolls, lettuce wraps, moo shu pork and Peking duck. Hoisin is dark in colour, and has a sweet, salty taste. The key ingredient in hoisin sauce is fermented soybean paste. Other ingredients may include fennel, chilli peppers, garlic, vinegar, sesame seeds, salt and five spice powder. It might be thickened with some form of a starch such as sweet potato, wheat or rice, and sweetened with sugar. Mass produced sauces might have colouring agents and preservatives added to them.

Using ribs

In South Africa, lamb ribs are one of the cheapest cuts of lamb we can get. They are perfect for cooking in the oven, and on a braai. But, a lot of people don’t like lamb. Or it is too expensive where they live. So, you could use pork ribs. They are not as fatty, and require a longer cooking time. You will have to experiment if you use pork. However, I don’t think beef ribs will be a good substitute for this.

Playing recipe catch up

Everytime I see a recipe I want to try on another blog, I print it out. These pieces of paper end up in a folder, to be looked at when I page through to see where my mood takes me. Last December I decided to make my way through the recipes, one-by-one, in the order they were filed. One of these was this recipe from Not Quite Nigella. She posted it in September 2020 so this is an indication of how long I have had it for.

Take a look at this inspiring recipe for ♥ Hoisin Lamb Ribs ♥ from Lavender and Lime #LavenderAndLime Share on X

Hoisin Lamb Ribs

 

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5 from 1 vote

Hoisin Lamb Ribs

You can easily double or treble this recipe as necessary
Recipe Category: Meat
Makes enough for: 2 people
All Rights Reserved: Adapted from Not Quite Nigella

Ingredients

  • 50 mls hoisin sauce
  • 7.5 mls coconut sugar
  • 2.5 mls sesame oil
  • 1 cm fresh root ginger, peeled and finely chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped
  • 600 g lamb ribs

for finishing off

  • 25 mls hoisin sauce
  • 10 mls black sesame seeds
  • 10 mls white sesame seeds

Method

  • Place the hoisin, sugar, oil, ginger and garlic into a mixing bowl and whisk to combine
  • Pour into a large ziploc bag and add the ribs
  • Massage the sauce into the ribs, paying special attention to the meaty side
  • Close the bag and set aside at room temperature for at least an hour
  • Preheat the oven to 150° Celsius
  • Line an oven proof baking dish with two layers of lightweight foil, or one layer of heavy duty foil
  • Place the ribs meaty side up into the baking dish and add all the marinade
  • Cover with foil, ensuring that the foil does not touch the ribs
  • Place into the oven and cook for 2.5 hours *

for finishing off

  • Remove from the oven, remove the foil (set is aside) and brush the top with the sauce, and sprinkle the sesame seeds on top
  • Place back into the oven, increase the temperature to 180° Celsius, and cook for 15 minutes
  • Remove from the oven, loosely cover with foil and leave to rest for 10 minutes

Notes

* if the ribs have been cut apart, reduce the cooking time to 2 hours
See the links below for blog posts I published on April 11:

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13 thoughts on “Hoisin Lamb Ribs

  1. I think i’ve only ever eaten lamb about half a dozen times in my entire life (so once a decade :=)), (our Persian friend’s version was the bomb) but i do like the flavourings you have here Tandy!

    1. These were really good, and I might try a Persian version with the ones I have in my freezer, as your testament has intrigued me 🙂

  2. We love lamb, and it’s very reasonably priced here at the moment as well, but I’ve never cooked lamb ribs. I remember seeing this recipe as well, and it looks delicious. I don’t use sesame seeds anymore because they can cause gut problems for me, and so much Asian food is smothered in them now, but I think this dish could do without them. Looks absolutely delicious.

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