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May 27, 2019 By Yang 13 Comments

Instant Pot Sticky Rice Steamed Pork Ribs

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Sticky rice steamed pork ribs is full of aroma and flavours. Naturally gluten-free, this is a very popular classic Chinese dish that will make you keep wanting more.

Sticky rice steamed pork ribs in a glass dish.

You know the feelings of satisfaction and deep comfort from a dish you loved eating growing up? The sticky rice steamed pork ribs bring me all of that fond childhood memories. Since I moved to Canada, I still cook it in my regular rotation. The magic is in the spiced rice powder used to marinate the pork ribs.

Healthy Cooking for Busy Family

In this fast-paced society, most of us have resorted to buying pre-packaged seasonings often containing additives and not-so-good ingredients in order to save time. If you have followed my blog, Facebook or Instagram, you know that I preach cooking whole foods from scratch whole-heartedly. However, being able to do that consistently is always the biggest challenge in every busy family.

When I re-created the sticky rice steamed pork ribs recipe, I wanted to achieve 3 goals:

  • replace pre-packaged, processed spiced rice powder and seasonings that often contain additives, preservatives, MSG
  • use accessible and easy-to-find ingredients in North America and still deliver the authentic taste
  • make this an Instant Pot (pressure cooker) recipe to reduce cooking time for busy families

I am glad to say I did all I set out to do and the result is an easy and flavourful dish for dinner any day of the week!

Preparation Tips: Sticky Rice Pork Ribs

I hope the photo below gives you a good visual of the preparation steps.

Visual steps to prepare the sticky rice pork ribs.

3 things I want to call out here are:

  • The glutinous rice should be ground into a coarse powder, using a coffee grinder. Don’t use a rice flour bought in the store, they are usually too fine.
  • The ribs are to be marinated in the liquid first, then coated in the well-mixed spiced rice powder.
  • Layer the potato pieces under the pork ribs. This will have the potatoes soak up all the wonderful flavours and fat cooked out of the ribs later.

More details are in the instructions below. If you make the sticky rice steamed pork ribs, snap a picture and tag me on Instagram, I will be thrilled to see it!

Cooking sticky rice steamed pork ribs in an Instant Pot, using the pot in pot method.

What Do You Need for Pot in Pot?

As this is a steamed recipe using the Instant Pot, also called the “pot in pot” method, we need 2 special tools in addition to the Instant Pot:

  • Trivet with handle: a trivet is a stand to hold the cookware above the water during steaming. Using a trivet with a handle is highly recommended by me, so that you can lift the dish out of the Instant Pot easily after cooking.
  • Oven safe cookware: any dish that’s oven safe is safe to use in the Instant Pot. I use a Pyrex dish.

Note that I use a 8qt Instant Pot for my family of 4. I chose 8qt over 6qt Instant Pot to maximize capacity. I am really glad for this decision, particularly for when I use the “pot in pot” method and making bone broth.

Related: More Instant Pot Recipes

  • Instant Pot Beef Brisket Stew with Daikon Radish
  • Instant Pot Shiitake Ginger Chicken Bone Broth (All Purpose Asian Stock)
  • Instant Pot Forbidden Rice & Red Bean Congee
  • Instant Pot Beets Salad (Paleo, Whole 30, Vegan)
  • Sprouted Chickpea and Sweet Potato Hummus in Instant Pot {Video}
  • Shredded Chipotle Beef Tacos
  • Instant Pot Beef Bone Broth
  • Instant Pot Osso Buco (Low-Carb, Paleo)
  • Cheesy Veggie-Stuffed Meatloaf

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Instant Pot Sticky Rice Steamed Pork Ribs

Sticky rice steamed pork ribs is full of aroma and flavours. Naturally gluten-free, this is a very popular classic Chinese dish that will make you keep wanting more.
5 from 12 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Chinese
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Servings: 4 people
Calories: 512kcal
Author: Yang

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup sweet glutinous rice (approximately 100 g)
  • 1 1/2 lb naturally-raised pork ribs
  • 1 tbsp rice cooking wine
  • 2 tbsp naturally-brewed tamari soy sauce
  • 1 1/4 tsp sea salt or Himalayan Salt
  • 1 tbsp Chinese five spice powder
  • 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper powder
  • 3 medium potatoes

Instructions

  • Cut the pork ribs into individual pieces between the bones. Soak the pork ribs in a cold water bath for 15 to 30 minutes to release as much blood from the ribs possible. You may change the water once or twice during soaking time. Drain the pork ribs and pat dry.
  • Marinate the pork ribs in rice cooking wine and tamari / soy sauce.
  • Grind the glutinous rice in a coffee grinder for 5 to 10 seconds, until the grains are broken down into coarse powder. Do not grind the rice into a fine powder like the rice flour you buy from grocery stores. Transfer the coarse glutinous rice powder into a bowl.
  • Add the salt, Chinese five spice powder and cayenne pepper powder into the bowl, then mix well to make a spiced rice powder.
  • Peel the potatos and cut them into quarters or desired size. Arrange the potato pieces to form a layer in the bottom of a pressure cooker safe dish, such as a pyrex.
  • Evenly coat the ribs with the spiced rice powder, and then arrange the ribs on top of the potatos in the dish. This way the potatos will soak up all the wonderful flavours from the fat and juice cooked out the ribs later.
  • Fill the Instant Pot with 2 cups of water for steaming. Place the dish of ribs and potatos on a trivet inside the Instant Pot.
  • Put the Instant Pot lid on and close the pressure valve. Select the "steam" function of your Instant Pot, or manually select high pressure cooking, set the cooking time to 25 minutes.
  • When the cooking is completed, let the Instant Pot naturally depressurize, or carefully release pressure by opening the valve. Use the trivet handle to lift out the dish from the Instant Pot.

Nutrition

Calories: 512kcal
Tried this recipe?Tag me @YangsNourishingKitchen on Instagram!


Instant Pot Sticky Rice Steamed Pork Ribs
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Yang’s Nourishing Kitchen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to amazon.com and affiliated sites. I may receive monetary compensation or other types of remuneration for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial and/or link to any products or services from this blog. For more information, see the full disclosure.

Filed Under: Instant Pot, Meat & Fish, Recipe Card, Recipes Tagged With: Chinese, gluten-free

About Yang

I found cure naturally for my incurable fibromyalgia. I believe you too can heal from ailments by listening to your own body. Let me show you how to use traditional wisdom to heal and use food as medicine. Read More…

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Mirlene says

    June 25, 2019 at 6:37 am

    I can only imagine how flavorful these ribs are. They look absolutely amazing, and I am going to give this recipe a try. Just need to buy enough ribs 🙂

    Reply
  2. Anne Lawton says

    June 24, 2019 at 2:52 pm

    This sounds so delicious! I love what you did with the rice

    Reply
  3. Annemarie says

    June 23, 2019 at 7:56 pm

    I’m fascinating by how you prepare the rice. Can’t wait to try this!

    Reply
  4. STACEY CRAWFORD says

    June 23, 2019 at 12:32 pm

    This looks so good & I’ve never made this before! Definitely going to try this in my IP 🙂

    Reply
  5. Zuzana says

    June 22, 2019 at 3:29 am

    I so love how unique this recipe is. Graining rice – what an idea 🙂

    Reply
  6. Kari - Get Inspired Everyday! says

    June 20, 2019 at 2:20 pm

    I’ve never made anything like this at home, but I’m a huge 5-spice fan so I know these will be an instant hit!

    Reply
  7. Erin @ Texanerin Baking says

    June 20, 2019 at 2:50 am

    What an interesting idea for the coating! Sounds great. Do you have a recommendation for a GF soy sauce?

    Reply
    • Yang says

      June 20, 2019 at 10:32 am

      Thanks, Erin! I use organic Tamari (fermented soy bean sauce without wheat), they are interchangeable with soy sauce for Aisan cooking, but gluten-free.

      This is the one I am using right now: https://amzn.to/2Fm5fWi
      Here is another good option: https://amzn.to/2KvbIm3

      Reply
  8. Hope says

    June 20, 2019 at 12:34 am

    I have only eaten this dish or something similar at Chinese restaurants and never knew the coating was ground up rice! You make it sound quite simple to make so I am definitely going to try this at home – thanks!

    Reply
  9. paleoglutenfreeguy says

    June 19, 2019 at 3:04 pm

    This is so cool! Never would’ve known you could rice as a coating for meat. Love this!

    Reply
  10. Joni Gomes says

    June 19, 2019 at 10:32 am

    Omg what a genius idea to use a coffee grinder to grind the rice into a flour consistency!! I will try that for sure!

    Reply
  11. Tessa Simpson says

    June 18, 2019 at 8:46 pm

    I need to try the steaming technique…this looks TOO good! Love the sticky rice coating!

    Reply
  12. Kelly says

    June 17, 2019 at 8:49 pm

    Thank you for giving me inspiration to fire up my IP. It’s been on hiatus. This is the perfect recipe to try.

    Reply

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Here you will find many nourishing recipes and natural remedies at Yang's Nourishing Kitchen.

Born and raised in China, now living in Canada for the past 20+ years, Yang shares time-tested traditional wisdom from the east to the west, through nutrient-dense real food recipes.

Having healed herself successfully from illness labeled incurable, Yang uses her knowledge and experience to help others to achieve balance and well-being. Read More…

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