These ribs make an easy “set it in a pot and forget about it” dish, and when they’re ready, the meat is so tender it falls off the bone. My spouse isn’t a big fan of pork, but they said they liked this dish — a win! The black bean sauce has a salty, umami flavor without being as sweet as a lot of American-Chinese dishes. I added a little honey, but you can add more if you like it sweeter.

The side effect of cooking this in a slow cooker is that you smell it for several hours. Finally getting to eat it is its own reward!

About the vegetables: these need to be cooked separately. But the ribs create a lot of juice, which can be used as a stir-fry sauce with one caveat — depending on which vegetables you use, the sauce could either be salty or bland. I opted to use a can each of water chestnuts and bamboo shoots, and I think these absorbed more of the seasonings. My spouse was happy to have something with less seasoning, but depending on your tastes, you might want to taste it and adjust accordingly.

I found a version of this recipe in the 365 Easy One-Dish Meals cookbook by Natalie Haughton and it looked good. It called itself “Chinese,” albeit a highly Americanized version. I decided to try this with more Chinese ingredients, exchanging the dry sherry for Xiaoxing cooking wine, and cider vinegar for Chinese black vinegar. The original recipe also called for something called “frozen pasta salad Orientale,” which I don’t think they make anymore, but it’s a combo of noodles, broccoli, pea pods, water chestnuts, and red bell pepper. Instead, I suggest adding some fresh veggies and rice at the end of cooking.

The original recipe also called for a pressure cooker. Since my childhood instilled a healthy fear of those in me, I’m using a slow cooker over more time. For guidance on how to cook spare ribs in a slow cooker, I looked at a couple other recipes. This recipe calls for a slow cooker, cooking on high for 5 hours when the ribs are cut into separate pieces first, or this other recipe suggests cooking on low heat for 7-8 hours with the ribs unseparated.

3 lbs. spareribs, each rib cut into a separate piece
1/2 c. black bean sauce
1/4 c. Xiaoxing cooking wine
1/4 c. black vinegar
1 tbsp. honey
1 1/2 tsp. sesame oil
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. Sichuan peppercorns
enough vegetables for a large skillet, your choice
rice for serving
2 tbsp. corn starch
2 tbsp. neutral oil
green onions for garnish, chopped diagonally
sesame seeds for garnish

Place the spareribs in the bottom of a slow cooker.

Mix together the black bean sauce, cooking wine, vinegar, honey, oil, ginger, and peppercorns. Pour over spareribs. Cover and cook on high heat for 5 hours.

As the end of the cooking time approaches, prepare some rice and chop all the vegetables you plan to use.

When the ribs are done cooking, place a strainer into a large saucepan and drain the ribs into it. Place the ribs back in the slow cooker and set to warm.

Add the corn starch to the saucepan gradually and whisk to incorporate. Heat on medium heat and cook, stirring continuously, until it thickens. Pour half of the sauce back onto the ribs and set the rest aside.

Heat the oil in a large skillet and stir fry the vegetables, starting with the ones that need more cooking time (like onions and carrots) and ending with lighter, faster-cooking vegetables. Add the rest of the sauce and cook until it has the consistency you want.

Serve the rice, ribs, and vegetables, garnished with the green onions and sesame seeds.