๐ฒ Easy Pot-Braised Korean Pork Ribs — Apple Juice and a Doenjang Blanch
A piece of pork rib coated in sweet, savory soy sauce is lovely with warm rice. Radish and carrot soak up the sauce too, giving you tender vegetables to enjoy between bites of meat.
You can make this braise in a deep pot with a lid, without a pressure cooker. Blanch the ribs, simmer them gently in the sauce, then adjust the liquid once the meat is tender. The thickness and tenderness of the meat matter more than finishing at an exact minute.
For this version, a little doenjang goes into the blanching water, while apple juice replaces the work of grating fruit for the sauce. Keep the preparation simple and allow enough time for the ribs to soften.
Doenjang for blanching, apple juice for the sauce
Add 15 g traditional Korean doenjang, a fermented soybean paste, to the blanching water. Blanching helps remove surface residue, and the paste contributes its aroma. Discard this water: the full 15 g of doenjang does not become part of the finished sauce. It is not a guarantee that every unwanted meat smell will disappear.
100 ml of 100% apple juice adds sweetness and a gentle fruit note without grating an apple. Think of it as flavor for the braise, not a shortcut that quickly tenderizes the meat. Gentle cooking with enough moisture is what you need to allow time for.
⏱ At a glance
- Servings: 2–3 with rice, based on 600 g bone-in pork ribs
- Cold-water soak: about 10 minutes
- Blanching: about 5 minutes, plus time to heat the water
- Braising: start checking tenderness around 35–40 minutes after the sauce begins simmering; the cut and size may need longer
- Total time: allow extra time for heating water, preparing vegetables and any further tenderizing; this is not a guaranteed 50-minute meal
- Optional fried rice: 200 g warm cooked rice, about 3–4 minutes of stir-frying, plus any time needed to reduce the leftover sauce
- Difficulty: easy preparation, with time needed for simmering
- Equipment: deep lidded pot, colander, mixing bowl, spatula, tongs and a food thermometer
- Measures: 1 tablespoon = 15 ml; 1 teaspoon = 5 ml. Weigh ingredients listed in grams
๐ Ingredients
Choose one cut of pork: 600 g total
- Pork ribs: 600 g bone-in ribs cut into pieces for braising, weighed after trimming excess surface fat
- Alternative: back ribs or pork collar/neck. Use 600 g after trimming. Back ribs are weighed with their bones; collar is boneless, so the amount of edible meat differs. Cut collar into substantial pieces. Different cuts will not necessarily reach the same texture in the same time
Vegetables and blanching ingredients
- Korean radish: 150 g prepared weight, cut into chunky pieces
- Carrot: 80 g prepared weight, cut into chunky pieces
- Onion: 100 g prepared weight, cut into large pieces
- Green onion: 50 g prepared weight, sliced diagonally
- Shiitake mushrooms: 40 g prepared weight, tough stems removed
- Blanching water: 1,200 ml; add more if needed to cover the meat
- Traditional doenjang: 15 g, discarded with the blanching water
Sauce
- Korean jin-ganjang soy sauce: 60 ml (4 tablespoons)
- Brown sugar: 30 g
- 100% apple juice: 100 ml
- Cooking wine: 30 ml (2 tablespoons)
- Minced garlic: 30 g
- Minced ginger: 5 g
- Ground black pepper: 1 g
- Water for braising: 500 ml to start, with extra available if the pot needs it during further cooking
- Sesame oil: 15 ml (1 tablespoon), added off the heat
Optional fried rice
- Warm cooked rice: 200 g
- Finely chopped napa cabbage kimchi: 30 g prepared weight
- Seasoned seaweed flakes: 5 g
- Leftover braising sauce: prepare about 60–75 ml (4–5 tablespoons), but begin with only some and adjust to its saltiness and consistency
Using another sweetener
You can replace the 30 g brown sugar with powdered or liquid allulose, or honey for cooking. Follow the product's sugar-replacement guidance and start with a small amount. Equal weights do not give equal sweetness, and honey varies in aroma; honey made by sugar-fed bees is not necessarily flavorless.
Apple juice and cooking wine can also contribute sweetness. Taste and adjust the sauce before adding it to the meat. Once it has touched the meat, do not taste it until thoroughly cooked.
Even with a liquid sweetener, do not reduce the initial 500 ml braising water automatically. Keep enough moisture for the meat to soften, then uncover the pot near the end to adjust the sauce.
๐ฉ๐ณ How to braise the ribs
1. Blanch the pork
Soak 600 g pork ribs in cold water for about 10 minutes, then discard the water. This removes some reddish surface liquid; it does not draw everything out of the center of the meat.
Bring 1,200 ml water and 15 g doenjang to a boil. Add the ribs and blanch for about 5 minutes, then lift them out. This does not fully cook the meat.
Discard the blanching water and wash the residue from the pot. Carefully rinse any residue from the ribs and cut bone surfaces, avoiding splashes, then drain in a colander. Wash tools and surfaces that touched raw pork with detergent. Continue straight from blanching to braising.
2. Prepare the vegetables and sauce
Cut 150 g radish and 80 g carrot into chunky pieces. Trimming sharp corners can help reduce loose fragments, but it is optional. Small pieces or prolonged cooking can still make the vegetables break down.
Cut 100 g onion into large pieces and slice 50 g green onion diagonally. Remove tough stems from 40 g shiitake mushrooms. Scoring the caps is optional.
Mix 60 ml soy sauce, 30 g brown sugar, 100 ml apple juice, 30 ml cooking wine, 30 g garlic, 5 g ginger and 1 g pepper in a bowl. If using another sweetener, add it instead of the sugar.
3. Cover and simmer gently
Put the blanched ribs, radish, carrot, sauce and 500 ml water into the clean pot. Bring to a boil over high heat, skim off foam, cover and lower the heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Cook for about 20 minutes.
Check that nothing is sticking and turn the meat once during cooking. If a wide pot loses water quickly, add a little more water. Do not reduce the sauce to a sticky glaze while the meat is still tough.
4. Add onion and mushrooms, then check tenderness
Add 100 g onion and 40 g shiitake mushrooms and cook for another 10–15 minutes. If the pork is still firm, keep the lid on and maintain enough liquid. If it is nearly tender and there is plenty of liquid, leave the lid slightly ajar to reduce it.
Use tongs and chopsticks to check whether the meat separates easily rather than resisting. Tenderness and safe doneness are separate checks. Use a food thermometer in the thickest meat without touching bone. Whole cuts of pork should reach at least 63°C (145°F), followed by at least a 3-minute rest before eating. Ribs can still be tough at that minimum temperature, so keep braising until tender. Do not judge safety simply by the absence of red juices.
If the meat is still firm after about 35–40 minutes of braising, add water as needed, cover and continue. Extra water is not limited to a single 50 ml addition. If the radish and carrot become tender first, lift them out and return them at the end so they do not fall apart.
5. Adjust the sauce and finish
Once the pork is tender, check the sauce. If there is too much liquid, uncover and reduce it a little. If the sauce is too concentrated or salty, add water gradually. Aim for a moist coating on the meat with a little sauce left at the bottom.
Add 50 g green onion and cook for about 2 more minutes. Return any vegetables you set aside and heat them through. Turn off the heat and mix in 15 ml sesame oil.
๐ก Ajumma's Tips
- Tenderize first, reduce later: a concentrated sauce can burn while tough meat still needs cooking. Add moisture and give the meat time before reducing the sauce
- Vegetables may finish first: check the radish and carrot with a chopstick. Remove them temporarily if the pork needs considerably longer
- Cuts differ in yield and timing: 600 g bone-in ribs is not the same amount of edible meat as 600 g boneless collar. Back ribs are not guaranteed to fall off the bone at a set time
๐ Fried rice with the leftover sauce
For an extra bowl, use some of the remaining sauce. First check the pot for loose bone fragments. Do not use any blackened, burned sauce.
Start with part of the prepared 60–75 ml leftover sauce in the pot or a wide frying pan. If it is watery, reduce it a little before adding rice. If it is already thick and salty, use less. Kimchi and seasoned seaweed add salt too.
Add 200 g warm cooked rice and 30 g kimchi. Stir-fry over medium heat for about 3–4 minutes, breaking up clumps. Taste and add more reserved sauce only as needed. Mix in 5 g seasoned seaweed and finish when the rice is hot throughout. It does not need to stick to the bottom to be ready. Reducing watery sauce may take extra time beyond the stir-frying estimate.
๐ฅฌ Serve with crisp kimchi
Fresh cabbage geotjeori or crunchy radish kimchi makes a lively companion to the sweet, savory ribs. Cold dongchimi or nabak kimchi offers a refreshing contrast to the rich sauce.
The photo shows the floral enamel pot with a glass of red wine alongside. The wine is an optional table accompaniment, not an ingredient in the braise.
Put a piece of pork and some radish over warm rice and spoon on a little sauce. Give the pot the time it needs, then enjoy the tender meat while it is warm.
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