QandAs: Food

What are Spare Ribs?

Answer:
There are three major sections of a pig's ribs,

starting with the upper baby back ribs, the middle to lower spare ribs, and finally the rib tips. The type of ribs most likely to be served in barbecue restaurants are the spare ribs, which contain flavorful pork meat and fat between and below long rib bones.

Spare ribs are often cut into long slabs, with anywhere from 11 to 15 individual bones connected by a tough membrane. The entire slab may be slow cooked or grilled bones and all, or the meat may be carved away from the bones to become boneless spare ribs. The key to successful spare rib preparation is said to be the slow cooking process, which allows the fat to melt into the meat and draw in the flavors of a marinade or basting sauce. Many barbecue restaurants use a smoker or indirect slow cooker to allow spare ribs enough time at low temperatures to become tender and juicy. Regular turnings and bastings help to create the final product, which customers eat by separating the bones by hand and gnawing on the attached meat.

Spare ribs may also be served in Chinese restaurants in boneless form, with a sweet barbecue sauce instead of the traditional tomato-based sauce used in American-style barbecue ribs. Some boneless spare ribs are roasted until they have almost become blackened, while others may be served as appetizers along with other dim sum offerings.

Spare ribs may have gotten their name from a corruption of "spar ribs", which refers to the spars of a ship. There is a resemblance between the curved spars of a ship and the bony framework of a pig's rib section. Spare ribs could also be considered an "extra" or spare set of ribs which would ordinarily not find itself on a dinner table because of its inherent fat content and relatively sparse amount of meat compared to other cuts of pork. Some consumers may prefer the baby back section to spare ribs, but this is strictly a matter of personal taste. Spare ribs are generally less expensive that baby back ribs, but they also require a significant amount of cooking time to reach their maximum potential.