Air-fried honey kumquat pork ribs
Pork ribs marinated with fragrant kumquat and tangerine peel, air-fried and glazed with honey — sweet, tangy, not greasy and instantly cheering.
- 35 min
- Serves 3
- Air-fry
- Easy
Why it suits you: Qi Stagnation brings low mood and a tight chest, and short winter days make it worse. Kumquat and tangerine peel are fragrant and move qi, and sticky-sweet ribs wake the appetite — colour, aroma and flavour to lift the spirits.
Method
Prep 15 min · Cook 20 min- 1Chop the ribs into small pieces, rinse and pat dry. Wash, halve and seed the kumquats; mash five of them and keep the rest.
- 2Marinate the ribs with the mashed kumquats, soy sauce, garlic, tangerine peel and 1 tbsp honey for 30 minutes. Stir in the cornflour just before cooking.
- 3Preheat the air fryer to 180°C, brush the basket with oil, spread the ribs in one layer and cook for 15 minutes, turning once halfway.
- 4Brush the ribs with the remaining honey, add the halved kumquats and cook 3–4 minutes more until golden and glossy.
- 5Meanwhile blanch the choy sum for 1–2 minutes and serve with the ribs and rice.
Cautions
- The glaze contains honey; if you are watching your blood sugar, halve the honey and eat more greens than ribs.
Chef's tips
- Buy kumquats from a fruit stall; don't eat the ones from decorative New Year pots, which may have been sprayed with pesticide.
- No air fryer? Roast at 200°C for 25 minutes, turning once.
The TCM view
Kumquat is pungent, sweet, sour and warm; it moves qi, eases stagnation and clears phlegm. Tangerine peel is pungent, bitter and warm, moving qi and supporting digestion; honey is sweet and neutral and soothes; pork ribs are sweet, salty and neutral and nourish without heaviness. Fragrant qi-movers softened by sweetness soothe the liver and care for digestion.
