Soaked in a sweet soy marinade, these Filipino-style barbecue ribs are juicy, tender, and perfect when grilled over charcoal or pan-fried!

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Filipino barbecues were always one of the highlights of my summers.

We’d marinate the beef usually a night before, so that by the time we were ready to fire up the grill next day, the marinade had already done its job in flavoring the meat throughout.

You use this recipe for camping trips, barbecue parties, or even potlucks. It’s a hit every time, and people would always come back for seconds!

Making the marinade is incredibly simple, and it uses fairly standard ingredients that you may already have lying around in your fridge or pantry.

Note that if you really want to go full-out authentic with this Filipino marinade, I’d suggest using Filipino soy sauce and not substituting out the banana ketchup!

Ingredients

Short ribs: You’ll need these to be cut flanken-style (lengthwise across the bone), which makes the beef thin and great for grilling. If they’re not already in your local supermarket, you can typically find them in most Asian or Korean grocery stores as well.

Soy sauce: For a true Filipino barbecue, I’d highly suggest going for a Filipino brand of soy sauce (Datu Puti, Marca Piña, and Silver Swan are all pretty good). Otherwise, any standard soy sauce brand should work fine for this recipe.

Briefly, Filipino soy sauce is a tad saltier and has a more liquid consistency compared to other Asian soy sauces. It’s similar to dark soy sauce in the way that it’s able to color your barbecue in a darker/caramel hue!

Banana ketchup: Contrary to popular belief, banana ketchup does not, in fact, taste like bananas. Flavor-wise, I find it has less tang and is slightly sweeter in comparison to the standard Western ketchup. The banana ketchup I grew up on was Jufran, but any other brand of Ketchup also works.

Brown sugar: Brown sugar will give our marinade a deep, molasses taste, while also balancing out all the salty and savory flavors of the sauce.

Garlic, black pepper: Go for fresh garlic and freshly-ground black pepper if you can for the greatest amount of flavor.

Calamansi juice: Calamansi is a Philippine citrus, similar to a taste that combines lemon, lime, and a tangerine. Some Asian supermarkets will either sell the calamansi fresh or frozen in plastic bags. Otherwise, feel free to use an equal amount of lemon or lime as substitute if you can’t find calamansi.

Instructions

Combine all the marinating ingredients together in a bowl. Whisk until smooth.

Place the raw short ribs in a sealable bag and coat completely with the marinade. Let sit overnight or for at least 1 hour.

Once marinated, grill or pan fry the ribs to your desired doneness.

(For reference, I like my beef leaning more towards a medium-rare, so I cooked it for around 2 minutes on each side)

Top with green onions. Serve warm, enjoy!

Tips

Customize your marinade: Feel free to add other ingredients into your marinade to further make your barbecue more complex! Other additions you can mix in include:

Spice (e.g., chili oil, chili crisp, chopped Thai chilies or Jalapeños)
Aromatics (e.g., ginger, lemongrass, shallots)
Sauces (e.g., Worcestershire sauce, sesame or peanut butter, hoisin sauce)

Let marinate overnight: For maximum flavor, I’d recommend letting the beef marinate in the sauce overnight. This not only allows the flavors to fully permeate the fibres of the meat, but the slight acidity of the marinade will also help in tenderizing the beef for the next day!

FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

How do I store leftovers?

Leftover cooked short ribs can be stored refrigerated and sealed in an airtight container for up to 4 days.

To reheat, simply place the ribs in the microwave or gently pan-fry/grill until the beef is fully warmed-through.

What can I serve this with?

Most Filipino-style barbecues are typically served with a hefty bowl of rice!

Other side dishes you can enjoy this with include: