Soaked in a sweet soy marinade, these Filipino-style barbecue ribs become amazingly tender when grilled or pan-fried. It’s amazing how just simple and few ingredients can make such a tasty dish!

The marinade

This is a very simple, yet flavorful marinade. Think of it as a Western-style barbecue sauce but with a Southeast Asian flair to it. We’ll be using:

1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup banana ketchup (can substitute with regular ketchup)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tbsp calamansi juice (can substitute with lime juice)

As you can tell, these are very basic and standard ingredients that you probably already have in your pantry! The soy sauce gives the meat that rich umami taste, the brown sugar with its deep caramelized flavor, and the calamansi’s tanginess wakes the whole palate up.

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

Here are some major differences:

Filipino soy sauce

Briefly, Filipino soy sauce is much saltier and has a more liquid consistency compared to other Asian soy sauces. I also find it’s very similar to dark soy sauce in the way it’s able to color your food in a dark/caramel hue.

Whenever you’re working with Filipino food, definitely try to use a Filipino brand to give you that similar deep soy flavor.

While there are 3 major brands of soy sauces (Datu Puti, Marca Piña, and Silver Swan), the most common and popular brand (both in the Philippines and abroad) I’d recommend is Marca Piña!

Banana ketchup

Contrary to popular belief, banana ketchup does not, in fact, taste like bananas.

Flavor-wise, I find it has less tang in comparison to the standard Western ketchup. It’s definitely more on the sweeter side, with a slight honey-like taste to it.

The banana ketchup I grew up on was Jufran, and it does the job every time.

Instructions for Filipino ribs

Combine all the marinading 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 1-3 hours.

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 and serve!

How to serve Filipino short ribs

These are best eaten hot and straight from the grill/pan. The fresher it is, the more of the smokiness and the tenderness of the beef you can taste.

And if you haven’t made it already, this is one of the most perfect meats to pair with our homemade atchara, a pickled papaya salad! Sweet, tangy, and savory -all in one bite.