Spare ribs are pork ribs cooked in a savoury sauce, the finger-licking staple of Chinese restaurants and barbecue joints. Cut from the belly side of the ribcage, they carry generous marbling that turns meltingly tender with slow cooking. Chinese-style spare ribs are marinated in soy, honey, five-spice, and garlic, then roasted or barbecued to a lacquered finish; American barbecue ribs go low and slow over smoke with a dry rub and mop sauce. The meat should yield from the bone without falling off entirely, a sign of perfect rendering. Eaten with the hands, napkins essential, they are communal, messy, and deeply satisfying, the dish that proves the best flavours cling to the bone.