How to Cook Chinese Spare Ribs
Serves: 4
Preparation time: 45 mins
Cooking time: 45 mins
Ingredients needed to make Chinese Spare Ribs:
For the spare ribs:
- 1 ½ lb pork spare ribs
- 1 pint peanut oil
For the marinade:
- 1 tbsp dry sherry
- 1 tbsp chinese black rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp cornflour
- 2 tsp sesame oil
For the sauce:
- 3 tbsp Chinese rice wine
- 1 ½ tbsp soy sauce
- 5 fl oz chicken stock
- 3 fl oz Chinese black rice vinegar
- 2 tsp five spice powder
- 2 tbsp drid orange peel, grated
- 2 tbsp garlic, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp spring onions, finely chopped
- 3 tbsp granulated sugar
Cooking instructions for Chinese Spare Ribs:
- Separate the spare ribs into single ribs and the chop them into 3’’ long chunks with a heavy sharp cleaver.
- Add the sherry, soy sauce and vinegar together in a small bowl and whisk in the cornflour until it dissolves and blends into a smooth mixture.
- Drizzle the sesame oil into the marinade and stir it into the mixture until properly blended.
- Dump the ribs into the marinade and stir them together until well coated with the blend; set aside at room temperature for about half an hour and drain them off with a slotted spoon.
- Drizzle oil in a large wok and heat it until it begins to smoke.
- Lower the marinated spare ribs into the hot oil and fry in several batches, until they are evenly browned.
- Drain them with a slotted spoon and transfer them to a plate lined with paper towel to soak away extra grease.
- Pour the residual oil into a container and wipe the wok clean with a kitchen towel.
- Filter the oil through a strainer and pour some of it into the wok.
- Throw in the garlic and saute for a couple of minutes or until it is fragrant.
- add the spring onions and stir-fry for several more minutes before pouring in the stock.
- Add a splash each of soy sauce and vinegar into the stock and give it a nice stir to mix.
- Stir in the granulated sugar until it dissolves and add rest of the ingredients for the sauce into the wok.
- Continue to heat the sauce until it begins to boil and then lower the heat before adding the spare ribs.
- Stir them well together, cover and simmer for about 40 minutes, while stirring at times; add a splash of water if it tends to dry up.
- Skim off any fat, floating on the surface of the sauce and tip the contents of the wok into a serving bowl.
- Serve right away.
Image credit: Wikimedia Commons
