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| How
Do I Make ... ? |
Spare Ribs |
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Whilst good Spare Ribs
can be slightly difficult to obtain in the West, this
is definitely not the case in China. This problem centres
around 'Pork Chops', as this is a central dish in UK,
and uses the same cut of meat. In any Chinese wet market,
the spare ribs come with tons of meat on them, and the
pork sirloin is sold separately. This is so much the
case, that you may experience difficulty obtaining pork
chops in China!
Our recipe is as made for me by my wife Siu Ying, and
is what we term 'Barbequed Spare Ribs', meaning it is
not served in a sauce.
Recipe Source:
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Siu Ying, Foshan, China |
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As Jonno's wife, Siu Ying is
a core member of China Expats.
Her version of Spare Ribs are totally delicious!
My very good friend Dave Talbot has travelled
all over the world in his lifetime - and he reckons
these spare ribs are the best he has ever tasted. |
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Let's get started:- Siu Ying's Chinese Spare
Ribs |
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| Quick Tips: |
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1. Marinade in fresh squeezed
ginger for 1 hour
2. Cook
very slowly for another hour
3. Add
salt to taste |
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| Ingredients: |
• A rack of spare ribs, chopped
into singles, and then into halves or thirds
• Fresh ginger root for marinade
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Salt to taste
• Corn oil (Chinese peanut oil is disgusting!)
Special Equipment Needed for making spare ribs:
Large bowl for marinade
Wok with lid
Cooking Spoon (Spatula) of some description |
| Method |
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1. The Chinese wet market will
chop the ribs to your specifications, and a whole
rib chopped either into halves or thirds is ideal
2. Wash the meat thoroughly under
the tap (Faucet) and place in a suitably sized
bowl.
3. Take a large piece of ginger
root (4 inches x 3 inches x 1 inch), remove skin
and finely chop. We are talking about a large,
fresh, and 'wet' piece of ginger here - straight
out of our garden.
4. Using
your hands, squeeze every last drop of liquid
out of the ginger and coat the ribs with it.
5. Leave to marinade for 1-hour,
stirring occasionally.
6. Take the ribs in hand - dust
with salt, rubbing this well in. Use Table Salt
(refined). Do not use Rock or Sea salt (USA =
'Kosher' salt); as these grains are far too large
and stable, and do not blend at all with this
dish.
7. Add oil to wok (Any large
pan is ok), and make it hot. Add ribs and turn
immediately so as to seal the outsides.
8. Reduce heat to a minimum,
and stirring frequently, cook for about 1-hour.
Use wok lid to retain moisture.
Note:
Being a boy, I seldom have patience enough
for this step, so cook on higher heat for 10 minutes.
My spare ribs are fine, but not as good as my
wife's! It takes about 50 minutes cooking for
the bones to become soft and chewable.
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| Additional Information: |
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Be careful when making spare
ribs in a sauce.
We suggest you add any sauce by brushing this onto the
meat 3-minutes before serving. Otherwise the meat will
stick incorrigibly to the pan
In the West I use BBQ Sauce, but this doesn't work so
well in China. We suggest you try other sauces readily
available in Chinese supermarkets such as: Plum Sauce
(Sweet), Oyster Sauce (Fishy), Hoisin Sauce (Tasty),
and Shar Siu Sauce (Hot). Black Bean Sauce also goes
well with this dish. Better is to heat the sauce separately,
and then pour over the dish before serving, or add as
a side dish and dip.
I personally prefer them served with separate dip, or
no dip sauce at all - they really are that good!
For some extra J'un es sais quoi, finely dice some garlic
and add for the final minute's cooking. |
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This information is as supplied by ourselves, and I
would like to thank my wife 'Siu Ying' for re-inventing
this version of a great dish. |
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