Steamed pork ribs with black beans is one of the favourite yum cha dishes. The pork ribs are tender and juicy and the sauce is fragrant and delicious. It goes really well with steamed rice – very appetising & tasty. This recipe demonstrates the method used by Chinese restaurants to tenderise and remove blood and impurities from the pork ribs. My experience is this method produces very clean pork ribs which look really appetising. For tender pork ribs however, I find that a longer steaming time is the way to go.
INGREDIENTS
600 gm pork ribs
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp cornflour
1 tbsp oil
1 tbsp black beans
1 sliced chilli
Sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1/2 tsp chilli bean sauce (optional)
1 tbsp wine
White pepper
3 chopped garlic cloves
2 chopped chillies
METHOD
- Cut the ribs between the bones into bite size pieces.
- Stir 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda into a bowl of water. Soak the pork ribs in this solution for 2 hours. The purpose is to tenderise the pork ribs and remove all impurities and blood from the pork ribs.
- After 2 hours, wash the pork ribs thoroughly under running water. Strain to remove water and dry with kitchen towel. Set aside.
- Fry the black beans in a little oil until fragrant.
- Make the sauce by combining all the sauce ingredients.
- To marinate the pork ribs, start by rubbing cornflour into the pork ribs. Add the sauce and massage into the pork ribs. Mix in 2 tablespoon of oil.
- Top with sliced chilli and black beans.
- Leave the pork ribs to marinate for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.
- Steam pork ribs on high for 15 minutes to an hour. I find steaming for an hour will ensure the pork ribs are really tender.
