Steamed Pork Spareribs with Salted Black Beans (Dau6 Si6 Zing1 Paai4 Gwat1, 豆豉蒸排骨)

 

This recipe was updated on 04 Nov 2013. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed, and metric measurements added.

It seems like I’ve been making this dish forever, but I found a good addition to this dish – wet preserved plums (haam⁴ seoi² mui⁴, 鹹水梅) – after looking at the Steamed Pork Ribs with Black Bean Sauce recipe from The Waitakere Redneck’s Kitchen blog. The plums add an additional layer of flavor to the dish. You can easily leave the plums out of the recipe and it will still be tasty.

The pork spareribs needs some preparation time, so you’ll need a minimum of 2 hours for prep and marinating, but marinating overnight is preferable. The baking soda serves to make the finished cooked pork spareribs very tender – just be sure to wash it out before marinating. This step can be omitted, but try tenderizing your pork (or any other meat for that matter) this way and you’re likely to be a believer.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

1 lb.	500 g.	Pork Spareribs (paai4 gwat1, 排骨) already cut into 1-2 inch (2.5-5 cm.) lengths
1 tsp.	5 ml.	Baking soda (sou1 daa2 fan2, 蘇打粉)
½ in.	15 mm.	Knob of ginger (goeng1, 薑), crushed in a garlic press
2 cloves	2 cloves	Garlic (syun3, 蒜), crushed in a garlic press
1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Corn starch (suk1 fan2, 粟粉)
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Soy sauce (si6 jau4, 豉油)
1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Hoisin sauce (hoi2 sin1 zoeng3, 海鮮醬)
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Shaoxing rice wine (siu6 hing1 zau2, 紹興酒) or dry sherry
½ tsp.	2.5 ml.	Ground white pepper (baak6 wu4 ziu1, 白胡椒)
1 tsp.	5 ml.	Sesame oil (maa4 jau4, 麻油)
1-2	1-2	Red jalapeño peppers, sliced (optional)
		Water for cooking

 

Topping Ingredients

½ in.	15 mm.	Knob of ginger (goeng1, 薑), crushed and minced
2 cloves	2 cloves	Garlic (syun3, 蒜), crushed and minced
1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Salted black beans (dau6 si6, 豆豉), washed and crushed
2-3	2-3	Wet salted (preserved) plums (haam4 seoi2 mui4, 鹹水梅), pitted, crushed, and roughly chopped

 

Equipment

12 in.	30 cm.	Steamer (or larger)
9 in.	23 cm.	Plate or bowl for steaming
		Plate lifter

 

Preparation Instructions

1. The pork spareribs can be purchased already cut into 1-2 inch (2.5-5 cm.) pieces or have your butcher cut the spareribs for you. Add the baking soda to the pork, allow to tenderize for 10 minutes, and then wash the baking soda from the meat. The baking soda can be omitted but results in the tender meat experienced in restaurant dishes.
2. Marinate the pork for at least one hour or overnight in the refrigerator with the ginger and garlic crushed in a garlic press, corn starch, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry, ground white pepper, and sesame oil. If marinating the pork overnight, take it out of the refrigerator at least one hour before cooking.
3. Prepare the topping in a small bowl. Wash the fermented black beans and then slightly crush the black beans in a small bowl. Add crushed and minced ginger and garlic cloves. Pit, crush, and break the wet preserved plums into small pieces. Add the plum pieces to and mix with the black bean mixture.
4. Put the pork spareribs into a heat proof bowl. Spread the spareribs evenly in the bowl. Put the black bean mixture on top of the pork spareribs.
5. Wash and then cut the Jalapeño peppers into thin slices. Put the slices on top of the black bean mixture. This step is optional.

Cooking Instructions

1. Add water to the steamer and cover. Bring the water in the steamer to a vigorous boil before adding the pork spareribs and steam on high heat for 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium- to medium-low and steam for another 25-40 minutes. The pork is done when the meat starts to separate from the bone.
2. At the end of the cooking time, use a plate lifter to remove the plate with the pork spareribs from the steamer. Serve with steamed rice.