Braised Pork Short Ribs with Bitter Melon (燴苦瓜豬排骨, Wui6 Fu2 Gwaa1 Zyu1 Paai4 Gwat1)

Pork short ribs are the spare rib or baby back rib tips, cut into a single 2-inch (5 cm.) wide piece with the intercostal meat (the meat between the ribs) and meat above the bones still attached. I found this cheftalk.com page with the information on what pork short ribs are. There’s a picture of the pork short ribs in the recipe section of this post. I’ve only found this cut of pork at two Asian markets in my area (and not always consistently available), so it’s relatively hard to find. Pork spareribs or baby back ribs cut into 2-inch (5 cm.) pieces can be substituted if you can’t find pork short ribs and there will not be any meat “above” the bone.

Other than the use of pork short ribs, the ingredients are readily available. Fresh bamboo shoots are available at my local Asian market and I use them when I can, but canned can be substituted. The dish is easy to cook since all you have to do is put all the ingredients (minus the bitter melon and green onions) into a Dutch oven to cook with Lee Kum Kee’s brand Black Bean Garlic Sauce. The bitter melon and green onion are added at the end of cooking to keep them from getting overcooked. All you then have to do is eat the finished dish over rice.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

2 lb.	1 kg.	Pork short, baby back, or spare ribs (豬排骨, zyu1 paai4 gwat1), cut into 2-inch (5 cm.) individual rib pieces
1 tsp.	5 ml.	Baking soda (蘇打粉, sou1 daa2 fan2)
½ in.	15 mm.	Knob of ginger (薑, goeng1), crushed in a garlic press
2 cloves	2 cloves	Garlic (蒜, syun3), crushed in a garlic press
1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Corn starch (粟粉, suk1 fan2)
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Soy sauce (豉油, si6 jau4)
1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Hoisin sauce (海鮮醬, hoi2 sin1 zoeng3)
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Shaoxing rice wine (紹興酒, siu6 hing1 zau2) or dry sherry
½ tsp.	2.5 ml.	Ground white pepper (白胡椒, baak6 wu4 ziu1)
1 tsp.	5 ml.	Sesame oil (麻油, maa4 jau4)
2	2	Bitter melon (苦瓜, fu2 gwaa1), halved and cut into ½-inch (15 mm.) pieces
1 tsp.	5 ml.	Salt (鹽, jim4)
10	10	Dried Shiitake mushrooms (冬菇, dung1 gu1), rehydrated
½ lb.	250 g.	Fresh bamboo shoots (筍, seon2), cut into ½-inch (15 mm.) pieces
½ lb.	250 g.	Carrots (筍, seon2), cut into ½-inch (15 mm.) pieces
3 stalks	3 stalks	Green onions (葱, cung1), cut into 1-inch (2.5 cm.) pieces on the diagonal
		Oil for cooking

 

Sauce Ingredients

2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Lee Kum Kee brand Black Bean Garlic Sauce (蒜蓉豆豉醬, syun3 jung4 dau6 si6 zoeng3) or equivalent
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Soy sauce (豉油, si6 jau4)
1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Hoisin sauce (海鮮醬, hoi2 sin1 zoeng3)
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Shaoxing rice wine (紹興酒, siu6 hing1 zau2) or dry sherry
½ tsp.	2.5 ml.	Ground white pepper (白胡椒, baak6 wu4 ziu1)
½ Tbs.	7.5 ml.	Sesame oil (麻油, maa4 jau4)
1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Corn starch (粟粉, suk1 fan2)
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Water

 

Equipment

		Garlic press
6 qt.	5.7 L.	Dutch oven

 

Pork Short Ribs

Preparation Instructions

1. If using pork short ribs, cut into individual ribs keeping the meat above the rib bone attached. The ribs should already have been cut into approximately 2-inches (5 cm.) long lengths. If using pork baby back or spareribs, purchase the ribs already cut into 2-inch (5 cm.) pieces. Wet with water and add the baking soda to the pork, allow to tenderize for 15 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 in a covered container 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. Put the entire contents of the covered container into the Dutch oven.
3. Pour boiling water over the dried Shiitake mushrooms in a heat proof bowl and rehydrate the mushrooms for at least one hour. Remove the Shiitake mushrooms from the rehydration liquid, remove the stems, and put the mushrooms into the Dutch oven. Reserve the rehydration liquid for later use in the cooking process.
4. Wash and cut the bitter melon in half. Using a spoon, remove and discard the pith and seeds from each bitter melon half. Cut ½-inch (15 mm.) pieces from each bitter melon half. For this dish, I do not salt the bitter melon to reduce the bitterness because that’s my preference, but if you want to reduce the bitterness, perform the following instructions. Wet the bitter melon pieces and add salt for 5 minutes to remove any excess bitterness. Wash the salt from the bitter melon. The amount of bitterness removed by the salt is proportional to the time before washing from the bitter melon. If you like more bitterness, the salt can be omitted altogether or the time reduced. If you like less bitterness, the time can be increased (after 10 minutes, most of the bitterness will be removed).
5. Wash and cut the carrots into ½-inch pieces on the diagonal. Cut the carrot on a diagonal, turn the carrot 90⁰, and cut the carrot again on the diagonal. Repeat the procedure until the entire carrot is cut into pieces. Put the carrots into the Dutch oven.
6. Cut the fresh bamboo shoots into ½-inch (15 mm.) pieces. If fresh bamboo shoots are not available at your local Asian market, use canned. Open and drain the can with the bamboo shoots and into ½-inch (15 mm.) pieces. Put the bamboo shoots into the Dutch oven.
7. Wash and cut the green onions into 1-inch (2.5 cm.) pieces on the diagonal.
8. Prepare and mix the sauce in a small bowl: add the Lee Kum Kee brand Black Bean Garlic Sauce or equivalent, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry, ground white pepper, and sesame oil. Put the sauce ingredients into the Dutch oven. Add enough of the Shiitake mushroom rehydration liquid to just cover the ingredients in the Dutch oven.
9. In another small bowl, prepare the corn starch slurry by mixing the corn starch and water together.

Cooking Instructions

1. Heat the Dutch oven over medium- to medium-high heat uncovered until the contents come to a boil. Cover the Dutch oven, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 40 minutes.
2. Uncover the Dutch oven, add bitter melon, green onion, and corn starch slurry to thicken the sauce, mixing all the ingredients together. Increase the heat to medium- to medium-high and bring the contents of the Dutch oven to a boil. Cover the Dutch oven, reduce the heat to low and simmer for another 2-5 minutes, until the bitter melon just becomes tender. Turn off the heat, put the cooked ingredients into a serving dish, and serve with steamed rice.