Clay Pot Basil Pork Sparerib and Fish Ball (砂煲紫蘇魚蛋豬排骨, Saa1 Bou1 Zi2 Sou1 Jyu4 Daan6 Zyu1 Paai4 Gwat1)

I bought a clay pot recently and used it to make this dish. Clay pots need to be prepared before using for the first time to prevent cracking. I used this website for advice: Clay Pot Use and Maintenance Tips at Chinese Soup Pot. Since the pork spareribs take some time to cook and to cook the dish all at once, the other ingredients used were chosen to hold up to the cooking time (the green onions and basil leaves are added after cooking is complete).

The pork spareribs are placed into the clay pot first after being stir fried. Since the pork spareribs are in contact with the clay pot during cooking, the meat gets an added flavorful crust that cannot be obtained by just stir frying. I’ve seen some recipes where the browning is done in the clay pot, rather than a wok, but using high heat with a clay pot can crack it, so I used the wok for browning. Another advantage of using a clay pot is that it also serves as the serving dish and keeps the contents hot.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

2 lb.	1 kg.	Pork spareribs (豬排骨, zyu1 paai4 gwat1), cut into 1-inch (2.5 cm.) pieces
2 tsp.	10 ml.	Baking soda (蘇打粉, sou1 daa2 fan2)
1 in.	2.5 cm.	Knob of ginger (薑, goeng1), crushed in a garlic press
4 cloves	4 cloves	Garlic (蒜, syun3), crushed in a garlic press
½ cup	125 ml.	Soy sauce (豉油, si6 jau4)
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Hoisin sauce (海鮮醬, hoi2 sin1 zoeng3)
½ cup	125 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 Tbs.	15 ml.	Sesame oil (麻油, maa4 jau4)
1 lb.	500 g.	Fish balls (魚蛋, jyu4 daan6)
1 lb.	500 g.	Carrots (紅蘿蔔, hung4 lo4 baak6), cut into 1-inch (2.5 cm.) pieces
1 lb.	500 g.	Daikon (白蘿蔔, baak6 lo4 baak6), quartered and cut into ½-inch (15 mm.) pieces
2	2	Dried bean curd sticks (腐竹, fu6 zuk1), rehydrated and cut into 1-inch (2.5 cm.) pieces
1 oz.	30 g.	Dried cloud ear fungus (雲耳, wan4 ji5), rehydrated
3 stalks	3 stalks	Green onions (葱, cung1), cut into 1-inch (2.5 cm.) pieces on the diagonal
½ cup	125 ml.	Fresh basil leaves (紫蘇, zi2 sou1)
		Oil for cooking
1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Corn starch (粟粉, suk1 fan2)
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Water

 

Equipment

		Garlic press
4 qt.	3.8 L.	Covered bowl
3 qt.	3.0 L.	Clay pot or larger
14 in.	35.5 cm.	Wok or pan

 

Preparation Instructions

1. Purchase or have your butcher cut the pork spareribs into 1-inch (2.5 cm.) pieces. Prepare the pork spareribs by removing any excess fat. Wet with water and add 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, 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. If using frozen fish balls, thaw overnight in a covered container in the refrigerator. Take the fish balls out of the refrigerator at least one hour before cooking.
4. Pour boiling water over the dried bean curd sticks in a heat proof bowl and rehydrate the bean curd for at least one hour. Remove the bean curd from the rehydration liquid, and cut into 1-inch (2.5 cm.) pieces. Discard the rehydration liquid.
5. Pour boiling water over the dried cloud ear fungus in a heat proof bowl and rehydrate the fungus for at least one hour. Remove the fungus from the rehydration liquid, and discard the rehydration liquid.
6. Wash and cut the carrots into 1-inch (2.5 cm.) pieces.
7. Wash and cut the daikon in quarters and cut each quarter into ½-inch (15 mm.) pieces.
8. Wash and cut the green onions into 1-inch (2.5 cm.) pieces on the diagonal.
9. Wash and remove the fresh basil leaves from the stalks.
10. Prepare and mix the corn starch slurry by mixing the corn starch and water together in small bowl.

Cooking Instructions

1. Place the contents of the covered container with the pork spareribs into the clay pot. Remove the pork spareribs from the clay pot, leaving the marinade in the clay pot. Add the corn starch slurry to the clay pot and mix together with the marinade.
2. Heat a wok or pan over high heat before adding oil. Add the pork sparerib pieces to the wok in a single layer on the bottom and brown the outside. You may have to cook the pork in batches, so be sure to reheat the wok over high heat before adding more oil. Transfer the pork to the clay pot. The pork spareribs should be covered by the liquid already in the clay pot, if not, add some Shaoxing rice wine, stock, and/or water.
3. Add the fish balls, cloud ear fungus, bean curd stick pieces, carrots, and daikon in successive layers to the clay pot. Cover the clay pot.
4. Turn the heat to low and heat the clay pot for 5 minutes. The clay pot has to have something in it before heating to prevent cracking. After five minutes, turn the heat to medium- to medium-high. Once the contents of the clay pot come to a boil (a larger amount of steam will be coming from the clay pot), reduce the heat to low- to medium-low and simmer for 30 minutes.
5. At the end of cooking, turn off the heat, remove the cover, add the green onions and basil leaves, and mix the ingredients together. Use the clay pot to serve the dish together with steamed rice.