serves
4-6
prep
30 minutes
cook
1:15 hour
difficulty
Mid
serves
4-6
people
preparation
30
minutes
cooking
1:15
hour
difficulty
Mid
level
Ingredients
- 850 g meaty pork ribs, in one piece (see Note)
- 1 tbsp salt
- 2 tbsp red yeasted rice (optional; see Note)
- 20 g fresh ginger, skin on
- 2 spring onions (scallions), white parts only
- 2 tbsp Shaoxing wine
- 1 star anise
- 1 small piece cassia bark
- 2 tbsp light soy sauce
- ½ tsp dark soy sauce
- 3 tbsp caster sugar
- 600 ml stock or water
- 1 tsp potato starch mixed with 2 tsp cold water
Chilling time overnight
Standing time 30 minutes
Instructions
Ask your butcher to saw the whole tranche of ribs crossways into two or three pieces, cutting through the rib bones at 5–6cm intervals. When you get home, make a cut through the meat between every other rib, so you end up with fat squares of meat, each with two embedded lengths of bone. Put the rib pieces in a container, add the salt, mix well and chill overnight.
If you are using the red yeasted rice, put it in a bowl or mortar and just cover it with hot water. Leave to steep for at least 30 minutes, then mash with a pestle. Put the salted ribs in a pan, cover with cold water and bring to the boil. Boil for about 1–2 minutes, skim, then drain in a colander. Rinse well.
Smack the ginger and spring onions lightly with the flat side of a Chinese cleaver or a rolling pin to loosen their fibres.
Put the ribs in the cleaned pan or a clay pot. Add the ginger and spring onions, Shaoxing wine, spices, soy sauces, sugar and stock or water. If you are using the red yeasted rice, strain the mashed rice liquid through a tea strainer into the pot. For best results, rinse the residue a few times with the liquid in the pot to extract as much colour as possible, then discard the residue. Bring everything to the boil, then cover and simmer over a medium flame for 1 hour.
Remove the lid, discard the ginger, spring onion and spices, then turn up the heat to reduce the sauce to about 2 cm deep, stirring frequently and spooning the liquid over the meat. Give the potato starch mixture a stir and add just enough to thicken it to a luxurious gravy, then serve.
Notes
• You’ll need a big, meaty tranche of spare ribs. I’ve given instructions for cutting them in the traditional Wuxi way, but you can, of course, use other cuts of rib. Note that the ribs must be salted overnight before cooking.
• The red yeasted rice gives a gorgeous pink tint to the sauce but is unnecessary in terms of flavour.
Get Fuchsia 's top tips for Chinese home cooking - and where next regional Chinese we’ve yet to discover, but should - .
Cook's Notes
Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.
