Black Bean Spare Ribs - Dim Sum

Black Bean Pork Ribs are a staple of dim sum, but I find the ones at the restaurants often are chewy because they don't cook them long enough to break down the connective tissue. This is my version which is tender and super savory.

Also dim sum is a Chinese style of cuisine that comprises mostly of bite sized food that is ordered and shared with others.

I have a video from start to finish, the written steps follow.

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• 2lbs Pork side rib also called spareribs
• Some neutral tasting oil such as canola, vegetable or peanut.
• 1 teaspoon chilli flakes
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 6-8 cloves of garlic minced
• 2 teaspoon light soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon oyster sauce
• 2 tablespoon preserved blackbeans, these are full of savory flavor and whats makes this dish so aromatic, you find them at an asian grocery.
• Diced Green Onions for garnish

A pork side rib is also called spare ribs, cut the ribs up individually and then using a big knife chop them into 1-2" pieces, about 2 lbs. You can also ask the butcher to do this for you.

So I'm cooking this in my wok station outside but the same steps to make this in a frying pan can be followed on a regular stove.

Over high heat let the wok or pan heat up, you want it scorching hot.

Add a generous amount of an oil that has a high smoking point. I'm using canola oil but peanut, vegetable or corn oil will work, do not use olive oil as it has a low smoking point and will impart flavor that we are not looking for in this dish.

Make sure the pork is dry before adding it to the wok or pan. This does two things: it keeps the oil splatter to a minimum and lets the meat brown quicker. Do not crowd the pan, you may need to do it in batches. You are browning the meat not trying to cook it at this point.

See that flame, that's what gives Chinese restaurant food that aromatic flavor that is hard to reproduce at home. In Cantonese it’s the breath of the wok, or wok hei. If you want to build your own station check out my other Instructables account: https://www.instructables.com/id/Homemade-Outdoor-...

Next it's time to add the flavor. Add in the chilli flakes, garlic and blackbeans, stir and then add the soy sauce, oyster sauce and salt.

Let the ribs and added ingredients cook for a few minutes. Everything should be browning and smelling awesome. Add 1 cup of water and bring to a simmer. Transfer to a oven safe pot.

Bake the spareribs covered for 1-2 hours at 300F or until tender. This step will break down the connective tissue and render out some of the fat. This will make the ribs fall off the bone, whereas the previous step was to brown and build flavors and not to cook the ribs.

There will be a lot of fat rendered out, you can skim that off.

I like to serve the finished ribs on a bed of rice and garnish with diced green onions/scallions. They are also really good with noodles. The sauce makes a good flavoring for the rice and noodles.

I tend to make a big batch of these because they are so good and easy to make. They also reheat really well but they probably won't last that long!