Cantonese Braised Pork Ribs with Black Bean (Dou Chi Pai Gu)

Ingredients

• 600 g pork spare ribs, chopped into 2–3 cm pieces
• 30 g dou chi (salted fermented black soybeans), lightly rinsed and roughly chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1–2 fresh red chili, sliced
• 1 small piece dried mandarin peel (chen pi), soaked and finely sliced
• For the marinade
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• ¼ tsp ground white pepper
• 1 tbsp cornstarch

Method

1. 1
   Place the chopped ribs in cold water and soak for 30 minutes. Drain, then pat thoroughly dry with kitchen paper. The water draws out residual blood; the pieces must be dry before marinating or the marinade will not adhere.
2. 2
   Combine the chopped dou chi, garlic, sliced chili, and chen pi with the soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, white pepper, and cornstarch in a bowl large enough to hold the ribs. Add the ribs and turn to coat every surface. Marinate for a minimum of 30 minutes. The marinade must penetrate the small pieces fully — under-marinating is the most common failure of the dish.
3. 3
   This is where the dish lives or dies: arrange the marinated ribs in a single, even layer in a heatproof dish or bamboo steaming basket. Set over a wok of rapidly boiling water and steam at full boil for 8–10 minutes. The cornstarch in the marinade transforms during steaming into a light, glossy sauce that coats each piece; when the ribs are cooked through and the sauce has thickened and clings to the meat, they are ready.