Sweet chestnuts and pork ribs want the same long, gentle heat, which is why they share one pot here. Dried shiitake goes in early so the broth picks up its depth, and the chestnuts only join for the last twenty minutes, long enough to turn tender but not long enough to fall apart into the sauce.
Home-style · Main
Chestnut and Pork Rib Stew With Shiitake Mushrooms
Pork ribs simmer for forty minutes with rehydrated shiitake, then chestnuts go in for twenty more so the nuts soften without dissolving and the broth reduces into a glossy glaze.
- Prep15 min
- Cook65 min
- Serves4
- LevelEasy
Ingredients
| 800 g | pork spare ribs , cut through the bone into short sections |
| 10 | chestnuts , shelled with the inner skin removed |
| 8 | dried shiitake mushrooms , rehydrated in hot water |
| 5 | scallions |
| 3 slices | old ginger |
| 1 tbsp | sugar |
| 1 tbsp | dark braising soy sauce |
| 2 tbsp | cooking wine |
| 1000 ml | water |
Method
- Soak the dried shiitake in hot water for 10 minutes while you shell the chestnuts and peel off the bitter inner skin.
- Put the ribs in a pot of water, bring it to a boil and skim off every trace of foam.
- Add the soaked mushrooms, scallions, ginger, wine, braising soy and sugar, pour in the water and simmer for 40 minutes.
- Add the chestnuts and keep simmering for another 20 minutes.
- Raise the heat at the end and let the liquid cook down to a glaze that coats the ribs, then plate.
Notes
- Start the ribs in cold water; the foam rises gradually and the blanch actually cleans them instead of sealing it in.
- Chestnuts that go in at the start dissolve into mush; they only need the final twenty minutes.
- The braising soy and sugar do all the seasoning here, so taste before adding any salt; the final reduction concentrates what is already in the pot.
Ratios and technique checked against 爱美食的拉拉 on Douguo (栗子肋排). The method here is written by Stellaok; the photograph is the source kitchen's, credited on the image above and linked back to the page it came from. No recipe text is reproduced.