Four hundred grams of ribs, four long green chillies, half a head of garlic. The chillies are pressed into a hot dry pan until the skins blister, which is what the name of the dish refers to, and they go in at the end so they keep their smell. The ribs braise plainly and take their colour at the last minute.
Hunan · Main
Braised Ribs Finished With Blistered Green Chilli
The ribs simmer for forty minutes first, then meet chillies blistered dry in a second pan. Two stages, one plate, and the sauce reduces to a glaze.
- Prep20 min
- Cook55 min
- Serves3
- LevelMedium
Ingredients
| 400 g | pork ribs , cut between the bones |
| 4 | long green chillies , tops removed, pressed flat |
| 3 | bird's eye chillies , sliced |
| 1/2 head | garlic , sliced |
| 5 slices | ginger |
| 1 | star anise |
| 1 1/2 tbsp | fermented black beans |
| 2 tbsp | light soy sauce |
| 1/2 tbsp | dark soy sauce |
| 1 tbsp | oyster sauce |
| 1 tbsp | white vinegar |
| 1 tsp | chicken powder |
| 100 ml | cooking oil |
Method
- Soak the ribs in cold water for half an hour to pull the blood out, then dry them thoroughly with kitchen paper. Wet ribs will not brown, they will steam.
- Heat the oil in a wok and fry the ginger slices until they curl and brown at the edges, then lift them out and keep the oil.
- Sear the ribs in that oil over medium heat until golden on all sides and the oil in the pan runs clear again, then add the star anise.
- Pour in enough water to cover, bring it to a boil, drop the heat and simmer for 40 minutes, until a chopstick goes through the meat with a little resistance left.
- In a second dry pan, press the green chillies down over high heat until the skins blister and char in patches, then add a spoon of the rib oil and toss them with the garlic, bird's eye chillies and black beans.
- Add the drained ribs to the chilli pan, splash the light soy down the inside edge of the pan so it hits hot metal, then add the oyster sauce, dark soy, vinegar and chicken powder.
- Turn everything over full heat until the liquid coats the ribs rather than pooling, then serve with rice.
Notes
- Keep the rib braising liquid. A ladle of it loosens the glaze if the pan goes dry at the end, and the rest is a stock for noodles.
- Blistering the chillies dry, without oil, is what makes them sweet rather than raw. Skip that step and the dish tastes sharp.
Ratios and technique checked against 屋顶上的阿眠 on Douguo (擂椒排骨). 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.