Small ribs, a hot wok and no liquid: the meat browns before it steams, which is why the pieces are cut small. Fermented black beans and a pinch of sugar go in after the crust forms, and the garlic sprouts need less than a minute at the end so they stay green.
Cantonese · Main
Spare Ribs With Garlic Sprouts and Black Beans
Ribs fried hard until the edges crust, then finished with fermented black beans, garlic sprouts and a little sugar. Twenty minutes, one wok.
- Prep15 min
- Cook15 min
- Serves3
- LevelEasy
Ingredients
| 250 g | pork ribs , cut into short pieces |
| 2 slices | ginger |
| 2 cloves | garlic , minced |
| 1 tbsp | fermented black beans |
| 10 | Sichuan peppercorns |
| 1 tbsp | light soy sauce |
| 2 tbsp | Shaoxing wine |
| 1/2 tbsp | caster sugar |
| 1 tsp | salt |
| 1 tbsp | cooking oil |
| 150 g | garlic sprouts , cut into short lengths |
| 2 | bird's eye chillies , sliced, optional |
| 2 | scallions , cut into lengths |
Method
- Pat the ribs dry. Wet meat will not brown.
- Heat the oil in a wok until it just smokes and add the ribs in a single layer.
- Leave them alone for a minute or two, then turn and fry until the edges are dark and crisp.
- Add the ginger, garlic, black beans and Sichuan peppercorns and stir for 30 seconds, until the beans smell toasted.
- Splash in the Shaoxing wine and let it cook off.
- Add the garlic sprouts and chillies, season with the sugar, salt and soy sauce, and toss over high heat for under a minute.
- Scatter the scallions over and serve immediately.
Notes
- Black beans are salty, so taste before adding more salt.
- Cut the ribs no thicker than a finger joint, or they will not cook through in a stir-fry.
- Ask the butcher to cut across the bone into short pieces; a heavy cleaver does the same job at home.
Ratios and technique checked against 不想做厨子的日语老师不是好男人 on Douguo (蒜苗豆豉排骨). The method here is written by Stellaok and the illustration is ours; no text or photograph from the source is reproduced.