Last week, I had the most dissatisfying ribs at Citizen Cake.  Tough, and dry, and  crazy numbing and pungent spice only on the surface.  I should have know not to order any thing else but dessert there….let them eat cake should be Ms. Falkner’s mantra, too.

Ribs should be succulent, yet easily fall off the bone. The meat should be well flavored all the way to the bone.  I came home and made this simple Wuxi ribs, and felt a lot better after that.

Chef’s tip: In Japantown, you can get some paper sponge that you place on top of the sauce to soak up the excess oil.  It’s super handy and saves you the time in chilling the sauce.  This dish also works well in a slow pot.

1 rack pork ribs about 2 pounds, cut into smaller 3 inch riblets, or country-style ribs
5 slices ginger
3 whole scallions
1/4 cup black Zhejiang vinegar (sub: balsamic)
1/4 cup dark soy sauce
1 small stick cinnamon
1 piece whole star anise
1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup water

Preparing ribs:
1. Cut the ribs into 4 pieces lengthwise about 3 inches in length, then cut into smaller pieces along each rib.  (Ask butcher to do this).
2. In a large saucepan, bring 2 quarts of water to a boil, drop in ribs, and bring to a boil again. Drain and rinse off scum from ribs in cold water.  Drain well.
Cooking the ribs:
3. Place ginger and scallions in a 6-quart dutch oven over high heat.
4. Add prepared ribs.  Add vinegar, soy sauce, cinnamon, star anise, sugar, salt and water. Bring to a boil.
5. Turn flame to medium low and cover.  Cook for 1 hour, then remove ribs.  Alternatively, place the covered dutch oven into an oven 350F for an hour.
6. Remove ribs and keep covered.  Chill sauce to solidify fat and remove fat, or blot the fat with towels.
7. Bring sauce back to a boil and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes or until the sauce is reduced by half.  Add in ribs and heat through.  Serve immediately with steamed rice.

Serves: 4

Tags: Chinese.

Hello Rich.  Here’s what Janet and I think is the recreation of our grandma’s recipe for dark soy sauce pork.  I am not exactly sure whether this is a Hokkien or a baba dish.  ”Ah Ma” is Hokkien, but her mother-in-law, our great grandmother “Ah Chor”, was Nyonya.  As I understand it, Ah Ma picked up a lot of her cooking skills from Ah Chor.  We used to go to my dad’s parents place for lunch every Sunday and every Sunday, there will be this dark soy sauce pork.  I vividly remember how she would stuff a special little clay pot, in which she only makes this dish with, with the pork and then braise it under a super low flame.  The pork literally melts in your mouth.  It tastes even better the next day.  We used to even eat this for breakfast, soaking up the sauce with some nice white and fluffy “wonder” bread.

Janet thinks there is some soy sauce added, I think otherwise.  If you’d like it saltier and saucier, just add a splash or two of soy sauce.  Enjoy!

Chef’s tip:
3 key things.  1.  It’s essential to use a fatty cut of pork.  The preferred cut is the “5 flower” cut, the creme de la creme of pork belly meat.   It’s the same cut of meat they make bacon with.  It literally has 5 alternating layers of fat and lean meat.  It would be great to leave the skin on, too.    2. Low heat.  You want to gently cook the fat, not sear it away.  High heat will melt the fat prematurely (i.e., in the pot, not in your mouth)    3. The Malaysian dark caramel sauce aka dark soy sauce (the really thick, black and sweet kind).  The best brand to get is the “Cheong Chan” brand.

2 lbs pork belly meat, skin-on, cut into 1 inch cubes, pat dry
6-8 cloves garlic, whole, skin-on, very lightly smashed
1/2 cup dark (caramel) soy sauce – enough to coat the pork liberally
1/2 teaspoon whole white peppercorns
Soy sauce, optional

1. Place all ingredients in a medium, heavy-bottomed pot, preferably a clay pot.  The meat should fit snugly together.   Liberally coat the pork with the dark soy sauce.
2.  Cover and braised on LOW heat for at least two hours, till desired doneness.  Stir occasionally.  The pork will cook in its own juices and fat.  May add a little water if it gets too dry too soon but try not to.

Serves: 6

Tags: Chinese, Malaysian, Nyonya.

Whenever in Shanghai, I must have xiao long bao,  Or whenever it is on any menu!  Din Tai Fung, a Shanghainese, or maybe Taiwanese chain, is able to make a fast food production out of making these delicate soup dumplings.  It is fascinating watching their staff fold these dumplings so swiftly.  One would think they pay their staff based on how fast they can churn out these dumplings.

Chef’s tip: The trick to getting the soup in the middle is by gelling up some aspic with the filling, so when you steam it, the aspic melts to become a soup.

Soup:
1 lb chicken wings tip
3 cups water
2 oz Hunan smoked pork, whole
1 stalk green onions, cut into 3 inch lengths
3 slices ginger
1 Tablespoon Chinese rice wine

Dough:
½ cup high protein/ bread flour
¼ cup all purpose flour
¼ cup + 1 Tablespoon (or more) boiling water
1 teaspoon canola oil

Filling:
1 Tablespoon green onions, white part, very finely minced
1 Tablespoon ginger juice, from 1 Tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
1 Tablespoon Chinese rice wine
½ Tablespoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon sugar
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
8 oz ground pork

Napa cabbage leaves or parchment paper

Sauce:
¼ cup red wine vinegar + 2 Tablespoon water
5 slices ginger, julienned

Preparing the soup

1.     Place all ingredients in a pot. Bring to boil and gently simmer till stock has reduced into half. Cool.
2.    Remove solids and pass the soup through a sieve into a wet pan.  Chill.
3.     When soup has gelled, scrape it up and break it up with a fork.  Set aside in the refrigerator.
Preparing the dough.
4.     Combine the 2 flour together. Form a well in the center. Gradually add the boiling water, stirring until a ball forms.  Cool a little, while still warm, stir in the oil.  Transfer to a lightly floured board and knead for a few minutes until soft and smooth.  Wrap in plastic and let rest for 1 hour.
5.     Divide the dough into 2 balls. Roll each piece of dough into a 1 inch cylinder.  Cut each cylinder into 12 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball. You should have about 24 pieces. Cover as you work.
Preparing the filling
6.     Mix all the ingredients together.  Add in the crushed stock.  Gently mix together.
Making the dumpling
7.     Take a dough portion, work into a round ball, flatten it into a 2 1/2 inch round with a rolling pin.  Make a well in the center and place 1 tablespoon of filling, pat it into a mound, leaving a ¾ inch edge around.  Carefully pull up the dough edge with your right thumb and index finger to make the first pleat, while your left thumb centers the filling.  Next, gather the edge of the wrapper with your left index fingers and start to make the subsequent pleats, while your right thumb and index fingers seal the pleats that are formed.  Aim to make 18 pleats per dumpling. Pinch the top together and give it a twist to seal.  Peel off any extra dough at the top.  Placed onto a steamer that is lined with cabbage leaves.
8.     Steam over simmering water for 8 minutes or until the dumplings are translucent.
Preparing the dipping sauce:
9.     While dumplings are steaming, julienne ginger, and mix with red wine vinegar and water.  Serve with dumplings.

Serves: 4

Tags: Chinese, dim sum, Shanghainese.