Something I recently discovered I really liked at dim sum is sparerib rice. I had a moment of “where have you been all my life?” a couple of weeks ago when I had dim sum with my parents. Most of my Asian friends would probably say:”Duh! And you are just discovering this now?!”
In my defence though, I never had it as a kid because I avoided rice like the plague. Now many years wiser (I hope), I discovered what a wonderful thing rice is hence no longer avoiding the aforementioned dish. I now cannot live without rice and my doctor-imposed low carb diet is torture.
That being said, I still cheat. *Hangs head in shame* So for dinner the other day, I made my own version of the dim sum classic. Although black bean sauce is widely available in supermarkets now, I decided to do something I saw my Dad do often when I was a child. He pounded the preserved black beans with garlic and ginger with his cleaver handle in a rice bowl. I have a mortar and pestle, so I kept my meat cleaver safely out of the way.
Preserved black beans are available at Asian markets. However, if you cannot find it, you can replace with a couple of tablespoons of black bean sauce. If you want to go traditional, try and get the real deal, it is well worth it I think in terms of flavor.
The ribs themselves are pork ribs. Have your butcher cut them across the bone for you – I believe its called the flanken cut or Asian cut. When you get home, just cut them into individual pieces if the butcher has not done it for you.
For the steaming portion of the ribs, you can put it in a plate that you put over the rice while it steams or do like I did which was to put it directly on the rice.
Spicy Black Bean Sparerib Rice
Ribs:
2 lbs pork ribs, flanken cut, cut into individual riblets
2 tbsp preserved black beans
1 clove garlic
1 tbsp chili garlic paste
1 tbsp Chinese rice wine or Sake
1 tsp minced ginger
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp light soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
Rice:
2 cups uncooked jasmine rice
3 cups water (you may need to add more, but I did not)
Method
- Combine all ingredients for the ribs in a bowl and marinate in the covered in the fridge at least a couple of hours. Take the ribs out of the fridge to bring to room temperature before cooking.
- Rinse your rice until the water runs clear and soak a half hour in cool water.
- Drain the rice and place in a dutch over or rice cooker. Add the water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low.
- Quickly place the ribs over top of the rice and cover. Reduce the flame to low and allow to steam 20 minutes.
- Remove from heat and remove the ribs from the rice. Using a rice paddle or spoon, mix rice well to distribute the juices from the ribs throughout the rice. Serve with the ribs.
