Kit's Steamed Spare Ribs with Black Beans (豉汁蒸排骨)

From Kit; Adapted from Made with Lau

Notes: I made this with 4 lbs of spare ribs and it took 4 batches of steaming.

Ingredients:
Main Ingredients

• 1 lb pork spare ribs (cut across the bone by the butcher)
• 1 Tbsp dried fermented black bean (Brand: Yang Jiang Preserved Black Beans With Ginger)
• 1 Tbsp cornstarch (for rinsing ribs)
• 3-4 cups boiling water

Marinade (see steps below)

• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tsp ginger, minced
• 2 pieces green onion, chopped
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2 Tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp oyster sauce
• 1/2 Tbsp Shaoxing wine
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 2 Tbsp cornstarch (for marinade)

Directions:

1. Wash and rehydrate black beans
   Place our fermented black beans (1 tbsp) in a bowl, and rinse them under running water for 15-20 seconds. Gently massage the beans as you do this. Drain the water, and set the bowl aside to let the beans rehydrate.
2. Cut spare ribs
   Cut the spare ribs (1 lb) between the bones into small pieces (about 1 to 1.5 inches), and place them into a bowl.
3. Rinse and dry ribs
   Add cornstarch (1 Tbsp) to the ribs, and massage the ribs around to evenly mix the cornstarch around the surface of each rib. The cornstarch helps bind to the myoglobin and juices that we're looking to cleanse out. Rinse the ribs in running water for 1 to 2 minutes, massaging the ribs as you go. Pour out all of the water, and squeeze as much liquid as possible out of the ribs before placing the ribs in a new bowl.
4. Marinate ribs
   Prepare the marinade by mixing salt, sugar, light soy sauce, oyster sauce, Shaoxing wine, garlic, and ginger in a separate bowl. Add marinade to the ribs, and mix and massage the bowl of ribs for 45-60 seconds to distribute all of the flavors. Squish the black bean with your fingers, then add the black beans to the ribs and mix / massage the ribs for 20-30 seconds. Add the sesame oil and cornstarch (2 Tbsp; or until liquid is gone), and mix/massage the ribs around for another 60 seconds to evenly coat each rib with cornstarch. Massaging the ribs, i.e. applying a little bit of pressure, helps the meat absorb the flavors and tenderizes the meat a bit. Cover the bowl and place in the fridge to marinate for 6 hours to overnight.
5. Prepare to steam ribs
   Place a steamer rack in the center of a wok. Add enough boiled water so that it just barely covers the entire steamer rack. Transfer the ribs into the plate you'll be steaming with, being careful not to let any ribs be covered by one another.
6. Cover wok & steam
   Carefully place the plate of ribs on top of the steamer rack. Double check to make sure that there's a little bit of water touching the bottom surface of the plate. Cover the wok, set the stove to its highest heat setting, and steam the spare ribs for 25 minutes.
7. Garnish & enjoy!
   After 25 minutes, turn the heat off, uncover the wok, garnish with the green onions, and carefully remove the plate from the wok. Enjoy!

Mom's Hong Shao Rou (红烧肉)

From Mom

Notes: on an electric stove, medium heat or sometimes medium-high heat worked better than medium-low for the parboil and initial stir-fry. Instead of a wok, a medium-sized Dutch oven worked as well.

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs pork belly (try to buy a piece with less fat/more meat)
• 1 Tbsp neutral cooking oil (i.e., vegetable or canola)
• 2 Tbsp rock candy 冰糖 (may substitute with brown sugar)
• 4 pieces green onion, cut into 2 inch sections
• 6 slices/coins of ginger
• 2 star anise pods 八角
• 1 inch cinnamon stick
• 1 dried red hot pepper
• 10 Sichuan peppercorns
• 5 pieces dried sand ginger slices 沙姜片 (may substitute with dried galangal slices)
• 2/3 cup Shaoxing wine
• 2 Tbsp light soy sauce 生抽
• 1 Tbsp dark soy sauce 老抽
• 1 Tbsp Chinkiang vinegar (may substitute with others brands of Chinese black vinegar)
• 4-8 oz roasted chestnuts

Directions:

1. Get rid of stinky pork smell:
   Cut Pork belly into 1.25 inch by 1.25 inch square; put them into a large pot. Add tap water into the pot until the water is 1 inch above the meat. Put the pot on medium low heat until water and meat have been boiling for about 5 minutes. Take out the meat, wash them in warm water to get rid of all brown blood. Drain the meat to get rid of extra water.
2. Put a wok on medium low heat, add cooking oil, meat, and sugar; stir-fry them until sugar is melted. Add the rest of spices except cooking wine. Add cooking wine (2/3 cup or less or more) until the meat is about 1/2 covered by liquid. Cover the wok and bring liquid to boil, then turn heat to low (simmering with very small bubbles). After 10 minutes, do step 3.
3. Open the cover, stir the meat so that outer pieces are changed into inner locations. Add the chestnuts. Cover the wok
4. After another 20 minutes, repeat step 3; another 20 minutes, repeat step3. Check the liquid level to avoid the meat getting burned. The final product should have only a Tbsp liquid plus oil (more oil came out during cook). If there is too little liquid, add some warm water.
5. Repeat 3 in every 5 minutes until meat can be easily poked through by a pair of chopsticks. From the first coving the wok to the end, it takes about 55 minutes.
6. Turn off heat. Take meat into a plat/bowl but leave all spices in the wok. Take out big pieces of spice such as ginger, green onions. Hold a strainer over the meat plat/bowl, pour the gravy along with small piece spice into the strainer. Throw away the spice.

Thai Roasted Chicken Thighs

Adapted from The Woks of Life

Notes: Increased the amount of vegetables from the original recipe to absorb all the fat released from the chicken thighs while roasting (because the searing step is skipped).

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons Sriracha
  
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
  
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
  
• 3 cloves garlic (minced)
  
• 2 teaspoons ginger (grated)
  
• Juice and zest of 1 lime
  
• Vegetable oil
  
• 6-7 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (3-3.5 lbs)
  
• 10 carrots (cut into large 1-in chunks)
  
• 3 large onion (cut into 1/6th or 1/8th wedges - do not separate)
  
• 2 cups thai basil leaves
  

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a medium bowl, mix together the Sriracha, brown sugar, soy sauce, fish sauce, garlic, ginger, lime juice, and lime zest. Marinate at room temperature for 1 hour.
   
2. Spread carrots and onions on 2 large baking sheets and drizzle sparingly with oil.
3. Place chicken pieces skin side up amongst the vegetables, and drizzle the rest of the marinade on the vegetables. Place in the oven to roast for 35-40 minutes (until skin is crispy), stirring in the Thai basil halfway through baking. Serve with jasmine rice.