(Chinese recipes, prepare authentic Chinese food now!)
Today, I am very pleased to have Diana Kuan of Appetite for China as a guest writer on Rasa Malaysia.
Based in Beijing, Diana is a freelance writer and cooking instructor specializing in Chinese recipes; she has also written for The Boston Globe, Food & Wine, and other publications.
Please welcome Appetite for China as she shares her recipe of spicy black bean spare ribs recipe with us.
In Chinese cooking, there are few ingredients more versatile than fermented black beans. You can use it to flavor steamed fish, eggplant, or one of my favorite Sichuan dishes, twice-cooked pork. It has a pungent, earthy aroma; a spoonful of black beans packs so much flavor you often don’t need additional salt.
One way to use fermented black beans is to buy them whole, rinse them under cold water, and chop them up. Of course, it’s also easy to find prepared black bean sauce at a local Chinese market. My latest obsession is chili black bean sauce. I keep a small bottle in the fridge and pull it out whenever I need a reliable sauce at the last minute.
Have you ever had steamed spare ribs at a Chinese dim sum restaurant? Yes, those little juicy ribs in the bamboo steamer, covered with with a dark garlicky sauce that everyone’s chopsticks fight for. No matter how good they taste, have you ever wondered how much better they would be pan-fried, with a spicier sauce?
These spare ribs take only 15 minutes to cook, and the ingredients require little chopping. The brown sugar add a tinge of sweetness to compliment the black beans and chili oil. And be sure to have rice handy; you’ll need it to sop up the addictive sauce.
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Spicy Black Bean Spare Ribs Recipe
Chinese black bean spare ribs. This easy black bean spare ribs recipe takes 15 minutes to cook. Delicious spare ribs in black beans sauce. A must try recipe!
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon cooking oil or peanut oil
- 1 1/2 pounds pork spare ribs, cut to 1-inch pieces
- 1 teaspoon finely chopped ginger
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1 medium-sized leek, thinly sliced
- White sesame seeds for garnish, (optional)
- Thinly sliced scallions or leeks for garnish, (optional)
Sauce:
- 3 tablespoons spicy black bean sauce or 2 tablespoons black bean sauce with 1/2 tablespoon chili oil
- 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1/2 cup water
Instructions
-
Mix together ingredients for the sauce. Set aside.
-
In a wok or frying pan, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add spare ribs and stir-fry until brown on all sides, about 4 to 5 minutes. Add ginger, garlic, and leeks and cook until aromatic, about 1 minute. Pour in sauce mixture. Cover with a lid and simmer for about 10 minutes. Sauce should be reduced enough to coat the spare ribs. Transfer to serving plate, garnish with optional sesame seeds and scallions, and serve with rice.
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Mark
One of my favorite foods. I haven’t tried your recipe or ever attempt to make it myself but my wife will attempt it tonight. I personally will substitute the rice for fried Cantonese noodles , I find it a way better dish this way…
Mandy
I just made this for dinner and the flavour was great but the meat was quite tough and not as tender as I would have hoped for. I might try cooking it in a slow cooker next time or marinating it with backing soda & corn flour to make it mor tender.
thomas anthony navarro
hi,bee..how can we make homemade chili black bean sauce??..coz i need it when i’m making siomai ( dumplings )..
Donna
Tried this tonight, used garlic black bean paste and no chili, but the sauce is way too salty for our taste even though I’ve added more water.
paulina
It’s such a big pleasure to cook from your book and from your website.
The recipes that I’ve made came out really good.
Thank You
Dan
Thanks for a great recipe. We cheated, we asked the butcher at the supermarket to cut the ribs into 1 inch strips (across the bone), that way we could easily cut them apart at home.
Thanks again!
zephyr
Made this today. The sauce was finger-licking good but the meat was tough. Is it supposed to be like this or more tender. If tender, what could I try to do next time?
fuadu
just love it…. it great
Suzanne
hi there……..really want to make these spareribs for my Epicurious club and it’s Chinese night in 1 week….can I make this recipe for about 15 people in my slow cooker so they can slow cook and be tender for about 6 hours? Hope you can help me ..Merci
Evelyn
I am wondering what is the name of this type of ribs. The type of ribs I see is always really long and not as meaty looking. Thank you-
Rasa Malaysia
It’s called spare ribs.
Owen
Evelyn,
It is the regular (long) spare ribs that the butcher cuts into bite size. Buy it at a Chinese market, or other Asian markets, it is cheaper and they will always ask you if you want it cut. American market butchers generally don’t have a clue why you want it cut and will invariably cut it too big (2-3 inches, instead of 1 inch).
Owen
Zeenath A. Rahim
Hi. I am a diffident cook. I have been enjoying your blog the last two years. Some great & satisfying recipes. You are truly a natural and gifted cook.
In this recipe for Black bean spare ribs which looks scrumptous, can I use beef or chicken instead of pork. I’m a Muslim and don’t eat pork?
Look forward to enjoying your blog for a long time to come. Best wishes Zeenath, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Rasa Malaysia
Thanks for reading my blog, yes, you can use chicken for this recipe. I think chicken is better than beef for this.
leng
hi bee! this is my second time to do this and i cant wait to eat it hahaha! im adding shitake mushrooms to give it some added texture :D thanks so much!
Steve
Hello. Thank you for the recipe. This will become a regular on our dining table.
Rasa Malaysia
Steve – thank you. I am sure I have more than this one dish making your regular dinning pleasure :)
buzzinghive
Just tried this out – the ribs tasted good after infused with the black bean sauce. At the end of the simmer, the sauce had stick to my wok, not sure if its due to the corn flour or I din stir during the process ? So no sauce left for rice :( Anyway, thanks for the great recipe !
[eatingclub] vancouver || js
This reminds me how much I love spareribs in black bean sauce. Thanks! Now, I have to search your site to see if you have a recipe for chicken feet in black bean sauce.
justcooknyc
yum, need to try this recipe
Anonymous
I am a Muslim so I don’t eat pork. Can I use chicken for this black bean sauce recipe? If so, which part of chicken will be good? How long do I need to make it?
My Taste Heavn
I love pork ribs with black bean sauce. I can eat my rice with just the black bean sauce…very sweet because of the pork ribs. Hungry.
nina
I’ve just been to a lovely breakfast with friends, but one look at this photo and my mouth was watering!!! WOW I love that sauce you’ve made!!!!
NYMY
I love black bean spare ribs, and this is one of my favorites, however my wife doesn’t eat pork so she doesn’t make it for me. Fermented black beans with spare ribs is a Chinese classic, steamed or stir-fried, they are all good.
Cynthia
I am definitely going to be making this.
Thanks for bringing these amazing writers to us Bee.
Rasa Malaysia
Cynthia – of course, I love having guest writers on Rasa Malaysia–fresh ideas, recipes, why not?
Susan at Sticky,Gooey,Creamy,Chewy
Oh, this is one of my favorite things to order in a Chinese restaurant! They looks so wonderful! I can’t wait to try this for myself.
Eating365
I love black beans spare ribs, in fact, I love anything made with fermented black beans. I didn’t know it’s so easy to make this at home. I always think of this as something that would take me the whole day. Any idea how dim sum restaurant make the spare rib so tender?
veron
I’ve missed eating this. My dad used to make this all the time. Thanks for reminding me what a tasty dish it is. I’ve always had my fix from a chinese dimsum cart and you are right that it’d be so much better pan-fried.