Sichuan Black Bean Spare Ribs

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.

Ingredients

1. For the ribs:
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3. 1 tablespoon vegetable or peanut oil
4. 1 1/2 pounds pork spare ribs, cut to 1-inch pieces
5. 1 teaspoon finely chopped ginger
6. 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
7. 1 medium-sized leek, thinly sliced
8. White sesame seeds for garnish, optional
9. Thinly sliced scallions or leeks for garnish, optional
10. .
11. For the sauce:
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13. 3 tablespoons spicy black bean sauce (or 2 tablespoons black bean sauce with 1/2 tablespoon chili oil)
14. 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
15. 1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine
16. 1 teaspoon brown sugar
17. 1 teaspoon cornstarch
18. 1/2 cup water

Directions

1. Mix together ingredients for the sauce. Set aside.
2. 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.
3. Transfer to serving plate, garnish with optional sesame seeds and scallions, and serve with rice.

Notes