Steamed Spare Ribs with Fermented Black Beans

Hubby always love to order steamed spare ribs whenever we go for dim sum. I have nothing against it actually but dislike that some steamed spare ribs are not done well and meat are so tough it gets stuck in between teeth after you bite into the meat!

We seldom go for dim sum nowadays as it is not cheap eating it here in Singapore.  We only gorge ourselves crazy with dim sum when we are in Hong Kong, where dim sum dishes are so much cheaper, nicer and most importantly, authentic.

I have made this steamed spare ribs with fermented black beans many times, and always like how it pairs so so well with rice. Love it homemade because I can add lotsa minced garlic and that increases the flavour of this dish even further.

A simple, savoury and yummy dish this is.  Yet another dish good for lazy days hehe!

Steamed Spare Ribs with Fermented Black Beans

(Serves 2)

200g spare pork ribs 

(I normally ask the butcher to help me cut them into smaller pieces so that I just have to trim of excess fats and and wash them when back home)

Seasoning sauce

1 tsp baking powder or 2 tsp cornflour

1 tsp fermented black bean, washed briefly and crush the beans using the back of a spoon

1/2 tbsp cooking wine

1.5 tsp abalone sauce or oyster sauce

2 or 3 garlic, minced (if you aren't a garlic lover like me, just use 1 pc)

1/2 tsp sugar

A dash of pepper

2 tsp dark soy sauce (reduce to 1 tsp if you do not like the end product to be too dark)

1/2 tsp of sesame oil

1. Wash spare ribs and drain excess water.

2. If using baking powder, mix it well into the meat and let stand in fridge for an hour. This is done to tenderise the meat. After an hour, wash meat under running water, drain and season meat with the rest of the seasoning sauce ingredients (exclude cornflour since baking powder has been used to tenderise meat). 

If you do not have baking powder, you can just season the meat with cornflour together with the rest of the ingredients, thus skipping the 1 hour step of tenderising the meat.

3. Mix well and leave it to marinate in fridge for at least an hour or overnight.  Steam for 15 minutes on medium high heat, or till done. Serve.