Black Bean Steamed Pork Ribs (Dou Chi Zheng Pai Gu)

The story

You know these ribs if you have ever pointed at a dim sum cart. The home version is a two-step recipe: marinate, steam. Ask the butcher to chop spare ribs into 1-inch pieces — that single request is the entire difficulty of this dish.

Ingredients (6 + pantry staples)

• Pork spare ribs, chopped 1-inch (ask the butcher) — 1.5 lb / 700 g
• Fermented black beans (dou chi) — 1 tbsp, rinsed, lightly crushed
• Garlic — 3 cloves, minced
• Soy sauce — 1.5 tbsp
• Cornstarch — 1 tbsp
• Scallions — 1, sliced

Pantry staples used (don't count toward the 6): sugar (1 tsp), white pepper, cooking oil (1 tsp). Not stocked yet? See the pantry page.

Steps

1. Rinse ribs, pat dry. Toss with black beans, garlic, soy, cornstarch, sugar, pepper, oil; rest 10 minutes.
2. Spread on a plate and steam over high heat 25 minutes until no pink at the bone.
3. Scallions on top. Eat with rice — the juices are liquid gold.

Swaps

No dou chi? Use 1 tbsp oyster sauce + extra garlic for a different but legit steamed rib. Frozen chopped ribs from Asian grocers work too.