Pork Riblets Braised with Fermented Red Bean Curd

I've been wanting to make this dish for a while now. Every time I see ribs go on sale, I think I should get some and make this dish. But for the longest time, I was unsure about whether I had the right type of fermented bean curd. Well, I finally have the right type after being taught by my mom while she was here. We used it in our Chap Chye recipe and with plenty left, I finally got to do this dish.

Pork Riblets Braised with Fermented Bean Curd

Tasting this dish, you'd never know that it had something fermented in it. The final flavor is so smooth and almost "peanuty". I cooked this for one of my informal catering gigs, and they were all trying to guess what the special ingredient was. Someone asked if I had put in peanut butter. Nope, no peanuts in this so it's safe for those with that allergy issue.

So next time pork spare ribs go on sale (or not!), go to your butcher and have them cut it length-wise into 3 smaller pieces. Then just cut between each rib and you'll have plenty of little riblets that are perfect size for this dish.

The recipe for this came from "Malaysian Favourites". It's turning out to be a pretty good deal for a small book (softcover and mini-sized cookbook with about 40+ recipes in 60+ pages). The recipes that I've tried have all turned out really well. If you can get your hands on the book, be sure to buy it. If not, I'll try to get my hands on some the next time I go home and maybe, just maybe, I'll give some away.

Pork Ribs Braised with Fermented Red Bean Curd

recipe taken from "Malaysian Favourites" by Wendy Hutton

Ingredients
1 kg (2lbs) meaty pork ribs, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 Tbsp oil (I found that I didn't need that much as the pork released some oils as they braised down)
2 tsp finely chopped garlic (or more! ^_^)
1 Tbsp finely chopped fresh ginger
3 Tbsp mashed fermented red bean curd
2 tsp sugar
2 Tbsp dark soy sauce (told you I used it a lot!)
1 Tbsp rice wine
500-750ml (2-3 cups) chicken stock (ok, I doubled the recipe when I was making this and only used 1 can of chicken stock so I would say use a little less first and then only if your meat is drying out, add more)
1/2 tsp salt (optional) (I didn't need it)
1 tsp ground white pepper

Mashed Bean Curd, Ginger and Garlic

Marinade:
2 Tbsp rice wine
2 Tbsp sesame oil
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp cornstarch

Method:

1. Put pork ribs into a large bowl and sprinkle over the marinade ingredients. Mix well and set aside for 10 minutes.

2. Heat oil in a wok until very hot, then add pork ribs and stir-fry over very high heat until the ribs turn light brown, 2-3 minutes. Lower the heat to moderately hot, add garlic, ginger and stir-fry for a few seconds.
3. Add the red bean curd and stir-fry for 1 minute, then add in sugar and mix. Add dark soy sauce and rice wine and stir to mix.
4. Put in 2 cups of chicken stock (1/2 can in my case) and bring to a boil.
5. Lower heat, cover the wok and simmer until the pork ribs are tender, 50-60 minutes, stirring occasionally to ensure even cooking. Add more stock if the sauce is drying up before the meat is tender enough.

6. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper as needed. Transfer to a plate and eat with rice.