Pork spare ribs stir fry

Stir fries cook in a jiffy. The secret, as most Chinese cookbooks will tell you, is in the correct temeprature and the size of the ingredients. The heat has to be turned up to the max and the ingredients have to be small. If the meat pieces are too large, the outside will burn while the inside will be undercooked or, worse, raw. If the heat isn’t high enough, the vegetables will get soggy which would be a pity because good stir fries have tender-crisp vegetables.

So, what’s this dish? It’s twice cooked pork spare ribs, actually. The ribs are deep fried until brown and crisp, drained on lots of paper towels then stir fried with baby corn, carrots and celery. This was last Saturday’s lunch.

Ingredients :

750 g. of pork spare ribs
1 can of baby corn or 12 pieces of fresh baby corn
2 carrots
3 celery stalks
1 tbsp. of finely minced garlic
1/2 tbsp. of finely grated ginger
1 onion
1/8 c. of chinese cooking wine
sesame seed oil
salt and pepper
1 tbsp. of tapioca or corn starch
2 tbsps. of steak sauce
2-3 c. of cooking oil
1-2 tbsps. of chopped greens (parsley, onion leaves or garlic leaves for garnish)

Cooking procedure :

Cut the ribs in sections (between the bones). If the ribs are large, chop each piece into 2-3 portions. The bones are big and a lightweight chef’s knife or cleaver might not cut through. You can always have the butcher do this when you buy the ribs.

Season the ribs with salt and pepper.

Peel and coarsely chop the onion.

Peel and thinly slice the carrots.

Trim the celery stalks and cut into 1/4″ thick slices.

Drain the baby corn (if using canned), reserving the liquid. If using fresh baby corn, simmer in a cup and a half of water with a half a teaspoon of sugar and a pinch of salt for about 10 minutes before use. If the baby corns are large, cut into smaller pieces.

Disperse the starch in the corn water. Stir in the sesame seed oil, cooking wine and steak sauce.

Heat the cooking oil in a wok. When smoking, fry the pork ribs in batches over very high heat. Cook until brown and crisp. Drain on several layers of paper towels. Keep warm.

Pour off the cooking oil until only about two tablespoonfuls remain in the wok. Reheat. Saute the garlic and ginger until fragrant. Add the chopped onion and stir fry (very high heat!) for about 30 seconds. Add the sliced carrots and celery. Cook for about a minute. Add the baby corn and heat through. Return the browned spare ribs to the wok and toss a few times. Pour in the starch solution and cook, stirring, until the sauce thickens and clears.

Sprinkle with chopped greens just before serving.

Serve at once.