Those popular Chinese steamed ribs are flavored by the magic of black beans, you will love either in hot or cold days. It is quite easy to prepare and requires no cooking skills comparing with other Chinese rib dishes like sweet and sour ribs and ribs and sticky rice wrapped in lotus loot leaf. Fermented black beans also known as black Dou-chi is a famous seasonings in many Chinese cuisines. You may find it is required in lots of famous Szechuan dishes including twice cooked pork belly, mapo tofu and water boiled pork .
Steaming dishes is a quite popular technique in Chinese cooking year around, but I especially love this method on summer days. Honestly, I do very little stir frying in front of high fire because it is so hot. Steaming might be a more tolerable method. My first choice of steaming technique in summer is a high pressure or a rice cooker. Steamer over a wok seems like a less popular choice because more heats escapes. So I would suggestion you trying to make steamed dishes with your rice cooker or high pressure cooker, you can use a rack stand.
You may have already tried a very similar Cantonese style in dim sum halls. This is my personal favorite version, slightly differ from Dim Sum style in the marinating sauce.
Cook’s Note
- Marinating is the key step for a good flavor result.
- Pour hot oil over garlic and fermented black bean can motivate the aroma.
- Adding your favorite vegetable at the bottom have two purposes. The first one is to support the ribs and make sure they are evenly cooked. And the second is to absorb the juicy and make itself something really delicious.
Steps
Wash the ribs and then soak in clean water for half hour. Replace the water with clean water once again. Then drain completely.
Add white pepper, sugar, ginger, fermented black beans, oyster sauce, light soy sauce and cooking wine. Combine well, covered and set aside for at least 3 hours or overnight.
Add 1 tablespoon of cornstarch and mix well. Then place in garlic and fermented black beans. Pour around 2 tablespoons of hot oil on surface.
Place mushrooms at bottom and then lay the ribs on top. Try to avoid overlaying.
Steam the ribs for 30 minutes after the water boils. Serve hot.
Steamed Ribs with Black Bean Sauce
Ingredients
- 500 g ribs
Marinating
- 1 tbsp. Chinese Shaoxing wine
- 1 tbsp. light soy sauce
- ½ tbsp. oyster sauce
- ¼ tsp. sugar
- ¼ tsp. white pepper powder
- 2 spring onions
- 1 thumb ginger , shredded
Other
- 1 tbsp. cornstarch
- 4 garlic cloves , finely chopped
- 1 tbsp. fermented black beans
- 2 tbsp. vegetable cooking oil
- beech mushooms , root removed
Instructions
- Wash the ribs and then soak in clean water for half hour. Replace the water with clean water once again. Then drain completely.
- Add white pepper, sugar, ginger, fermented black beans, oyster sauce, light soy sauce and cooking wine. Combine well, covered and set aside for at least 3 hours or overnight.
- Add 1 tablespoon of cornstarch and mix well. Then place in garlic and fermented black beans. Pour around 2 tablespoons of hot oil on surface.
- Steam the ribs for 30 minutes after the water boils. Serve hot.
Nutrition
Jessica
Very delicious. I added about a tsp of brown sugar and a little sweet dark soy sauce as well when we made these. I browned the ribs in a little oil before adding other ingredients and instead of steaming, I added about a half cup of water and cooked it in my Chinese clay pot on low heat for about an hour. Melting tender! This makes an excellent clay pot dish. The sauce is so nice over rice!
Elaine
I believe that you have found a new world of tender meat. Yes, you can steam this with rice if using clay pot. So the sauce is an ideal partner for rice too. Happy cooking!
Caroline
Hello. How much fermented black beans do you put in the marinade, and are the green onions added to the marinade as well?
Elaine
As listed in ingredient list, use 1 tablespoon of fermented black beans. Yes, green onions need to be added in the marinating process and decoration if needed.
steve bogart
I have been a Chinese chef for 30 years and I found using potato starch is the key to this recipe ,it gives the ribs that velvet mouth feel love your site keep up the good work Steve Bogart A.C.F certfied chef retired
Sue
Hi there! Can I use jar of black bean sauce in place of the fermented black beans? Or would it make the meat more salty?
Elaine
Yes, Sue. Black bean sauce can be used to replace fermented black beans. They are quite similar in saline taste.