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Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Sweet and Sour Ribs with Zhenjiang vinegar

Sweet and Sour Ribs, or Tangcu Paigu (糖醋排骨), is one of my father-in-law's great dishes. It is made with tender pork ribs stir fried with a mix of scallions, soy sauces, Zhenjiang black vinegar, and sugar. 

Method

Stir fry the pork ribs to get a nice sear and some flavor. Then add soy sauce, a few slices of ginger, a lot of water and boil for 20 minutes.

Remove the ribs from the liquid. Heat up oil in a big pan. Add scallions. Then, add ribs and stir for more searing. In quick succession, add soy sauces (light and dark), black vinegar, and sugar and stir. When the ribs are coated with sauce in a few seconds, the dish is ready.

Notes

The ribs are pre-boiled to remove some fat and tenderize the meat. The soy sauce and ginger also infuse the meat with flavor. The liquid can be reserved for soups and sauces. Sometimes my father-in-law fries the ribs before saucing them up, but I prefer the boil method because the meat is tenderer, less oil is used, and you have a lovely pork broth in addition to great ribs.

Zhenjiang black vinegar is also called Chinkiang vinegar. It is one of China's four famous vinegars and easy to find in Asian groceries. It is made from glutinous rice and has a complex aroma and taste than combines well with soy sauce. It's frequently eaten with fattier foods like ribs and all sorts of dumplings.

The combination of light and dark soy sauces are for flavor and coloring. The light soy sauce is what most people use when they say soy sauce. It is light in color, but big on flavor (and sodium). The dark soy sauce is thicker and darker and has a slightly different flavor. A few drops of it will color any meat dish dark brown.

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