Steamed Black Bean Spare Ribs (蒸豉汁排骨) Recipe

Steamed spare ribs in black bean sauce... dim sum time anyone? ;)

The aroma of black bean marinated spare ribs, healthily steamed and served dim sum style :) 

> Origin: Chinese
> Cost: Inexpensive
> Ease: Very Easy

 This is one of my favourite Chinese dishes. Whenever my family and I go to dim sum, my parents know to always order this for me because they know I love it. My mother used to make this for dinner all the time when I lived at home. When she bought a new steamer, she gave me our old one (there's a giant hole in the top from where my sister put it on the stove), and I decided I'd make this for myself too! It's very very simple, you can even marinate the spare ribs beforehand and freeze them so that they're ready-to-steam! This version is exactly like the version you get at dim sum restaurants when you can yum cha, so definitely try it out if you're a fan (like me)! 

Ingredients:

• ~1 - 1.5 lbs pork spare ribs (cut into 1" pieces)
• 1.5 - 2 tbsp black bean sauce
• 1 tbsp chili garlic sauce
• 2 tspn cornstarch
• 1 tspn vegetable oil
• 1 tspn sugar
• 1/4 tspn white pepper
• salt to taste

Methods:

1. If your spare ribs aren't already cut, cut them into 1" pieces.
2. Mix together all the ingredients and marinate the spare ribs in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
3. Depending on what kind of steamer you're using to steam, set up the steamer and turn the heat to high until the water boils. Turn heat to medium-high and put the spare ribs in a steam-able container and steam for around 20 minutes (or until the spare ribs are not pink at all). If you're using a portable steamer (as in not stovetop), let the steamer run for around 5 minutes before putting the spare ribs into the steamer and steaming for an additional 20 minutes.
4. Turn the steamer off and be careful when removing it from the steamer. Serve!