Dry Rub Ribs

I am not good at grilling, but I do bake from time to time. I used to bake ribs, such as Cumin Flavored Ribs.

Several years ago, I went to Memphis with my husband on a business trip. He introduced the dry rub ribs to me. He took me to a restaurant at downtown Memphis, it’s called ‘The Rendezvous’. That is the oldest BBQ restaurant in Memphis, and its main location is at the basement of the building. I had my first dry rub ribs over there.

The next time we went back to Memphis, we stayed at a hotel far away from downtown Memphis, So I tried to find a BBQ restaurant closer to where we stay, and I found one! We both love their ribs. And the waiter was kind enough to offer us some dry rub seasoning with our left over ribs. This restaurant is called ‘Corky’s Ribs and BBQ’. This is where I got my cooking idea.

Ingredients:

one slab of baby back ribs

I will list detailed seasoning in the methods.

Methods:

There are 3 steps to cook the rib. Let’s start with step 1.

1. Cut ribs into pieces to fit the pot.

I don’t have a pot that the uncut ribs would fit, so I normally cut every 3 or 4 bones.

2. Fill the pot with cold water, drop in a few slices of ginger root, add 2-3 tbsp cooking wine and 1-2 tbsp vinegar. Put ribs into the pot, Medium high heat bring to boil.

Ginger, cooking wine and vinegar combination are my secret when cooking meat to get rid of the meaty taste and smell. And they always work fine.

3. As the water temperiture goes up, you will see some bubbles floating on top of water. Use something to scope them out as much as you can.

4. Once you scope most of the bubbles out, turn heat off, put lid back on, let the pot sit for about 5 minutes.

Now it’s time for step 2.

5. Prepare the seasoning for step 2.

What I normally use are Zanthoxylum, Star Anise, cinnamon stick, dry cloves, basil leaves, green tea, tangerine peel and amomum villosum as the dry seasoning.

Also, cooking wine, vinegar, sugar and soy sauce will be needed. Soy sauce is only used for color purposes. I like the meat to show a darker color. You can see the difference from the below pictures.

       

6. Take ribs out of pot. Clean the pot, and fill up with cold or hot water, put all the seasoning in, medium high heat bring to boil, then keep it simmer for about 5 minutes.

This time, I put just 1 tbsp cooking wine, 1 tsp vinegar, 1 tsp sugar into the pot. You can pour as much soy sauce in as you want to depends on the darkness you like.

7. Rinse all the rib, clean all the dirty stuff out. See before and after from the picture.

Also, rinse all the ginger slices, put them back into the pot.

8. After simmer for 5 minutes, find the tea bag, tangerine peel and amomum villosum from the pot and toss them.

These three has strong taste to me, so I don’t let them take over the taste of seasoning. My theory on seasoning is a good balance of the combination instead of a very strong individual seasoning.

9. Put all the ribs into the pot, turn heat to medium high, bring to boil, then simmer for about 35 minutes. Leave ribs in the pot for at least 30 minutes.

Time may vary, depends on how tender you want the meat to be.

I normally leave ribs in the pot for overnight, bake them in the morning.

Finally, we come to step 3.

10. Get all the seasoning ready and mix well.

What’s showing in the picture is my current favorite combination. You can make whatever changed you like to, according to how you want the ribs to taste.

11. Preheat oven to 400°F.

12. Lay a foil sheet over the baking pan, then lay ribs on top, use a spoon to spread the seasoning evenly over the ribs. Bake for 20 – 30 minutes.

I like to use foil sheet because I am too lazy to clean the baking pan 🙂

You can save the juice left from the pot. I try to remove all the grease and leftover herbs from the pot, then put the juice in freezer for next time use. And you can add less herb or no herb when you reuse it. The more you reuse, the more it tastes better.

13. Now it’s time to serve!

Cumin Flavored Ribs

This rib is one of our traditional way to cook. My husband loves it so much so I cook it about once a month.

Ingredients:

rib, ground cumin, salt, pepper, ginger powder, garlic powder, ginger root slices.

Methods:

1. Pour some cold water into a pot.

2. Chop ribs along the bone, then put into the cold water pot, add some vinegar and cooking oil, and a few slices of ginger root, medium high heat bring it to boil. Turn off heat, let it sit for about 5 minutes, take ribs, rinse off.

3. Pre-heat oven to 400°F/200°C.

4. Mix the powder seasoning together, slightly coat the ribs.

          

5. Bake for about 25 – 30 minutes, until the surface of the rib start grease bubbling.

Steamed Rib in (Kabocha) Squash

 The Squash I used is normally called ‘Japanese Squash’ at Asian Supermarket. It’s called Kabocha Squash offically. It tastes sweet, and is my favorite squash. 

Ingredients:

ribs, squash, egg white, corn starch, seasoning.

Methods:

1. Clean ribs with water, then put into a saucepan, add water to cover all the ribs, add some cooking wine, white vinegar, and a few slices of ginger root. Cook on medium high heat to boil. Turn off heat, then let it sit for about 5 minutes. 

When cooking meat and seafood, I love to use some ginger root. I think ginger works much better than lemon juice. 

2. Rinse ribs with warm water, then dry with paper towel. Add seasoning to ribs, set overnight in refrigerator or at least several hours. 

For seasoning, I normally use soybean sauce, vinegar, sugar, salt, ginger root, green onion and black pepper.

                   

3. Clean the squash, chop the top off, take all the seeds out.

4. Mix seasoned ribs with a little bit egg white, mix well with corn starch then. Fill ribs into squash.

5. Steam the squash for about 50 – 60 minutes.

6. You can top with chopped green onion. Serve warm. 

You can use other kind but similar squash, like acorn squash. Of course, you can use other kind of meat, too. I’m thinking of trying chicken one day. I think it would be good, too. 

To view this recipe in Chinese, please click here

Steamed Ribs

Steamed Rib

I was in meat mode yesterday, and ribs was the only meat I had, so I cooked some ribs. And it turned out really good, everybody likes it!

Ingredients:

ribs, cellophane noodle (this wasn’t planned to begin with), seasoning.

Methods:

1. Chop ribs into small pieces.

I normally ask the supermarket to slice ribs into inch-wide strips, and then chop them by bones before I cook.

2. Put ribs into a sauce pan, add cold water, then cover with lid, medium high heat, bring pan to boil. Turn off the heat, let it sit for about 5 minutes.

3. Pour ribs into a drainer, raise with warm water, drain well.

4. Put ribs into a container (I used a ziploc bag), add whatever seasoning into bag, massage some, let it sit for several hours.

For seasoning, I used cooking wine, vinegar, soy bean sauce, sugar, garlic powder, ginger powder, oyster sauce, and ground pepper. If you like salty food, you can add some salt into it.

5. Meantime, soak cellophane noodle into cold water.

6. Find a deep plate (like soup plate), lay cellophane noodle at the bottom, then set ribs on top of it.

7. Fill steamer with water, high heat to bring it to boil, then put ribs in, adjust heat to medium after several minutes. Total cooking time is about 30 minutes.

Most of the time when I steam something, the plate will come out with a circle of marks of food, but this time the plate actually came out with clean edge. I think it’s because the cellophane noodle at bottom.

Steamed Noodle with Rib and Green Bean

Steamed Noodle with Rib and Green Bean

 

This is one of my most favorite way to cook noodle. It tastes a lot better than regular stir fried noodle.

Steamed Noodle with Rib and Green BeanIngredients:

fresh noodle, green bean, ribs, ginger root, seasoning (salt, sugar, cooking wine, vinegar, soybean sauce).

Methods:

Steamed Noodle with Rib and Green BeanSteamed Noodle with Rib and Green Bean1. Slice ginger root, take 4 slices, put into cold water in wok, add some cooking wine into water.

2. Chop ribs into small pieces, then put into cold water, set wok on high heat, bring to boil, then simmer for several minutes. Rinse with warm water.

Steamed Noodle with Rib and Green BeanI had the butcher sliced ribs short when I bought it.

3. Add water into wok, just enough to cover ribs, add cooking wine, vinegar and a little bit sugar, then add ribs back into wok, high heat to boil, simmer for about 30 minutes or until ribs are done.

Steamed Noodle with Rib and Green Bean4. Meantime, tear the edge off green bean, then tear into shorter pieces, wash with water, drain.

5. Add green bean into wok when ribs are done, add salt, soybean sauce, simmer for about 10-15 minutes, or until green bean start getting soft.

Steamed Noodle with Rib and Green Bean6. Spread noodle over rib and green bean, cover with lid, simmer for about 20 minutes.

7. Turn heat off, mix noodle with rib and green bean, so noodle will be coated with leftover juice in wok.

 

Steamed Noodle with Rib and Green Bean

Steamed Noodle with Rib and Green Bean

 

Stew with Rib and Sauerkraut

 

sauerkraut001

 

This is my first time cooking with sauerkraut. There is something similar to it in China, it’s made of Napa Cabbage, not regular cabbage.

Ingredients:sauerkraut00101

sauerkraut, ribs, cellophane noodle, seasoning to taste, ginger root (optional).

Method:

1. Soak cellophane noodle in cold water, set aside.

sauerkraut001022. Pour cold water into skillet, add ribs, add cooking wine, little vinegar, maybe several slices of ginger root or ginger powder. Bring to boil on high heat, then simmer for about 5 minutes.

3. Drain ribs, rinse with warm water, set aside.

4. Form sauerkraut into several balls, squeeze some juice out of it, so it won’t taste too sour.sauerkraut00103

5. Pour enough water into skillet, bring to boil, add cooking wine and little sugar.

6. Put ribs and cellophane into skillet, then cover with sauerkraut, bring to boil, simmer for about 10 minutes.

7. Add salt into skillet, and any other seasoning you like, such as pepper, soybean sauce, etc.

8. Simmer for another 10 minutes or until cellophane noodle turn clear.

9. Serve when hot.

 

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