Braised Pork Rib in Aromatic Sauce (酱香排骨)

I learned this intoxicatingly delicious dish in Chengdu, Sichuan. The recipe is from Shandong, but Jiang Yi, the home chef, is from Sichuan. Jiang Yi’s friend once cooked this dish for him and he’s been cooking it ever since! Braised pork rib in aromatic sauce (酱香排骨, jiàng xiāng páigǔ) seduces while it simmers. After opening spice containers holding cumin seed, bay leaves, star anise, Sichuan peppercorns, cardamom, and báizhǐ, their scents arouse the appetite while the stomach purrs. From that moment this dish has you waiting anxiously for one excruciating hour. It’s worth the wait.

Ingredients

Deep fry

• 600 grams pork rib, cut into 2-inch pieces
• 50 milliliters (2 tablespoons) milk
• 4 tablespoons flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 750 milliliters (3 cups) cooking oil, for deep frying

Braise

• 1 tablespoon cooking oil
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 85 grams scallion, white part sliced
• 25 grams ginger, sliced
• 1 teaspoon green Sichuan peppercorn
• 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 650 milliliters (2¼ cups) water
• 2 star anise (大料, dà liào) 12 segments
• 6 bay leaves (香叶, xiāng yè)
• 3 Angelica dahurica (白芷, báizhǐ)
• 1 black cardamom or amomum tsao-ko (草果, cǎo guǒ)
• ½ teaspoon cumin seed (茴香, huíxiāng)

Method

1. Wash ribs, rinsing away any bone bits. Place ribs in a large mixing bowl. Add flour, salt, and milk then coat ribs with this batter. Heat 750 milliliters of cooking oil in a deep pan or wok. Fry until golden brown and set aside.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon of cooking oil in a ceramic pot or dutch oven. Add sugar and stir a little while adding scallion, ginger, and green Sichuan peppercorn. Add the ribs and toss. Add dark soy sauce, salt, and water. If ribs are not covered by the water, add a little more until ribs are the same level with surface of water. Add star anise, bay leaves, Angelica dahurica, black cardamom, and cumin seed. Cover and stew for one hour.

Serves 4

Great with rice!

• Tweet
• "&title=""">