Uncle Tan's Braised Pork Ribs

Uncle Tan who is a chef and an old family friend made these braised pork ribs for a party. The brother and the father raved about the ribs. For days all they talked about was how juicy and tender the ribs were. Anyway, Uncle Tan very generously passed us the recipe. He even bought the pork ribs and the necessary spices. We are just so lucky to have friends like him. A good deed begets another. Thus with Uncle Tan's blessings, here is the recipe to share with everyone. You will need to get your own ingredients though : ) 

Uncle Tan's Braised Pork Ribs

Ingredients
1kg pork ribs or soft bone (cut into 5cm pieces with fats trimmed off)
2 tbsp oil
40g galangal (smashed with the back of a knife)
40g ginger (smashed with the back of a knife)
1 tsp coriander powder
2 sticks cinnamon (each stick about 5cm)
2 star anise
1tbsp bean paste
12 cloves garlic (leave skin intact)
2 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
water or stock

Place pork ribs in a colander, pour boiling water over it and drain well. The purpose here is to clean the pork ribs and gets rid of any gaminess.

Heat up oil in a sturdy pot, ideally a clay pot. Add the galangal, ginger, coriander powder, cinnamon, star anise and bean paste. Fry the aromatics over medium heat for about 3 minutes. Bring up the heat, add the pork ribs to the pot and continue frying for 5 more minutes. If it gets too dry and the spices are starting to blacken, sprinkle some water in the pot.   

Add garlic, dark soy sauce and sugar to the pot and mix well. Pour in enough water or stock to just cover the ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to very low, cover and cook for about 2 hours until the meat is tender and falling off the bone. What I do is to transfer the pot from the gas stove to an electric hot plate for the simmering. Lift the lid once or twice to skim off scum and oil. Otherwise resist all temptations to open the lid.

Remove the spices and garlic by running the sauce through a strainer. Skim off oil. Bring the gravy to a boil and add more dark soy sauce and/or sugar according to taste. Something I do which is optional is to add a little corn or potato starch to thicken and add a sheen to the sauce.

Pour the sauce back onto the ribs and serve with rice or noodles.

Comments

[keona]

Please thank Uncle Tan for sharing this yummy recipe. Cant wait to go to Chinatown to get the ingredients. I wish more of the older generation would share their recipes for the benefit of the next generation. Again thanks to you both for sharing this recipe. It means a lot esp to those of us who live overseas.

[babe_kl]

whoa looked so yummy, just like those i ordered from restaurants!! i had marmite pork ribs last nite and it was really good

[pinkcocoa]

oh my, ST. The pork ribs look so gorgeously delicous and inviting. Look at that gloss and shine on the ribs! Definitely have to try this recipe out.
Thank you, Uncle Tan! and thank you, ST!

[Mia aka The Skinny Epicurean]

That picture looks sooo good!! I'm going to try it when my boy returns from his Indonesia relief efforts, as a welcome home surprise!

Thanks for sharing!

[Min]

Looks sooo good!!I must try!

[ST]

Hi keona, I share the same view as you. That's why I have been trying to learn as much as I can from friends and relatives. I am lucky that they are willing to teach me.

Hi babe KL, I love marmite! I like to put it in my porridge. Marmite pork ribs sounds delicious. Do u have a recipe to share?

pinkcocoa, the gloss is due to the potato starch added to the sauce. Its worth the extra effort.

Hi Mia, your boy deserves a big piece of ribs for helping out in the relief effort :)

Min, try try and let me know if you like it hor :)

[santos.]

hi st! these look fantastic. it was so nice of uncle tan to let us all in on his recipe, and thank you for passing it on.

[Mellie]

My compliments to your uncle. This pork ribs looks simply delicious. I´m already salivating from looking at them! :)
I´m amazed by ur cooking skills. Have a forum myself for asian & western cuisine. Will really appreciate it if you could join in the fun and share with us there your beautiful recipes/cooking :)

[Reid]

Hi ST,

You're such a lucky girl. Besides Yulia, you also have Uncle Tan. These look so delish! I'm going to try these soon.

BTW...after tasting the sambal prawns at Umami's place, I came back to Hawaii and made it for some Singaporean friends of mine. They loved it and wondered where I learned to cook it. I'm keeping that secret to myself. =)

[babe_kl]

Sorry i don't have the recipe, tried google too... nothing. lemme see if i got time to macgyver my way thru one or not hehehe

[stef]

i can only drool for the first 5 mins...it looks so good. thank you and your uncle tan for sharing his recipe :)

[shirley]

mmmm...looks very tasty! i was just wondering about the bean paste ingredient...is it hot bean paste, sweet bean paste, or brown bean paste? btw, i love your blog, keep it up!

[ST]

Hi santos, thanks!

Hi Mellie, welcome to my blog.

Psst,Reid. Keep this recipe to yourself too. Heee

Hi babe KL, when you are sucessful , let me know.

U are welcome, stef. Uncle Tan is very please people like his recipe.

Thanks shirley. The bean paste is salted soy bean. They are available either in paste or whole beans which u can into paste.

[Tian]

It's slowly cooking on my stove right now .. hehe.

Realised during cooking that you didn't specify when the bean paste goes in or did I not read carefully?

TQ

[Leong]

Hi there... I've recently discovered how yummy marmite pork ribs are and decided to learn how to cook it. The thing about me is that I've never cooked pork dishes before ( due to the fact that I used to share apartment with non pork eaters) so, I would really appreciate it if you could teach me the ABCs of cooking pork, from choosing the right piece of meat,to cleaning, marinating and finally cooking it.....Are there special precautions to take for the meat preparation...etc....Most recipe instructions I found would go straight to the cooking part. Hope you could advise me on this. Thanks.

[Ellen Tutsch]

Uncle Tan....you are our hero! I tried this recipe tonight for my honey, had two country style pork chops I did not know what to do with, and followed your recipe to the letter except I did not have galangal and anise....so I replaced this with a stem of cut up lemon grass and a few allspice kernels. WOW! My husband says it was the best pork ever! I made it with some fried jasmine/egg/green onion rice and some fresh bok-choy wok prepared with sesame oil and a little red pepper and soy. The combo was so delicious......but next I want to try your recipe again with the correct ingredients....actually I have never heard of galangal before and look forward to trying it! Uncle Tan, you are my HERO....thanks for sharing this, it is such a new twist on spicing and so delicious, and for sure, a new flavor our family and friends will enjoy for years to come.