As a food blogger, I have the habit of constantly exploring new flavors and cooking techniques. However, there are certain habits that I rarely deviate from. For example, making braised pork ribs using the recipe passed down from my grandma, and serving it with steamed rice. Whenever I serve this dish, I remember the good old times back in China. My mom used to pack my lunch box with some saucy braised ribs, steamed seven-grain rice, and a freshly made vegetable stir fry. Everything was made from scratch. I didn’t realize how lucky I was until I moved to the US, where I have to cook everything in my own kitchen if I want a family-style meal. Just like with other family dishes, my mom never needed a recipe for this dish. When I asked her how to cook my favorite braised pork ribs, it took her forever to measure everything and pass me a recipe that was still ambiguous. Today, even though I can still taste a subtle difference between our renditions of the dish, I’m lucky to enjoy the taste of home often. My husband loves the dish so much and he said it is just as good as he remembered.
Braised pork ribs, my mom’s style
Compared to many recipes out there, my family does a few things differently, to make the cooking easier to approach and the results extra delicious.
(1) Blanch the ribs instead of browning them.
I’ve seen many braised meat recipes require a browning procedure, where you “seal the flavors” into the meat and create a good texture. Not in this recipe. The browning process is messy, creating a lot of smoke and oil splatter. So my mom never browns the meat, but blanches it instead. You still get a great texture and flavor in the end, with tender, fall-off-the-bone pork, soaked in a scrumptious sauce.
(2) Add salty seasonings later.
My mom claims this method makes tenderer meat in a shorter cooking time. You add only the ingredients that do not contain salt at the beginning. Adding fresh aromatics at the very beginning of cooking is crucial because it helps eliminate the gaminess of the pork and adds fragrance to the broth. On the other hand, adding salt too early will tighten up the pork and require a longer braising time. So always add soy sauce and salt when the braising is halfway finished, when the meat starts to turn soft, but still has enough time to absorb the flavor and the saltiness.
(3) The one secret ingredient that makes your dish “wow”
There is one ingredient in this recipe that you might not be able to obtain easily outside of China – the red fermented bean curd. It’s a preserved tofu product cooked with soy sauce, rice wine, and sesame oil. I call it Chinese cheese, since its texture is similar to that of soft cheese and its taste is a bit stinky. In this recipe, my mom uses red fermented bean curd to add a complex flavor to the sauce. There are two types of fermented bean curd: white and red. The two have very distinct flavors. So, do not use the white type in this recipe. If you can’t find the red fermented bean curd or just don’t like its flavor, skip it. The pork will still taste very nice.
More cooking notes
Despite the fact that I’ve been following my mom’s recipe closely, there are a few things I do slightly differently.
(1) Use cornstarch to thicken the sauce
Instead of reducing the sauce by cooking it longer and stirring the pork constantly, I use a cornstarch slurry to thicken the sauce at the end. Not only does it shorten the cooking time, but it also makes the pork less likely to stick to the pan. If you still prefer to reduce the sauce by cooking it down, you can use a slotted spoon to transfer everything into a big bowl and cook the sauce down until it thickens (it could take anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes).
(2) Add vegetables at the end of cooking
This way, I can make a one-pan dinner with little effort. My mom rarely does this because she usually freezes the pork in small batches, and cooks vegetables with the pork when she reheats it. If you prefer to freeze the pork in advance for meal prep, do feel free to leave out the veggies.
More family recipes
Mom’s Best Pork Dumplings with Cabbage Mom’s Best Duck Pancakes (春饼, Mandarin Pancakes) Mom’s Best Chinese Gravy Noodles (Da Lu Mein, 打卤面) Mom’s Best Lamb Dumplings Mom’s Best Beef Stew with Tendon Mom’s Best Braised Duck Leg Mom’s Best Braised Chicken Stew with Mushrooms Mom’s Best Braised Pork Feet
If you give this recipe a try, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it (once you’ve tried it), and take a picture and tag it @omnivorescookbook on Instagram! I’d love to see what you come up with.
