SPARE RIBS, COLD TOFU, and BITTER MUSTARD

As I said yesterday, today, we are starting again with Chinese cooking practice.

I want something special today, something that I would eat in the GREAT chinese restaurant at home...so when I was reading the cook book... (yes, it is like a bible to me - I read it page per page, as literature, not just to cook) spare ribs and black bean sauce caught my eyes. 

I just spent around $70 on sauces and all the wierd stuff that you would normally not going to buy, except when you are going to open a restaurant. I want black bean sauce that I used to eat in great restaurant in china town in Jakarta. It happen I have 1 lb of spare ribs... so I thought that would be great idea. And surprise.. I have all the ingredients!

So Spare ribs... would like to do the steam spare ribs with black bean sauce, but I do not have the right plate small enough to fit to the bamboo steamer (I have that too - CRAZY! - and I might need to buy bigger steamer). So I do braised Spare Ribs. I use dried fermented black bean, garlic, and ginger sauteed in peanut oil, and spare ribs. It is not savory enough, so I use VERY little soy sauce, shiao xing wine and very little black bean paste. I braised the ribs a little longer, and it turn out VERY YUMMY!.

To go with it, I thought I make cold salad, tofu with sesame oil, very very little ijen soy sauce, and scallion.. VERY GOOD.. served very cold, a great opening for spare ribs. For vegetable, I do sauteed Bitter Mustard with dried mushroom and dried tiger lilly... it is so bland, that it highlight the spare ribs nicely.

Very good combo today, I am proud of it... After a small bowl of rice, and all the food, I do not feel stuffed, and NOT greasy at all... Very balance, and feel clean...That what chinese food suppose to be...