Steamed Chinese Spare Ribs with Black Beans

Cut the Spare Ribs (1.5 lb) into 1-inch bite-sized pieces and place it in a bowl.

Rinse the Fermented Black Beans (4 tsp).

On a cutting board, use the sides of your knife to smush the fermented black beans gently to break their skins. Add it to the bowl.

Finely chop up the Garlic (2 cloves) and add it to the bowl, make sure you mince this really finely so they can cook quicker during the short steaming process.

Add Soy Sauce (4 tsp), Water (1 Tbsp), Maple Syrup (2 tsp), Dark Soy Sauce (as needed), and Sesame Oil (as needed) to the bowl and mix the marinade well with the pork. Set it aside to marinate for 15-20 minutes in room temperature.

Once 15-20 minutes has passed, add the Corn Starch (1 Tbsp) into the meat and mix well with the marinade to form a slurry to coat all the meat. If there is not enough marinade to create a slurry, add 1 tablespoon of water to the meat and mix well until the meat is well coated with the marinade slurry- there shouldn’t be any dry clumps of corn starch.

Using a wok or high walled pan set the bamboo steamer/metal doohickey/criss-crossed wooden chopsticks to the bottom of the pan or wok.

Add in water til it reaches just below the bottom of the steamer/metal doohickey/criss-crossed wooden chopsticks. You don’t want the water to touch the bottom of your plate during the steaming process.

Set the stove to medium-high to high heat, cover your wok or pan with a lid, unless you are using a bamboo steamer – use the bamboo lid instead, and wait approximately 10 minutes for it to get hot and for the steam to build up in the pan.

Place the meat on a plate or shallow bowl and try to lay it out in a single layer. Drizzle Oil (1 Tbsp) on top of the meat evenly and put it in the steamer when it is hot. Steam for 8-10 minutes, depending on how big the chunks of meat are.

Once cooked, remove from steamer and add Scallion (1 stalk), Red Bird's Eye Chili Pepper (1) and Toasted White Sesame Seeds (to taste) and serve hot with rice!