Baked Herbal Spare Ribs

Most of us would have heard or tried the Steam Herbal Chicken(药材鸡) from either local food stalls or Chinese Restaurant. The chicken is usually wrapped in foil together with some assorted Chinese herbs(eg: dang gui, wolfberries, red dates and etc.) and steam until tender for about an hour plus or so.

This round, instead of the usual Steam or Deep-fried Herbal Chicken I would like to share with you this Baked Herbal Pork Ribs which creates another new fusion of herbal taste. So if you love the taste and gravy of the usual Herbal Chicken, don't hesitate, come and join us to explore the new taste of this Baked Herbal Pork Ribs with just minimum requirement of ingredients from you kitchen pantry.

Ingredients: (serves 2)
8 Pieces of Spare Ribs(排骨)
3/4 Tablespoon Oyster Sauce
1/2 Tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
1 Teaspoon Sesame Oil
1/2 Tablespoon Grated Ginger Juice
1/4 Teaspoon Black Pepper

For Wrapping:
8 small slices of Dang Gui (当归)
1 Tablespoon Wolfberries (枸杞子)
1 Sprig of Coriander, leave only
8 Pieces of Aluminium Foil
8 Pieces of Baking Paper

Method:
1. Wash, trim and pad dry the spare ribs then marinate it with the above mentioned ingredients and set side in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to an hour.
2. At the meantime, cut the Aluminium Foil and Baking Paper to the size of about roughly 15 x 20cm each and set aside for later use.
3. Place a piece of the baking paper on top of the aluminium foil, place a few wolfberries, 1 leaf of the coriander, top with 1 piece of marinated spare rib, add another leaf of coriander, 1 slice of dang gui and a few more wolfberries.(refer to the above picture for more detail of the placement)
4. Fold the baking paper into a parcel shape to wrap the spare rib then double-wrapped it wth the foil layer.
5. Repeat the same procedure for the remaining spare ribs, bake the wrapped parcel in pre-heated 200 degree oven for about 20 - 25 minutes (remove a parcel from the oven, use a chopstick to pierce and test whether the meat is cooked through before removing the rest of the parcels)
6. If it is not cook through, continue to bake for another 5 - 10 minutes.

Note:
~ You can also drizzle some of the marinated sauce on top of the spare ribs before wrapping.


So as you can see, even with some simple ingredients on hand you can create some amazing and eye appealing dish for your guest. This is great to serve as finger food during gathering or party. I am sure your guests will be impressed by this colourful and aroma dish when they open up each of these individual treasure packet. And other than the spare ribs, you will also be able to taste the herbal gravy which expel from the meat during the baking processes from the high temperature.

Double-boiled Pork Essence

Most of us are more familiar with Essence of Chicken, which we get to drink a very small bowl of Essence extracted from the Double-boiled Chicken. Despite of either using the normal Kampung Chicken or the nutrition Black Chicken that is normally used in Confinement, you can also replace it with Lean Pork or Minced Beef.

But today we are going to try out Pork Fillet Essence. To make your Essence more herbal taste, you can add in a small amount of these herbs to have a light double-boiled Essence. But remember, don't add in too much because it will eventually absorb the liquid during the double-boiled process and you will end up with less essence. Previous post, we make use of American Ginseng Root to double-boiled chicken soup so this round, we shall try on the Stem itself which yield the Ginseng Slices.

Ingredients: (serve 1)
500g Pork Fillet, cut into thin slices or minced
1 - 2 Red Dates(红枣), cut into halves
1 Teaspoon Wolfberries(枸杞子)
4 Slices of American Ginseng Slices
150ml of DOM(法国廊酒), optional
4cm Wide of Dried Hui Shan(淮山), optional
1 Slice of Yu Zhu(玉竹), break into small pieces, optional

Method:
1. Wash and trim all the fat from the pork fillet, use the back of the knife to roughly pound the pork slices.
2. Rinse and drain all the herbs then place some of it in the middle of the double-boil pot. (refer to the photo below)
3. Use small saucer or rice bowl to cover the herbs.
4. Place the pounded pork slices over the top of the sauce(refer to the photo below).
5. Lastly sprinkler the reserved wolfberries and other herbs on top, covered and place it in the slow cooker.
6. Add enough boiling water to cover almost 3/4 or more of the double-boil pot then cook over low heat for approximately 2hrs then open and drizzle the DOM evenly on the meat.
7. Continue to cook for another 30minutes. Serve immediately or reserved till later consume.

Note:
~ If you are using American Ginseng Slices, you can omit the use of DOM and serve it this Essence to kid.


As this Essence is Double-Boiled with DOM(Benedictine DOM Liqueur), it might not be suitable for kids unless you omit the use of this liqueur. You can prepared this in the mid-afternoon and reheat it to consume it before bedtime.

BAKERZIN - August Promotion

Look at this, isn't it look Luscious............ Saw this Bakerzin Tiramisu advertisement at TODAY newspaper on the way to work. On the first glance, my thought was "WOW~~~~, my favourite Tiramisu. Must go grab it after work today". So I am sure this is also a great news for Tiramisu lover or if you are a fan of Bakerzin products.


Other than the above Promotion on Tiramisu, they are also having a Mooncake sale which valid till this 31st August 2009. Maybe I would like to try their Sesame Truffle Selection which looks interesting to me compare to those traditional flavours. You can check up more details on their official website(here) or run down to any of their outlets(here) near your area.