Baked Spare Ribs with Red Wine Lees

Apart from Hong Zao Ji(红槽鸡) which is one of the common confinement dishes that most confinement nanny would prepared. This Baked Spare Ribs with Red Wine Lees (烤红糟排骨) is also another simple Foochow(Xinghua - 兴化人) homecook dishes where red wine lees is used to marinate and bake together with the spare ribs.

Thanks to one of my cooking pal, Alice whom share her recipe and tips on baking this Foochow style spare ribs dish. This is indeed a keeper recipe and it is best to use spare ribs instead of the usual pork ribs for its tender texture and nice presentation. The adding of extra ginger juice here is to remove some of that pork odor as well as act as natural tenderiser to the spare ribs.

Ingredients: (serves 2 - 3)
600g Spare Ribs(排骨), about 10 pieces
2 Heap Tablespoons of Red Wine Lees(红糟)
1 Teaspoon of White Sesame Seeds(白芝麻), optional

Seasonings:
1 Tablespoon of Cooking/Rice Wine
1/2 Tablespoon of Light Soy Sauce
1 Teaspoon of Dark Soy Sauce
1/2 Tablespoon of Sesame Oil
1 Teaspoon Fresh Ginger Juice
1 Teaspoon of Cornflour
Dash of Pepper

Method:-

1. Trim, rinse and blanched the spare ribs in boiling water for about 3 minutes. Rinse well and set aside. (this step is to allow the meat to absorb the marinate but it is optional)

2. Marinate prepared spare ribs with Red Wine Lees and seasonings till well combined.

3. Transfer mixture into a zip-lock bag and keep in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to an hour. (try not to marinate more than ah hour or else the meat will be tough)

4. Arrange marinated spare ribs on baking tray that is line with baking paper and drizzle some extra sesame oil on it before baking in preheated 180 degree oven for about 25 - 30 minutes  or till meat is cooked through (turning at least twice to get an even colour coating).

5. Remove the cooked spare ribs, arrange on serving plate and sprinkle some lightly toasted sesame seeds on it for that extra fragrant.


If you have NEW ways of using these Red Wine Lees(红槽) for cooking/baking do share with us your ideas or recipes so that we can keep these traditional ingredient and dishes going on.

Thanks for all your "BUZZ(s)" and support friends. Baked Spare Ribs With Red Wine Lees post has make it to FoodBuzz Today's Top 9, 21st May 2011.(Here)

Featured On: FoodBuzz Today's Top 9, 21st May 2011.(Here)

More On Japanese Steamed Cakes

Thanks everyone for your kind comments given to my previous 3 entries on the Japanese Steamed Cakes post. To share the joy with you today I was so surprised to notice a mentioned about my Japanese Steamed Sweetcorn Cake(Chinese version) while flipping through my daily reads on MyPaper( pg B2).

Asian fusion of the Durian Steamed Cake(榴莲蒸糕)

After the previous 3 steamed cake posts, I have received some email enquires regarding either on their failures or success attempted on those recipes. A few of them ever mentioned that their steamed cake ttends to urns out hard and flat compared to the rise and “open/huat” cakes that are shown on my posts.

So here are a few tips that I would like to share from my view:-
1. The water for steaming the cake must be boiling before you put the cake batter in.

2. Steamed over Medium High heat for about 8 – 12 minutes depending on the size of your steamed cakes.

3. While whisking egg and sugar, try to beat till foamy and pale roughly about 5 minutes including stopping time.

4. The final cake batter should be of dripping consistency instead of gluey and sticky.

Steamed Pandan Cake with Sweet Potato Cubes (香兰番薯蒸糕)

Lastly from the photos above, you can see that there will be some other NEW recipes coming out soon such as the Steamed Durian Cake, Steamed Pandan Cake with Sweet Potato Cubes and etc flavour that you will be surprised with. So do stay around and keep a look out for these recipes soon.

Japanese Steamed Double Chocolate Cake

Apart from the "Japanese Steamed Sweetcorn Bun(Mushipan)" and "Japanese Steamed Matcha Cake" that I made recently. Here is another Steamed Chocolate Cake recipe which I have adapted from Nami from Just one Cookbook. Both Joyce(@ahpoohbear) and I have tried making this recipe and we both love its moist and soft texture using cake flour. And my boy who is very picky about cake texture also requested for a second helping after he sample some. So I recommend this recipe as a good keeper for those who wish to whisk up something quick and easy for afternoon tea in less than 30 minutes.

If you cannot find any Dutch-process cocoa powder you can always replace it with any brand of baking cocoa powder that you own. And for a chance you can also add in half banana(mashed) to achieve a more fragrant and moist texture.

(Original recipe adapted from Just One Cookbook)
Ingredients: (makes 3 - 4 cakes)
75g Cake Flour
1 1/2 Tablespoon Dutch-Process Cocoa Powder
1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1 Large Egg
3 Tablespoons Drinking Water
2 Tablespoons Caster Sugar
2 Tablespoons Corn Oil
2 Tablespoons of Mini Chocolate Chips

Method:-

1. Sieves cake flour, baking powder and cocoa powder together. (sieves at least twice)

2. Using a balloon whisk, beat egg and sugar till foamy and pale (about 5 minutes).

3. Stir in water and oil in sequence then follow by the flour mixture till well combined.

4. Lastly toss in 1.5 tablespoons of chocolate chips. Spoon mixture into prepared foil/ramekins cups that are lined with paper liners.

5. Place the cups in steamer/wok(with boiling water in it), cover and steam over high heat for about 10 - 12 minutes(depending on the size) or until a skewer inserted into one of the buns and comes out clean.


I am submitting this Japanese Steamed Chocolate Cake to Aspiring Bakers #7: Chocolate Delight (May 2011), hosted by Doris of Tested and Tasted.

[$20 Budget Meal] Winter Melon Soup, Steamed Silken Tofu with Salmon And Sweetcorn Plus Steamed Beef Steak with Onion

For this set of Budget Meal it will be slightly a bit more expensive than those I prepared previously due to the higher cost of Salmon and Beef. Here we spent a total of roughly S$18.60 for Winter Melon Soup, Steamed Tofu with Salmon and Steamed Beef Steak. And to your surprise this is also my very first time sharing a “beef” dish in this blog too.

Sometime cooking is way of art and mental planning too. For example this Soup of the Day is rather similar to my previous “Winter Melon, Woodear And Pork Ribs Soup” but I replaced the woodear with sweetcorn and carrot for a more refreshing taste.

Ingredients: (serves 4)
300g Pork Ribs
250g Winter Melon, skin removed cut into wedges
1 Sweetcorn, cut into sections
1 Medium Carrot, cut into thick slices
6 Red Dates

Method:-

1. Blanched pork ribs in boiling water for 2 - 3 minutes, remove and rinse with tap water. Set aside.

2. Bring 1.5 litres of water to boil in a soup pot.

3. Add in all the ingredients when the mixture comes to boil again, lower the heat and simmer for about 30 - 40 minutes.

4. Lastly season it with salt to taste according to own preference.

Total cost for this dish is about S$5.80 with breakdown shown below:-
Cost of Ingredients:
~ Pork Ribs = S$3.00
~ Fresh Winter melon, Carrot and Sweetcorn= S$2.80

This is the second time I have used “salmon” fillet in preparing steamed dish. The first one was about a year ago where I steamed the salmon fillet together with Dang Gui to create a Chinese New Year dish (recipe). In this post, I combined this month Budget Meal specific ingredients – “Tofu” together with salmon to prepare this “Steamed Silken Tofu with Salmon And Sweetcorn” where you get to enjoy 3 different textures in one dish.

Ingredients: (serves 4)
1 Box of Silken Tofu
150g Salmon Fillet
1/2 Sweetcorn, remove kernels from cob
5 Slices of Ginger, julienne

Seasoning:
1 Teaspoon Sesame Oil
1/4 Teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper
Pinch of Salt

The bland tofu blends well with the sweet and fragrant taste from the corn kernels as well as with a contrast between crunchy and smooth texture that makes you crave for more scoop. The adding of salmon increase the Omega 3 and Proteins of this dish, which makes it, perfect for everyone at home especially the growing up kids.

Method:-

1. Cut the tofu into slices of equal thickness, drained well and place it onto steaming plate.

2. Cut the Salmon fillet into cubes and scatter it together with the fresh corn kernels evenly on top and around the sides of the tofu.(refer to the photo above)

3. Next top with julienne ginger and spoon the seasoning(mix all the ingredients together)over the prepared tofu.

4. Cover the tofu plate with cling wrap tightly leaving just a little ventilation hole.

5. Steam it on high heat in a steamer/wok (with boiling water in it)  for about 10 minutes. Remove and serve.

Total cost for this dish is about S$5.90 with breakdown shown below:-
Cost of Ingredients:
~ Salmon = S$3.90
~ Silken Tofu and Sweetcorn= S$2.00

If you have being following most of my blog posts, you will notice that this seems to be my very 1st "Beef" dish recipe from those hundreds of recipes that I have. Friendly speaking using "beef" as one of the main ingredients is something that I always phobia of because to me you can either ruin or perfect it in just a few seconds of cooking time.

Ingredients: (serves 2)
200g Beef Steak, whole/slices
1 Medium Red Onion, thinly slices
2 Stalks Spring Onion, cut into sections
Red Chili, slices
3 Garlic Coves, lightly pound

Seasoning:
10g Butter
1 Teaspoon Fresh Milk
1 Teaspoon Black Peppercorns, crashed

Initially I was still quite worry about the taste and texture while preparing this dish but when it is out from the steamer I was totally surprised with the outcome. The texture of the beef slices is still quite good and tender despite of the steaming method. And the beef stock sauce was great with a hint of black pepper and onion taste too. Indeed this is a great chance on preparing steak on it's usual char-grilled or stew methods. (if you don't consumed beef, you can also replaced it with Pork Fillet(梅肉/腰肉) which is more tender in texture).

Method:-

1. Using paper kitchen towel lightly pat dry the beef steak. Set aside.

2. As I want the sauce and seasoning to infuse the steak in a faster way, I have cut the steak into slices before arranging them on steaming plate. (you can leave it as whole and serve as individual main course too)

3. Next arrange all the ingredients and seasonings on top of the beef steak.

4. Wrap the plate with cling wrap steam it over high heat for about 8 - 10 minutes depend on your preference.

5. Remove and serve with steamed rice or as individual main course with mashed/baked potato.

Total cost for this dish is about S$6.90 with breakdown shown below:-
Cost of Ingredients:
~ Beef Steak = S$5.40
~ Spring onion, garlic, chili and onion = S$1.50

CLOSING DATE For [May $20 Budget Meal] Event:

~ Wednesday, 25 May 2011, 2359 hours and all entries will be compiled and posted on 31st May 2011.

If you loves to whipped some quick and budget healthy dishes for your family. I would like to invite you to join us in our May Budget Meal event to share your homecook dishes with us(more detail HERE).