Five spice spare ribs

For this dish it is best that you deep fry your ribs.  Now to do this I would say to be authentic you should use peanut oil about 600ml/1 pint should do. Now the only problem with that is that you end up with a lot of oil that you cannot use for any thing else.  You can let it cool strain it through a filter and re-use it when cooking pork.  But unless you are doing a lot of ribs regularly then this is not very practical.  So what I will do is just cook them in the oven.  Also the fact that this will be a lot heather is another thing.

For the spareribs and marinade

750g/1½lb pork spareribs approximately 7.5cm/3in long.

1 tbsp  rice wine or dry sherry

1 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tbsp Chinese black rice vinegar or cider vinegar

2 tsp sesame oil

1 tbsp corn flour

For the sauce

2 tbsp finely chopped garlic

2 tsp five-spice powder

3 tbsp finely chopped spring onions

3 tbsp Chinese rock sugar or granulated sugar

3 tbsp  rice wine or dry sherry

150ml/5 fl oz chicken stock

1½ tbsp light soy sauce

2 tbsp dried grated orange peel

85ml/3fl oz Chinese black rice vinegar or cider vinegar

Get your ribs from the butchers or if you cannot get then the right size just use a good strong knife or cleaver to cut them up.  Once the rids are ready you need to make up the marinade.  Add your corn flour to the bowl and then the liquid a little at a time you do not want it to go lumpy.  Just keep whisking and once it has been absorbed by some of the liquid add every thing else.  Make sure the ribs get a good coating then cover and place in the fridge for about 2 hours or more.

Take the ribs out of the marinade when you are ready to use them and put them in a roasting dish.  And put them in a very hot oven, you want them to cook fairly quickly.  If you were going to deep fry them now would be the time.  What you want is the pork ribs cooked before you get them in the sauce.

To make the sauce you need to get all the ingredients into wok or frying pan. Bring the sauce to the boil and then turn it down to a simmer. Now add your ribs to the sauce and then cover and simmer for about 30 to 40 minutes.  You might have to add a little water to the cooking, as you do not want it to boil dry.

The serve on a dish with plenty of napkins and a finger bowl for those sticky fingers.