One of the tastiest version of pork ribs I tried at home that was also a huge hit with friends and family. I have tried cumin pork ribs elsewhere and it has a unique flavor with heavy cumin seasoning. Some people may like, some may not. With that taste in mind I tried to improvise with some common ingredients at home, and came up with the following.
There are multiple steps that have to be done and it looks like a lot of work, but it is ultimately worth it. Also this technique opens a wide variety of seasoning options that you could try with basic cooked spare ribs from the first step itself.
Now lets start with all the required ingredients and then we can look at the step by step directions
Ingredients
- 3 lbs Pork Ribs, cut into individual pieces
- 1 tbsp black pepper powder
- 1 tsp sugar
- Salt to taste
- 1 cup red wine or sherry – optional, adds a lot of flavor though
Each batch is approximately 1.5 lbs of cooked pork spare ribs. Since we are dealing with 3 lbs of pork spare ribs, which would be about 2 batches to be fried, I recommend you double the amount of sauce and spices listed below.
For frying – each batch
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tbsp szechuan chilli sauce
- 1/2 tbsp crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1/2 tbsp corn starch
- 1/4 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp ginger powder
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
The complete ingredients that I used are below
Steps
Ok. Here we go. There are 2 main steps for this dish. Don’t worry they are very simple though.
Step 1- Boil the spare ribs
In a pan add the cut spare ribs, enough water to cover the ribs, 1 cup of wine, little salt, 1 tbsp black pepper and 1 tsp sugar and bring to boil.
Depending on your stove and pan, this could take about 20 minutes or more.
Once done the ribs should look like the picture above. Remove the pork and keep aside. The pork stock is full of flavor and could be used for other dishes where you would use chicken stock. If that is the case then you can store it in a container in the fridge for a few days.
Step 2 – Fry the ribs with all items from each batch
Now comes the most important part
- In a work heat 1 tbsp sesame oil.
- Add half the cooked pork. Do not saute yet.
- Reduce heat to low.
- Add all the items listed under “For frying”. It should be like the picture below
- Turn the heat to medium high and mix all the ingredients with the ribs
- Ensure to not burn the mix or pork. If it is getting dry sprinkle some water from the stock.
- Cook for about 2 minutes until the ribs are completely covered.
- The ribs should be deep red color and nicely fried with all seasoning spread evenly
This dish could be tweaked in a variety of ways just by altering the spice quantity of each item in the “For frying” list. For example, if you like a lit bit more cumin flavor then add one more tsp of cumin powder, or if you would like it really spicy, then you can add an extra 1 tbsp of chilli flakes. Each and every spice can be tweaked and this offers so many variations that you can try each time.
Go ahead, try this and let me know