Deep Fried Spare Ribs, 醉排骨

Deliciously sweet with a flare for crispy. The key is to maximize the outer crispiness to inner softness ratio.

This dish is a regular occurrence for any holiday trip back home. It combines the delicious crunch of a deep-fried spare rib, with the zesty sweetness of a garlic sauce.

Ingredients:

• spare ribs

• 1 egg

• salt

• baking soda

• potatoes

• corn starch

• secret sauce:

  • 3.5 tsp soy sauce

  • 3 tsp vinegar

  • 3 tsp sugar

  • 1 tsp water

  • 3 green onions stalks (finely diced)

  • 6 garlic cloves (finely diced)

First start by making the secret sauce. You can mix all of the ingredients in a bowl and let it sit in the refrigerator for a couple of hours. Make sure the onions and garlic are very finely diced.

Chop the spare ribs into small bite-sized chunks and soak in water. Make sure you have a heavy meat cleaver or butcher knife. It can be challenging to cut spare ribs in a single swoop. I like to hit the bone of the spare rib with the back of the meat cleaver first. Then, utilize the sharp edge of the knife to finish the cut. Try to use force to get a clean cut. Otherwise, you may get little bone fragments in your food.

Soak the pork in salt water to extract the remaining blood and then drain. 

In a separate bowl, whip an egg with a half teaspoon of salt. Then thoroughly mix it into the pork. If you’re feeling lazy, you can do without the egg, but it’s worth it!

Cut the potatos into chunks and add it to the pork mixture. Mix well. Add 1/8 teaspoon of baking soda to make the skin extra crunchy.

Cover the pork with a thin layer of cornstarch and mix well

Prepare the oil bath: Heat up the oil to around 300 degrees. You can tell this is ready when all of the bubbles disappear and you can put your hand comfortably over the wok.

Put the pork into the oil to start frying.

When you first put in the pork, it will sink to the bottom. The pork is ready when it floats to the top of the oil. To further check, cut a piece in half and make sure the meat is white.

Drain the spare ribs

Mix the deep fried pork with the sauce mixture and mix well.

Yum!