Sweet and Sour Spare Ribs

This was one of my favourite dishes that Mom made when I was growing up. Unlike what you get in American-Chinese restaurants, these spare ribs are neither heavily breaded nor dripping with grease. In fact they are not breaded at all! The sauce is delectable, and with a mixture of crisp colorful vegetables this dish can be considered on the healthy side.





What you'll need:

Marinade:

• 3 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1/2 Tbsp cooking wine

Dish Ingredients:

• 3/4 lb pork short ribs
• 2 cups deep frying oil (Peanut or canola works well here)
• 1 Tbsp stir frying oil (I prefer canola, but peanut or olive oil are good too)
• 1 sweet red bell pepper
• 1 green bell pepper
• 2 carrots
• 1/4 lb snow peas
• 1 can (8 oz) pineapple slices

Sauce:

• 2 Tbsp soy sauce
• 4 Tbsp sugar
• 3 Tbsp rice vinegar (I like Marukan brand "Seasoned Gourmet Rice Vinegar")
• 2 tsp corn starch
• 3 Tbsp cold water
• 1/2 Tbsp sesame oil

You can get pork short ribs at your Asian store, they will come in strips as shown here. If you don't have an Asian store, or your grocery store only has standard racks of ribs, you may be able to ask the butcher to cut them into 1" wide strips like this for you.

Cut the ribs apart by slicing between each bone, you will end up with small chunks like this. In a small bowl, combine the ingredients for the marinade, and add the pork. Mix well, cover, refrigerate, and allow to marinate for about an hour.

In the meantime, cut the vegetables and pineapple into small bite-sized chunks and set aside. You can add whatever vegetables you like - I find that sweeter varieties work best, like carrots and bell peppers. The more colorful, the more attractive the dish!

In a deep pot, heat the deep-frying oil until a tiny piece of vegetable will sizzle.

Gently place the spare ribs into the hot oil, taking care not to over-fill the pot. There should be some space between the ribs so you can stir them around a bit. Deep fry until the ribs are cooked all the way through, approximately 5 minutes.

Remove the spare ribs from the oil, and re-heat it until it starts to smoke. Place the spare ribs back into the pot, and deep fry again until they turn a golden brown, approximately 2 - 3 minutes.

Remove the spare ribs from the oil, and place on paper towels to drain.

In a small bowl, mix the first three sauce ingredients (soy sauce, sugar, rice vinegar), and set aside.

In a separate small dish, mix the corn starch and cold water and set aside.

In a large frying pan, heat the stir fry oil. Add the vegetables and pineapple, and stir fry over high heat until just cooked but still crispy, approximately 2 - 3 minutes. I usually add the heavier vegetables first (e.g. carrots) since they take longer to cook, then place the lighter vegetables (e.g. snow peas and bell peppers) and pineapple in last, so that they do not get over-done. Turn off the heat.

Add the sauce mixture (soy sauce, sugar, rice vinegar) to the frying pan and mix well until all the vegetables are coated.

Add the corn starch mixture to thicken the sauce, and drizzle with sesame oil, continue mixing well.

Add the spare ribs to the frying pan, and mix well.

Serve over hot steamed white rice, and enjoy!!!

Seafood Medley Stir-Fry

The beauty of Asian stir fry dishes is, your imagination is the limit in terms of what ingredients to include! Here is a relatively simple seafood medley - in addition to (or instead of) the items I've listed below, you could use things like sliced bamboo shoots, scallops, baby corn, green and red peppers - or whatever else tickles your fancy!

What you'll need:

Makes 2 servings

• 1 lb shrimp, scallops, and / or cuttlefish
• 1/4 cup snow peas
• 1/4 cup carrots
• 1 can (15 oz) peeled straw mushrooms
• 1 stalk scallion
• 1 small ginger root
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 Tbsp canola oil

Sauce:

• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp cornstarch
• 1 Tbsp cold water

As with many Asian dishes, preparation is 90% of the time and effort, the actual cooking is the easy part!

First, wash and prepare the vegetables:

Snap off both tips of each snow pea with your fingers. You may be able to pull a tough string off along the top of the pod, as shown. Wash the snow peas in cool water, drain, and set aside.

Pare the carrots, wash, and slice diagonally.

Cut the scallion into 1" long pieces.

Thinly slice the ginger root, and mince the garlic.

Next, wash and prepare the seafood:

Slice the cuttlefish into 1" x 2" pieces. Cuttlefish can tend to be a bit chewy, so to alleviate this, using a sharp knife, score one side of each piece in a criss-cross pattern as shown, going about half the thickness of the cuttlefish.

Peel, devein and wash the shrimp.

Rinse scallops and pat dry.



In a small bowl, combine all the ingredients for the sauce and mix well, set aside.



And finally, you're ready to cook!

Heat canola oil in a wok. Add scallion, garlic and ginger, and stir fry over high heat until fragrant, about 10 seconds.

Add seafood and stir fry until it is about half-done (seafood will begin to turn from translucent to opaque).

Add vegetables and continue to stir fry until seafood is fully cooked, about 1 minute depending on quantity.



Pour sauce in and mix well until everything is evenly coated. Remove from wok and place in a covered serving dish (if you leave everything in the wok, even with the flame turned off it will continue to cook and become over-done).

Serve over steamed white rice.

How to Make Wontons

Wontons are great for people like me who often want a quick and tasty meal with minimal effort. Preparing and folding them takes a bit of time and practice but, once you make a batch and freeze them, whipping up a wonton soup for lunch or dinner literally takes 5 minutes or less!






What you'll need:

• 1 package pre-made wonton skins (1 package typically has about 80 skins)
• 1 small dish (e.g. soy sauce dish) of clean water
• 1 baking pan lined with wax paper
• Wonton filling (see below for ingredients)

Wonton Filling (makes approx. 60 - 70 wontons):

• 1/2 lb lean (>85%) ground pork
• 1/4 lb uncooked shrimp, shelled, washed, and chopped into small (1/4") chunks
• 1 egg
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp chopped scallion
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp sesame oil
• 1 Tbsp canola oil

In a medium bowl, combine all the ingredients for the filling and mix well.

There are two shapes that wontons can be folded into - the first I call a "nurse's cap" and the second I call a "bishop's hat". Both are explained in the following photos.

If you have skins left over, don't fret, just seal them in a Ziplock bag and put them in the freezer! The next time you are ready to make another batch of wontons, the skins will defrost easily in the refrigerator or on the countertop.

Folding Wontons into a Nurse's Cap Shape

Place a small amount of filling (no more than 1 tsp, less if you are a wonton-folding newbie) onto the center of the wonton skin. Dip your fingertip into the water and moisten the left, top and right edges of the skin. 

Fold the wonton skin in half, and squeeze all the edges together to seal it.

Dip your fingertip into the water again and moisten the lower right corner of the rectangle. Fold the top of the rectangle over. 

Bring the lower left corner of the rectangle to meet the lower right corner of the rectangle which you just moistened, and squeeze them together to make them stick.

Folding Wontons into a Bishop's Hat Shape

Place a small amount of filling (no more than 1 tsp, less if you are a wonton-folding newbie) onto the center of the wonton skin. Dip your finger into the water and moisten the top two edges of the diamond.

Fold the wonton skin in half diagonally,  and squeeze all the edges together to seal it.

Dip your finger into the water again and moisten the lower right corner of the triangle. Fold the top of the triangle over as shown.

Bring the lower left corner of the triangle to meet the lower right corner which you just moistened, and squeeze them together to make them stick.

Place the wontons in a single layer on the wax paper-lined baking pan. Once all the wontons are made, place the entire pan into the freezer for approximately 30 minutes, or until the wontons have hardened. Then put them in a single layer in Ziploc freezer bags for storage.

How to Cook Wontons

There is no need to defrost the wontons before cooking. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Dump frozen wontons in (serving size will vary depending on the person but, I find that 10 wontons makes a good meal for me). Once the water returns to a boil, cook until the wontons float to the top (for 2 servings, or about 20 wontons, this could be as little as 1 - 2 minutes!) Add 1/2 cup of cold water to the pot. As soon as the water returns to a boil, remove from heat, the wontons are ready to serve!

If desired, you can add other ingredients to the pot while cooking. Some common choices include baby bok choy, Napa cabbage, watercress, (just about any leafy green vegetable will work); other ideas include sliced shiitake mushrooms, tofu, shrimp - basically, your imagination is the limit!

In a serving bowl, put 1 - 2 Tbsp of soy sauce, a couple drops of sesame oil, and a pinch of chopped scallions, adjust as needed to taste. Place cooked wontons into the bowl, and add some of the water from the boiling pot as well to make a soup.