On our trip to Martinborough, I bought some spare ribs from Scotty. Like any good butcher, he asked what I was going to do with his produce. I think he was rather disappointed when I stared at him blankly and answered I had no idea.
I think half of the world's population go grocery shopping with an idea in mind what they are going to cook. And the other half is probably like me, buy and decide what to do with the ingredients later. That is how I ended up with a freezer full of spare ribs until a bright idea came along. I recall savoring coffee spare ribs in a food court many years ago in Singapore. I thought it was the most intriguing idea; who would have imagine using coffee with meat. Perhaps it was one of those incidents where the cook mistakenly added coffee to the ribs thinking it was ground spice. Like the story of the Tatin sisters from France who "accidentally" invented the Tarte Tatin. The story goes that one of the sisters burnt an apple pie that she was making. Trying to salvage it, she turned it upside down and it was so good that the crowd went mad!
This is my recreation of coffee spare ribs for the coffee connoisseur. Just like cooking with wine, do not spare on the coffee. What you don't drink, you don't add to your food!
If you are getting spare ribs from the butcher, ask him to chop them into about 2 inches in length for you. That's the one thing I found hard, chopping the spare ribs. After sending them flying all over the kitchen, I decided that it was best left to my strong and muscular husband to do it! Now, who says pigs can't fly?
Ingredients:
600 g spare ribs
Seasoning:
1 tsp Sugar
1/2 tbsp Shao Xing cooking wine
1/4 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Chinese five spice powder
1/2 tsp Instant coffee granules
1 tbsp Oyster sauce
1/2 tbsp Light soya sauce
1 tbsp Corn flour
1 tsp Sesame oil
Sauce:
1/2 tbsp Instant coffee granules
2 tbsp hot water
1/2 tsp Chilli powder
1 tbsp Plum sauce
1/2 tbsp Dark soya sauce
1 tsp Sugar
1 clove Garlic
1 tbsp Oil
Oil for deep drying
Lettuce for garnish
1 Red chili for garnish
1. Chop spare ribs into 2 inches length.
2. Mix all ingredients from seasoning. Marinate spare ribs with seasoning for at least two hours. Better still, marinate over night.
3. Heat oil in a pot. Deep fry spare ribs till golden brown (about 15 mins). Drain on kitchen towel.
4. Seed and slice red chilli. Set aside.
5. Cut garlic into thin slices.
6. Dissolve 1 tbsp coffee granules with 2 tbsp hot water. Mix coffee, plum sauce, dark soya sauce and sugar in a bowl.
7. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a frying pan. Add garlic and fry till golden brown. Add sauce mixture and give it a quick stir. Add spare ribs into the pan. Stir to make sure spare ribs are well coated with sauce.
8. Place lettuce leaves over a serving plate. Pour spare ribs on top of lettuce. Sprinkle red chillies on top. Serve immediately.
Serves 4 as an entree.
I think half of the world's population go grocery shopping with an idea in mind what they are going to cook. And the other half is probably like me, buy and decide what to do with the ingredients later. That is how I ended up with a freezer full of spare ribs until a bright idea came along. I recall savoring coffee spare ribs in a food court many years ago in Singapore. I thought it was the most intriguing idea; who would have imagine using coffee with meat. Perhaps it was one of those incidents where the cook mistakenly added coffee to the ribs thinking it was ground spice. Like the story of the Tatin sisters from France who "accidentally" invented the Tarte Tatin. The story goes that one of the sisters burnt an apple pie that she was making. Trying to salvage it, she turned it upside down and it was so good that the crowd went mad!
This is my recreation of coffee spare ribs for the coffee connoisseur. Just like cooking with wine, do not spare on the coffee. What you don't drink, you don't add to your food!
If you are getting spare ribs from the butcher, ask him to chop them into about 2 inches in length for you. That's the one thing I found hard, chopping the spare ribs. After sending them flying all over the kitchen, I decided that it was best left to my strong and muscular husband to do it! Now, who says pigs can't fly?
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| Coffee Spare Ribs |
Ingredients:
600 g spare ribs
Seasoning:
1 tsp Sugar
1/2 tbsp Shao Xing cooking wine
1/4 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Chinese five spice powder
1/2 tsp Instant coffee granules
1 tbsp Oyster sauce
1/2 tbsp Light soya sauce
1 tbsp Corn flour
1 tsp Sesame oil
Sauce:
1/2 tbsp Instant coffee granules
2 tbsp hot water
1/2 tsp Chilli powder
1 tbsp Plum sauce
1/2 tbsp Dark soya sauce
1 tsp Sugar
1 clove Garlic
1 tbsp Oil
Oil for deep drying
Lettuce for garnish
1 Red chili for garnish
1. Chop spare ribs into 2 inches length.
2. Mix all ingredients from seasoning. Marinate spare ribs with seasoning for at least two hours. Better still, marinate over night.
3. Heat oil in a pot. Deep fry spare ribs till golden brown (about 15 mins). Drain on kitchen towel.
4. Seed and slice red chilli. Set aside.
5. Cut garlic into thin slices.
6. Dissolve 1 tbsp coffee granules with 2 tbsp hot water. Mix coffee, plum sauce, dark soya sauce and sugar in a bowl.
7. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a frying pan. Add garlic and fry till golden brown. Add sauce mixture and give it a quick stir. Add spare ribs into the pan. Stir to make sure spare ribs are well coated with sauce.
8. Place lettuce leaves over a serving plate. Pour spare ribs on top of lettuce. Sprinkle red chillies on top. Serve immediately.
Serves 4 as an entree.
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