Chapter 1044: Chapter 430: The Joy of Eating Meat Is Something No Vegetarian Dish Can Offer! Making Braised Pork Ribs [Recipe]
Even though everyone’s been pushing "healthy eating" these days, less meat and more veggies.
But the joy of eating meat is something no other food can replace, especially these big bones—holding a bone and gnawing on it in big bites, you can completely unleash that wild side buried in your bones.
Grab a basin, pour in some warm water, then dump all these dried spices in to soak.
Warm water can draw out the excess medicinal strength from the spices, and at the same time wash off the dust on their surface.
After soaking for about ten minutes, fish them out and pack them separately into a few spice bags.
With the sauce and the spice mix ready, it’s time to start making Braised Pork Ribs.
Line the bottom of the self-heating soup pot with a steamer rack, lay down a thick layer of Scallion and Ginger, then stack the big bones in piece by piece, and as you go, tuck the spice bags loosely in between.
Once all the bones are in, the pot is pretty much three-quarters full.
Add water and Pork Bone Broth in a 2:1 ratio until the pot is eighty percent full, then turn on the heat.
When making Braised Pork Ribs, as long as you soak the bones thoroughly, there’s no need to blanch them separately; once the water boils, just skim off the scum.
If you blanch them, you’ll have to rinse them with hot water afterward, then put them back into the boiling braising liquid—very tedious, and totally unnecessary.
The reason some old-school restaurants make such good Braised Pork Ribs is precisely because they don’t blanch the bones.
No blanching means you don’t have to wash piping hot bones in cold water, so the lean meat on the bones stays soft and tender, instead of getting shocked by cold water into that dry, stringy texture.
To be fair, whether it’s bones or meat, the "blood scum" that comes up when you cook them isn’t really an impurity; it’s just hemoglobin that doesn’t dissolve well in water.
Strictly speaking, it’s also part of the meat.
Before long, the soup pot comes to a boil, and Lin Xu skims off the foam.
When the broth turns completely clear, pour the prepared sauce into the pot, then add a big bowl of Crystal Sugar, a small bowl of salt, and half a small bowl of various Chicken Essence and Flavoring.
Finish with a small basin of caramelized sugar color.
Pour everything in, set a steamer rack in the pot, then rest a stainless-steel basin half-filled with water on top to press everything down, so the meat is completely submerged in the braising liquid.
Once it comes back to a boil on high heat, turn it down and let it maintain a gentle simmer.
"Boss, how long do these big bones need to braise?"
The delivery guy watched carefully, ready to note down the timing.
Lin Xu checked the clock—it was eight in the morning—and said:
"Turn off the heat at nine-thirty, then let them soak. Fish them out around ten-thirty."
Ten-thirty is just when the staff start eating. By lunchtime, his senior brother’s family, plus relatives and friends and so on, will all show up to eat.
In fact, the later people arrive, the tastier the bones they get to eat.
Because the longer the bones soak, the more flavorful they get, and the softer and more tender they become.
By then you won’t just be gnawing on bones, you can also eat the marrow—just thinking about it is mouthwatering.
With the bones left to stew, Lin Xu stepped out for a breather, and only then noticed Zeng Xiaoqi clutching a huge snow pear and taking big bites:
"This pear is so good. I heard from the delivery guy you’re going to make Autumn Pear Paste?"
Lin Xu nodded.
"Got any ideas?"
"I just looked it up. Autumn Pear Paste isn’t that hard to make. Can you go to the TV station and record an episode? It’s cold now, and Beijing winters are famously dry. I want our viewers to learn a little trick for moistening their lungs."
Director Zeng is currently dead set on taking down Yanjing TV. Not only is she blatantly letting the travel channel meddle in social news, she even plans to scoop up all these little life-hack type segments.
Her ambition is pretty big.
Lin Xu thought for a moment and said:
"Sure, but I won’t be the one cooking. I’ll bring Qi Siming from Yanjing Hotel over. He’s good with all kinds of pastries—we’ll use Autumn Pear Paste to boost his name recognition."
"Sounds good. You handle the arrangements. As long as it boosts ratings, I’m happy."
Just then, Chen Yan came stomping upstairs:
"Where’s the lamb flatbread? Your wife has no conscience at all, poisoning people first thing in the morning. I was going to go back to sleep for a bit, and now every time I close my eyes all I see is lamb flatbread."
Sister Yan’s cravings are something else.
Lin Xu said:
"All gone. I didn’t knead much dough today. There was still half left and I was going to take it to the shop, but then my in-laws went out visiting friends, so I just cooked it all."
Chen Yan curled her lip.
"I should’ve just stormed your house directly... Aren’t we having a bunch of Braised Pork Ribs at noon? I’m going to eat a few extra pieces to get my revenge."
"The bones are already on the stove. I’m going to make some Autumn Pear Paste in a bit, then head over to the South Third Ring this afternoon to shovel snow out of Grandma’s courtyard. I’ll bring some along, so when her throat feels uncomfortable she can have a drink."
Hearing there’d be Autumn Pear Paste, the righteously indignant Chen Yan immediately perked up:
"Hey, that’s good. I like drinking Autumn Pear Paste with hot water too. Brother-in-law, make more. If my maternal grandma gets some, then my paternal grandma has to get some too..."
Winter is a hurdle for the elderly.
So everyone hopes their own elders can get through the season comfortably.
Lin Xu thought about his schedule over the next few days and figured it wouldn’t be too busy, so he said:
"I’ll see how much I can make this round. If it’s not enough, we’ll do another batch. Anyway, I’ll be going all out making Autumn Pear Paste these next few days. I’ll try to make sure everyone gets a small jar."
It’s just a small jar, but since you mix it with water, you only need a small spoonful each time.
So a little jar lasts quite a while.
Chen Yan said:
"We can’t have you spending money and effort when it’s for our elders. How about this: I’ll buy the pears, and you’ll just be in charge of making it... Let’s start with two thousand jin, how’s that? If that’s not enough, I’ll add another thousand."
Normally General Manager Chen is a bit scatterbrained and fiery, but when something comes up, that big-sister aura of hers is very strong.
Like right now—no nonsense, she just bought out all the pears.
With that many pears, doing it purely by hand really isn’t realistic... Lin Xu thought for a bit and said:
"Let’s get three thousand jin. We’ll go straight to Ziqiang Shengjian’s production workshop and use their professional equipment. If things go smoothly, we can probably finish in half a day."
Autumn Pear Paste is basically just boiling pear juice down into a syrup.
Not difficult, but quite a lot of steps.
The same method can be used to make Pumpkin candy, watermelon candy, Hami melon candy, sweet potato candy, and all sorts of sugary fruits and plant roots. The results all taste pretty good.
Almost all the fructose and sucrose on the market is made using this kind of process.
Lin Xu planned to first make a small batch by hand to test the flavor.
Once he nailed the recipe, he’d feel more confident when using industrial equipment to cook it later.
With that in mind, he headed into the kitchen to start simmering!
Meanwhile, the Shen Family of three, bundled up in thick cotton jackets and holding Dundun, headed up to the rooftop and finally began building the snowman they’d been dreaming of...
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I really want to eat Braised Pork Ribs. Several Braised Pork Ribs places around here have gone out of business, and I don’t have time to make it myself. I may be torturing you, but it’s "hurt the enemy three hundred, lose one thousand of our own"... This Chapter is 5,200 words, brothers, please vote a Monthly Ticket!
