What's up everyone?
Today we're making Taro Steamed Spare Ribs,
a dish my dad has made thousands of times.
Hello, friends!
In a previous video, we learned how to make
Steamed Spare Ribs with Black Bean Sauce.
This time, we're learning how to make Taro Steamed Spare Ribs.
We have very simple ingredients for Taro Steamed Spare Ribs.
For spare ribs, I have about 1 lb 10 oz.
1 lb of taro.
Of course, we need fermented black beans, about 1/2 oz.
Dried mandarin orange peel, two stalks of green onion, and ginger.
A few cloves of garlic, and a red chili pepper.
Let's wash the fermented black beans first.
It goes a little faster if you use warm water.
That's enough, these aren't very hard.
We’re going to rinse the fermented black beans with warm water 3 times,
then let it soak in the water to rehydrate for at least 5 minutes.
Soak them in water.
Some people might use the stuff in a jar.
That's an option too, right?
Yes!
Just put it on top, mix it, and steam it.
That way is just a little pricier.
It is more expensive!
Does Daddy have a favorite brand of jar?
I don't like them.
If you're low on time, you can buy the jarred version.
You don't know what they put in each kind.
Anything that's ready-to-use has preservatives to prevent spoilage,
so Daddy says he doesn't like them.
Now let's prepare the spare ribs.
They were cut into these strips at the store.
If we peel this membrane off, the spare ribs won't be as tough.
Cut it slightly here.
Watch.
See?
Peel this membrane off.
This way, the spare ribs won't be as tough when we eat them.
Do we have to take it off?
You could leave it on.
See?
You need to wash the meat before cooking it.
Of course you need to wash it.
You need to soak it too, right?
Technically, you should, but no one does it.
I always do!
Last time, I did soak them.
This time, I just washed them.
In our previous steamed spare ribs video,
my dad mentions that the reason we wash or soak ribs
is to get rid of the “blood” flavor.
A common misconception is that the red juice
that leaks out from meat is blood, but it's not.
Most of the time, the blood has already
been drained by the time you buy it
and the red juice is actually a result of
of freezing the meat during transport.
When you freeze meat, which is about 75% water,
the water inside the muscles expands into ice crystals
which rupture the muscle cells, and when the ice thaws,
it carries some myoglobin with it.
Myoglobin is an iron-rich protein that turns
bright red when it's exposed to oxygen.
The purpose of myoglobin is to store extra oxygen
in muscles that are used for extended periods of time.
Interestingly enough, this is why not all meats are red or dark.
Beef and pork meat are red because
cows and pigs stand and roam almost all day.
In contrast, fish meat is mostly white
with some red meat around the fins and tail
because fish float in water and they aren't
constantly using the bulk of their muscles.
So if you're interested in soaking the ribs,
check out our other steamed spare ribs recipe video
for more detailed instructions on how to do it.
All right, let's cut up the spare ribs into individual pieces.
What is the best cut of meat to use for this dish?
It doesn't matter, as long as it has meat.
If there's less meat, there won't be as much flavor.
There are some that already cut up for you.
At home, it's hard to cut.
Can you use another cut of pork if you can't get ribs?
Sure, like pork butt, from the shoulder.
Put it over here.
All right, we've cut up the spare ribs.
Now, let's make the marinade.
For the marinade, we'll be mixing together 2 tbsp of cornstarch,
a 1/2 tsp of salt, 1 tsp of sugar, 1 tbsp of oyster sauce,
1 tbsp of light soy sauce, a 1/2 tsp of dark soy sauce,
1 tsp of baking soda, 1 tbsp of cooking wine,
2 tbsp of water and 1/4 tsp of white pepper.
That's basically everything, so let's mix it up.
We have all of these ingredients listed on our blog at madewithlau.com
along with step-by-step instructions and video clips
to guide you as you make the recipe at home.
Pour all the marinade in.
And the ginger.
For the marinade, we'll smash and mince one slice of ginger.
Then we'll also mince two cloves of garlic.
The dried orange peel will make the dish very aromatic.
If you don't like the taste, you can skip it.
But we use it very often.
What does it taste like?
It's the aroma of mandarin oranges.
You have to taste it to know it.
These are several years old.
Smell it, smell it!
Very fragrant, right?
Six years?
Yes, six years.
The older, the better, with dried mandarin peels.
Some are ten years old.
Ten years!
What's the shortest time?
Fresh, I guess, but they won't taste very good.
At least a year or two.
When I went to Chinatown the other day, I saw the orange peels, oh my god!
Six dollars!
No, fifteen-something!
For how many!
A pound.
For trash! No, I'm just kidding.
Not trash! You know what I mean.
Like right here! We throw away a lot of good things.
Yeah, that's what I mean.
What is the process of making the peels?
Just clean and dry them.
They are dried mandarin orange peels.
You eat the mandarin fruit inside and leave the skin,
and then put it under the sun.
In our last video, a lot of people that had tried it,
it got moldy, maybe they didn't leave it in the sun long enough?
They didn't dry enough before they put it away.
How do you know that it's really dry enough that it won't mold?
Especially if you're going to keep it for many years.
If it's dry enough, it'll snap when I break it.
These fresh ones, they're moist, they won't snap off if you try to break them.
Crack, crack!
This one's dry.
Have you ever lost a bag and been sad?
Like it got wet?
And then you were sad?
No.
We have plenty, we have too much.
After we've minced our ingredients, we'll add it to the pork and marinade
so we can mix it all together.
We've added all the marinade, so let's mix it up.
Let it marinate for half an hour to an hour.
Then it'll be ready to steam.
It will have absorbed the flavor by then.
Let the fermented black beans soak.
We can add them right when we're ready to steam.
We'll let them soak over there.
After mixing it up, add a little sesame oil, about a tsp.
We'll add a little cooking oil when we're ready to steam.
Just raw cooking oil.
What's next? Taro.
We'll use about a lb of taro.
This is a beautiful taro.
We'll save this and cook something else with it.
The English term ‘taro’ is borrowed from the Māori language
adapted by English traders visiting plantations in New Zealand in the 1700s.
Taro is an extremely popular ingredient throughout Asia, Africa,
and other parts of the world.
In Cantonese, taro is called ‘wu tau’,
and is a staple of Chinese dishes and desserts.
If you're buying taro for the first time,
my parents recommend the large taro over the small kind.
Specifically, look for ones that are smooth, dry,
and aren't dark or dull.
You should also check out my dad's Taro Cake recipe,
one of our very first videos,
and a family favorite especially during Chinese New Year.
We'll carefully cut around the taro with our knife
to score the slice we want which is around 1 lb.
Then we'll use our cleaver to chop deep into the taro
and split the slice off.
Now, let's cut this.
With the slice laid down, we'll use our knife
to cut off the skin in segments.
It doesn't need to be perfectly round here
as we'll be chopping it up further.
After cutting it, rinse the pieces.
A bit cleaner, right?
We'll wash the slice of taro with water
before continuing to cut it smaller.
Let's cut this piece of taro up.
The pieces don't need to be very big.
We'll aim to chop down the taro to about 1-2 inch cubes.
One of our editors- hi, Nicole! Hi, Nicole!
She asked, "Can you use frozen taro?"
Yes, you can!
Frozen taro is ready to cook.
If there is fresh taro at the market, I buy fresh taro,
because I know which taro is good.
I think in some places, if you can't find fresh taro,
then use the frozen one.
Do you have to defrost it first before you cook it?
That would be better, yes.
Make a full layer of taro on the dish.
The spare ribs will go on top.
Then it'll be ready to steam.
Add just a bit of light soy sauce and mix it up.
About a tbsp.
We’ll lightly toss the taro with the soy sauce so it's evenly mixed.
I also wanted to make a special shoutout to thank all of our
wonderful Patreon supporters for helping bring this video to life.
If you enjoy our videos and are interested in supporting us directly,
head on over to patreon.com/madewithlau to learn more!
Placed like this, they're good now.
Now, we have some green onions.
Now we'll dice up two scallions and one small chili pepper.
All right, everything is chopped.
Now, we're waiting for the spare ribs to finish marinating,
they'll be ready to steam in about an hour.
After we wait for the ribs to marinate for an hour,
we’re ready to continue cooking.
We can start steaming the spare ribs.
Let's add the fermented black bean sauce too.
My dad forgot to mention this,
but he crushes half of the black beans with a spoon
then adds it to the spare ribs.
We've crushed them with a spoon first.
Stir it up.
The remaining individual beans,
put them on top.
We'll add 1 tbsp of oil to the ribs and give it a mix.
Put it on here.
On top of the taro.
All right, after you've covered the edges,
pour the rest into the middle.
Those last few fermented black beans,
put them on top.
This is my family recipe.
Also, a few pieces of red chili pepper.
All right, turn the heat on.
This is boiling water.
We’ll add enough hot water so that the water level is just above the tray.
Is that high heat?
Yes, high heat.
With the heat on high and the lid on,
we’ll let the water come to a boil.
All right, the water is boiling.
We’ll carefully place our plate of ribs and taro
onto the tray and close the lid.
Once the water's boiling, put it in and steam for 20 minutes.
The highest heat.
So the taste is slightly different if you do it without taro?
It's about the same, but without the taro underneath,
the spare ribs would be swimming in the sauce.
Wow!
Okay!
How do you make the meat tender, and not tough or chewy?
Use a little baking soda.
It absorbs the juice and keeps the meat plump.
The plump meat won't be tough.
When you bite into it, it'll be juicy.
Don't steam it for too long, just so it's cooked through.
Good, very good!
Put the chopped green onions on.
Is it cooked when it's broken up?
If your chopstick can pierce through the taro easily, it's cooked.
Just worry about the taro being done,
the spare ribs will definitely be done, they're on top.
The juices have run to the bottom and the taro has soaked it up.
The taro's going to be delicious!
This is our classic Cantonese dish, Taro Steamed Spare Ribs!
We hope everyone enjoys it!
Cheers! Taro Steamed Spare Ribs!
My favorite!
The taro is so good with the sauce.
I like taro steamed spare ribs,
because it has all kinds of different flavors.
There's black bean flavor, taro flavor, and spare ribs flavor.
but when they steam together, each of them releases their flavor.
What is "favorite"?
The ones I like!
Good! So smart!
Cameron, what's going on here?
Uh-oh!
Don't make this with yams.
My mom cooked it that way.
Sorry, my Po Po.
Yams are too sweet.
Some people steam it with pumpkin, that's fine too.
This is a very famous dish in Canton (Guangdong).
It can be dim sum, it can be a home dish.
Did you have it at home?
When I was growing up, we steamed spare ribs a lot,
but not with taro,
because sometimes we couldn't get taro at the market.
It's seasonal.
But you can get it here all year long.
Ta-da!
So cute!