Steamed Spare Ribs with Black Bean Sauce

Steamed Spare Ribs with Black Bean Sauce (Simplified Chinese: 豉汁蒸排骨; Traditional Chinese: 豉汁蒸排骨; also 豉汁排骨 / 豆豉蒸排骨; Pinyin: Chǐ zhī zhēng pái gǔ) are bite-size pork spare ribs steamed with fermented black beans (douchi / 豆豉), garlic, and a light savory sauce until tender. They are a staple of Cantonese Dim Sum carts and southern Chinese home steamers. Soft claims that every steamed rib plate is "black bean ribs" ignore versions without douchi (e.g. plain steamed or spare-rib and taro). English yum cha menus usually say "spare ribs in black bean sauce" or "steamed ribs with black bean.".

Characteristics

Small rib pieces on a shallow dish or bamboo steamer; beans visible; aroma is fermented-soy savory with garlic; meat is soft from steaming rather than fried.

Ingredients (overview)

Pork spare rib sections, fermented black beans (douchi), garlic, light soy, oil, optional chili or fermented chili; starch to lightly coat in many kitchens. Overview only.

History and culture

Longstanding Cantonese dim sum and home steamed dish; appears across Guangdong, Hong Kong, and overseas yum cha. Soft single-restaurant inventorship claims are folk. See Dim Sum and Guangdong Food.

Serving and variations

Dim sum share plate; home rice accompaniment. See Dim Sum, Guangdong Food, Siu Mai, and Phoenix Claws.

See also

• Dim Sum
• Guangdong Food
• Siu Mai
• Phoenix Claws
• Har Gow
• List of dishes (A-Z)