Cantonese-style Steamed Pork Short Ribs (豉汁蒸排骨)

Pork short ribs (aka baby back ribs) steamed with fermented soy beans (豆豉) is a traditional dim-sum dish in Cantonese restaurants. The recipe below follows a couple of Chinese online recipes in the important area of marinating the ribs. Based on our experiments, we use significantly longer steaming time. It’s worth noting that this dish requires about 1.5 hours of prep time, and 1 hour of cooking time.

Ingredients

1. Pork short ribs (aka baby back ribs), 1 lb (~half rack).  Note- Ask the butcher in any Chinese market to cut into 3-4 slices along its length.
2. Per Pound marinating ingredients: salt 1/4 tsp, sugar 1/2 tsp, white pepper 1/4 tsp, rice cooking wine 2 tsp, Fish Sauce (魚露) 1/2 tsp, Fermented Soy Beans (豆豉) 2 tsp, corn starch 1 tsp. Note- These are measures for a pound of ribs. Adjust accordingly based on the weight of the ribs. Fermented Soy Beans (豆豉) can be acquired in any Chinese market. 
3. Corn starch, 2 tsp per pound of ribs, for coating the rib pieces before steaming.
4. Minced garlic, 2-3 Tbsp (or garlic powder, 1 Tbsp), to sprinkle on top of the ribs before steaming. 

Method

1. Cut the long slices of pork short ribs into individual pieces. Immerse the pieces in water in a mixing bowl.  Let sit for 10-15 minutes. Change water, and repeat this process 3-4 times until the rib pieces turn pale. Drain all the fluid from the mixing bowl, and let sit till about 90-100 minutes before this dish will be served. Note- Budget 30 minutes for marinating, and 60 minutes for steaming. This dish needs to be served steaming hot.
2. Add all the marinating ingredients into the mixing bowl, stir and mix thoroughly. Let sit for 30 minutes (not much longer than 30 minutes, or the rib pieces might be a bit salty).  Note- Again, please note that these are Per Pound of Ribs measures.
3. Before steaming, add 2 tsp of corn starch (per pound of ribs) into the mixing bowl, stir and mix till all rib pieces are thoroughly coated with corn starch. 
4. Get your steamer ready with ~1" deep of water. Turn on high heat till water is boiling, then let it simmer. Note- In my case, ~1/2" of water is consumed for 1 hour of steaming.
5. Set the rib pieces in one layer in a plate with some depth (e.g., an 8" glass baking pan). Brush off the fermented soy beans from the top of the rib pieces to the side (to prevent the beans from darkening the rib pieces). Sprinkle minced garlic (or garlic powder) evenly on top of the ribs. 
6. Steam the ribs for 60 minutes. Note- Medium-to-high heat for full steam in the first 10-15 minutes. Turn to medium-to-low heat afterwards.
7. Garnish with minced green onion and/or fresh red pepper, and serve.  Here is the outcome from our kitchen.