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Red Braised Pork Ribs with Carrots is a traditional home cooking in China. It features juicy, flavorful meat off the bone pork ribs with soft, and deliciously glazed carrots. Perfect to pair with a freshly steamed rice for a satisfying rice bowl dinner.
Ingredients required for making Chinese Style Red Braised Pork Ribs
Other than pork ribs and carrots, you will need the usual Chinese cooking essentials such as green onion, ginger, naturally aged soy sauce {or dark soy sauce), Shaoxing wine, and Zhenjiang vinegar.
The bright shining red color comes from Chinese ancient ingredient red yeast rice. For flavoring the meat, I use star anise, bay leaves, clove powder, freshly ground coriander seeds powder, and sweet fermented bean paste.
For coriander seeds, it is easy to get the organic coriander seeds and use a spice grinder to grind into powder at home.
Red Yeast Rice Fun Facts
Red Yeast Rice are white rice fermented in a certain way that turns the rice into red color. An ancient all-natural food color popular in China, especially in the Yangtze River Delta area. People use it often to braise meat and poultry for the bright beautiful red color.
I use a spice grinder to turn red yeast rice into powder for easier home cooking.
They are my go-to all-natural red food color for cooking meat and poultry where we desire a shining red color. For instance, Red Braised Pork Belly, Red Braised Lion’s Head, one-pot Pork with Potato & Carrots dish, Lu Rou Sauce and Lu Rou Fan, Braised Duck, Braised Beef Shank, just to name a few.
Red Yeast Rice is also widely known as its superb health benefits. People believe they may help improve circulation, reduce cholesterol level and posses powerful anti-inflammatory substances. What a plus!
How to make Red Braised Pork Ribs perfectly at home?
Tip No.1 is to sear or pan fry the ribs first
Turn the heat to medium-high and heat the wok for 1 minute. Add a bit of cooking oil, such as canola oil using a homemade oil sprayer, minced ginger, chopped green onion along with ribs. Use a slotted turner to flip and turn the ribs and pan fry for 5 minutes. Pour in the pan frying sauce (naturally aged soy sauce, Shaoxing wine and Zhenjiang vinegar) 2 minutes into the process.
Tip No.2 is to red braise pork ribs at medium-high heat with lid covered for 10 minutes
After searing the pork ribs for 5 minutes at medium-high heat, and turn the heat to medium. Pour braising sauce into the wok in a circular motion, including star anise, bay leaves, clove powder, coriander seeds powder, sweet bean paste, light soy sauce and water, and cook for 10 minutes.
Tip No.3 is to braise at medium heat with lid covered for another 10 minutes
Following braising the pork ribs for 10 minutes at medium-high heat, fold the ribs into the surrounding braising juice using a slotted turner. Turn the heat to medium, add the carrot chunks, and cover the lid and braise for another 10 minutes.
Last but not least is to stir fry for 5 minutes to caramelize ribs and carrots
By the end of the 20 minutes braising, the liquid is almost disappearing in the wok. Remove the lid, fold and mix the ribs and carrots with the remaining juice using a flexible turner. This helps caramelize the pork ribs and carrots.
Red Braised Pork Ribs with Carrots Chinese Style
Red Braised Pork Ribs with Carrots is a traditional home cooking in China. It features juicy, flavorful meat off the bone pork ribs with soft, and deliciously glazed carrots. Perfect to pair with a freshly steamed rice for a satisfying rice bowl dinner.
Ingredients
- 2 lb pork ribs
- 1 tsp canola oil, or other types of cooking oil
- 1 large carrot, peeled and cut into bite size chunks
For Pan-Frying Sauce:
- 2 stalks of green onion, chopped
- 1 small piece of ginger, organic preferred, cut into thin slices
- 2 tbsp naturally aged soy sauce, or dark soy sauce
- 2 tbsp Shaoxing wine
- 1/2 tbsp Zhenjiang vinegar
For Braising Sauce:
- 3 star anise
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 tsp red yeast rice powder
- 1/2 tsp clove powder
- 1/2 tsp coriander seeds powder
- 1 tbsp sweet bean paste
- 2 tbsp light soy sauce
- 2 cups of water
Instructions
1. Gather and prepare ingredients:
- Seperate the pork ribs, wash and rinse well. Air dry or pat dry with a paper towel.
- Wash and rinse carrots, peel and then cut into bite-size chunks.
- Wash and rinse green onion and ginger. Cut green onion into small pieces, and ginger into thin slices.
- Add everything under "For Pan Frying Sauce" into a small bowl and mix well.
- Add everything under "For Braising Sauce" into another small bowl, except for the 2 cups of water, and mix well.
2. Turn the heat to medium-high and heat the wok for one minute. Spray the wok with canola oil using a homemade oil sprayer, about 1 tsp. Add green onion, ginger and pork ribs. Save some green onion for the garnishing. 
3. Stir fry the pork ribs for about 2 minutes, add then pour in the "pan-frying sauce" from the small bowl in a circular motion. Use a mini silicone spatula to scrape clean if necessary. 
4. Continue to stir fry using a slotted turner using a fold and mix motion for another 3 minutes. You don't have to do it non-stop, just make sure you do it every 30 seconds or so.
5. Pour in the the "braising sauce" from the samll bowl in a circular motion. Use the smae mini silicone spatula to scrape clean if necessary. Add 2 cups of water, fold and mix the pork ribs with the sauce. The liquid should barely cover the ribs. 
6. Cover the wok with a lid and cook for 10 minutes.
7. Turn the heat to medium, remove the lid and fold and mix the rib with the remaining juice in the wok. Add the carrots and fold into the ribs. Cover the wok with the lid and cook for another 10 minutes. 
8. The liquid should be disappearing by the end of 20 minutes braising. Remove the lid, use the same slotted turner fold and mix the ribs and carrots with the residual thickened juice left in the wok, for about 5 minutes, or till ribs and carrots are well-caramelized and glazed. 
9. All done! Enjoy a juice tasty pork ribs with carrots. Perfect to pair with rice, noodles or buns. 
Notes
Recommended Ingredients
Red yeast rice, naturally aged soy sauce, light soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, Zhenjiang vinegar, sweet bean paste, organic clove powder, organic coriander seeds, bay leaves, star anise.
Recommended Kitchen Tools and Gadgets
Wok, dome-shaped wok lid, slotted turner, spice grinder, mini silicone spatula.
Recommended Products
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Nutrition Information
Yield 4 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 950Total Fat 75gSaturated Fat 21gTrans Fat 1gUnsaturated Fat 35gCholesterol 238mgSodium 1432mgCarbohydrates 17gFiber 1gSugar 2gProtein 51g
Nutrition calculation is provided by Nutritionix to the best knowledge per ingredients description and isn't always accurate.