Ingredients
Pork back ribs, a full rack
Soy sauce
Chinese Shaoxing cooking wine
Brown Sugar
Fresh ginger
Directions
(Apologies in advance - this is one of my mom's loosey goosey recipes and I also cook by taste and feel.)
Parboil the pork ribs in water for 10 minutes. Discard cooking water and scrub the ribs a little, and rinse them off.
In another pot, heat about 1/3 cup soy sauce, a good glug cooking wine, 2 tbsp brown sugar, a splash of water and three fat slices of ginger. Taste the braising liquid - it should taste faintly sweet and yummy. Adjust to taste, with more water or sugar until you like the balance. (My mom says no, but optional flavorings include scallions, garlic, star anise, black peppercorns.) Place parboiled ribs in the sauce, and stir to coat. The sauce should not come anywhere near covering the ribs, but should be a thin layer on the bottom of the pot.
Simmer on low, covered, for one hour, turning the meat every 20 minutes. Add more water if it looks like the sauce is getting too low, and risks scorching. (Some liquid and fat will render from the ribs.) The ribs should part braise, part steam.
Serve with rice and greens. Don't throw out that sauce! It's great over the rice and the greens. You can also freeze it to give a head start to the next batch of ribs.
