Pai Gwat Shu Mai Authentic Recipe

[hzrt8w]

The receipe looks about right. For 2.5 lb of spareribs, I will go heavier on the garlic (maybe 7-8 cloves, pressed), fermented black beans (maybe 4-5 tsp, smashed), ShaoHsing wine (maybe 2-3 tsp).

I don't want baking soda, but that's just a personal preference.

The red bell pepper maybe a misprint. Adding 2 tsp of bell pepper would not add taste to this dish. I suspect they did mean red chili pepper (e.g. heaven-pointing pepper).

Also, if you take 2.5 lb marinated sparerib from the refrigerator straight to the steamer, you may need to steam for more than 30 minutes.

[Dejah]

That small amount of baking soda would give you the texture the restaurants achieve. I don't think the red bell peppers are meant for flavour; rather, it is for colourful presentation. The small amount of chili pepper flakes could be increased according to your taste. It's just to add a hint of a kick, but I don't really want my pai gwat dim sum to be spicy. I just want them to be tender, juicy, garlicy and blak beany.

[jhirshon]

Appreciate the feedback - this is my tweaked version of the recipe, thanks to all for the comments.

The Hirshon Pai Gwat (Steamed Spare Ribs In Black Bean Sauce)

3/4 teaspoons salt

2 tablespoons sugar

3 tablespoons shaoxing (or dry sherry)

2.5 tablespoons oyster sauce

5 tablespoon fermented black beans, rinsed twice and mashed in the shaoxing

4.5 tablespoons tapioca flour

3/4 teaspoon sesame oil (Kadoya brand preferred)

1/2 teapoon hot sesame oil

8 teaspoons minced garlic

1 teaspoon baking soda

thinly-sliced red jalapeno or fresno chilis (to taste)

1 pinch white pepper

Have butcher trim enough spare ribs so that you will have 2.5 lbs. net. Cut spare ribs into 1 or 2 inch cubes. Add cubed spare ribs to marinade ingredients (minus the tapioca starch), mix thoroughly, then massage in the tapioca starch to the ribs to seal in the flavours and refrigerate overnight in heatproof dish - bring back to room temperature before proceeding. Put 3 cups of water in wok and bring to a boil. Put the marinade and spare ribs in steamer and place on wok. Steam for 90 minutes, stir, place ribs in individual bowls, replenish water if needed and steam an additional 20-30 minutes. Add a few drops of sesame oil to each prior to serving.

Yield: 6 servings

Edited May 1, 2006 by jhirshon (log)

[sheetz]

OK, this doesn't have anything to do with the recipe itself, but what exactly is the common Cantonese name for this dim sum dish? "Pai Gwat" is obviously Cantonese for spare riblets, and usually something cooked with black beans would either be "See Jup" or "Dau See." So I would probably look at this dish and call it "See Jup Pai Gwat." What the heck is this "Shu Mai" supposed to mean? The only "Shu Mai" I know of are the opened faced steamed pork dumplings, and that's not even the Cantonese pronunciation for them.

Edited April 30, 2006 by sheetz (log)

[hzrt8w]

I was wondering about the same thing. Typically the term "See Jup Pai Gwat" [Cantonese] is used for this Steamed Spareribs With Black Beans dish, which could be offered as a dim sum dish or a dinner entree.

But... there are many things in Chinese food that I still don't know about...

[Dejah]

I ignored jhirshon's use of "siu mai" in his recipe title. Figured it was just his "theoretical mind" playing tricks on him.

You are right, sheetz. Siu mai is the open faced pork/shrimp scallop, whatever dumplings. I think jhirshon is using a "mandarin" pronunciation rather than the Cantonese.

Instead of putting the tapioca starch or cornstarch with the marinate, I would suggest working all other ingredients into the ribs THEN working the starch in. The reason being that the starch tends to "seal" the meat, so the absorption of liquid and flavouring ingredients would not penetrate the meat as well. The cornstarch is to give the pai gwat the "silkened" texture.

Come on Ben Sook, we know you want to say "see jup pai gwut" with this after it.

[hzrt8w]

Instead of putting the tapioca starch or cornstarch with the marinate, I would suggest working all other ingredients into the ribs THEN working the starch in. The reason being that the starch tends to "seal" the meat, so the absorption of liquid and flavouring ingredients would not penetrate the meat as well. The cornstarch is to give the pai gwat the "silkened" texture.

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Thank you Dai Ga Jeah. That's brilliant! Experience shows!

[muichoi]

Jh, I don't think szechuan pepper and rock sugar really belong here. Personally I wpuldn't use oyster sauce either-a muting rather than enhancement of flavour.

[Dejah]

Jh, I don't think szechuan pepper and rock sugar really belong here. Personally I wpuldn't use oyster sauce either-a muting rather than enhancement of flavour.

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So right, muichoi.

Gotta change your "theory" again, jhirshon.

[sheetz]

Good catch by muichoi. I'm no pro, but seems like you would want to use thin soy instead of oyster sauce if you want to duplicate the restaurant dish. No need for sichuan pepper (this is Cantonese cuisine here) and no need for rock sugar (that's really used more for stewed dishes).

[jhirshon]

I ignored jhirshon's use of "siu mai" in his recipe title. Figured it was just his "theoretical mind" playing tricks on him.

You are right, sheetz. Siu mai is the open faced pork/shrimp scallop, whatever dumplings. I think jhirshon is using a "mandarin" pronunciation rather than the Cantonese.

Instead of putting the tapioca starch or cornstarch with the marinate, I would suggest working all other ingredients into the ribs THEN working the starch in. The reason being that the starch tends to "seal" the meat, so the absorption of liquid and flavouring ingredients would not penetrate the meat as well. The cornstarch is to give the pai gwat the "silkened" texture.

Come on Ben Sook, we know you want to say "see jup pai gwut" with this  after it.  

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Actually, the recipe I found on the net used this as the name - struck me as weird too, but search on pai gwat in Google and that's the name that comes up EVERY TIME.

Also, the oyster sauce is not my addition, that too was in the original recipe, assumed it belonged there.

cheers, JH

Edited April 30, 2006 by jhirshon (log)

[wesza]

In my own experience the amount of salt being used is two much, if combined with Oyster Sauce and Black Beans. The Sesame Oil would be possibly added prior to serving for aroma and taste, since it expensive it would be wasted if used for marinating since steaming would cause it to lose its flavor and aroma.

In our restaurants we marinated the Spare Ribs in a simple mixture of Dark Soy Sauce, Garlic, Fermented Black Beans (not washed), Shaohsing Wine, White Pepper, Sugar, Dry Red Chili Flakes, stirring it regularly under refrigeration.

Before Steaming we added a mixture of Corn Starch dissolved in Cold Superior Broth stirred thoroughly into the Rib Marinate.

We Steamed the Spare Ribs twice, first in a very large wok in a big deep metal platter, again stirring several times during the process for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours being judged by the cook.

After removing from the Steamer the Spare Ribs were placed into Monkey Dishes in individual servings that would be placed on treys into the streamers to be steamed again for about 20/30 minutes before being placed on the Carts for serving. In more upscale places a few drops of Sesame Oil would be added just before being placed into the Carts.

This offered a consistent finished product where the prevalent taste came from the Pork Ribs and Black Beans, slightly chewy with lots of flavor and character enhanced with the Pork Fat melted into the mixture during the steaming process.

In most fairly popular Dum Sum places in Hong Kong it would not be unusual to serve in excess of 1000 servings daily.

Irwin

[jhirshon]

Irwin et. al. - many thanks for everyone's comments and suggestions - I have modified the above recipe to include everyone's comments - hopefully, this will be indexed by Google soon and then people can find a truly authentic recipe for this dish - many thanks to all.

cheers, JH

[Ben Hong]

Come on Ben Sook, we know you want to say "see jup pai gwut" with this  after it.  

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Normally when I make or order a full dish, it would be called "see jup pai gwat", but at yum cha, almost everyone I know just calls it "pai gwat" and the servers know. But, if there is continuous cart service, no words need to be uttered .

If the dish is part of a meal, see jup pai gwat gets the full treatment, with a few slivers of red and green peppers, green onion garnish. Why, some even add a few slivers of onion and celery , but as long as it has lots of black beans and garlic, cool.

However as a dimsum dish, no veggies please, except a sliver of red pepper as garnish and use a very light hand with the garlic and black beans, dimsum is mostly about taste and one never wants to overpower the central ingredient. The best pai gwat I hve had at yumcha was very light in colour, ie: you may see a few bits of black beans only and a small hint of garlic.

As for making the stuff, I first marinade using light soy sauce, black beans and garlic, a few chili flakes, a pinch of sugar, a bit of minced chin pei and a touch of bicarb., then I will lightly coat the ribs with cornstarch. Steam.

GO LIGHTLY ON THE FLAVOURINGS PLEASE!!

BTW, most of the finer places use ribs from very young pigs, slightly older than suckling pigs. If you can access this type of meat, no need for bicarb.

[muichoi]

I quite agree with Ben about going lightly on the seasonings. The best cantonese cooking relies on a clear and precise rendition of the original flavours. My difficulty with this dish is cutting the ribs cleanly enough. If soda is considered necessary, I think it would be better to mix it in , leave for a hour or two then wash it off, continuing as normal.

[trillium]

I think there is an explanation in one of Eileen Yin-Fei Lo's books, and I suspect the recipe comes from there as well. Something about sui mai = best/fast seller.

regards,

trillium

[Ben Hong]

sui-mai literally means "cook and sell", ie. fast food. originally it referred to a small pastry.

[wesza]

I agree with Ben & muichoi, about the importance to seasoning less with a dish like Steamed Spare Ribs.

That was the reason our Chef's preferred marinating with the dark soy sauce to provide some color (red cooked) to the Ribs without making them salty put allowing the Garlic and Pork flavors to marry with the Black Beans and melted Pork fat.

We seemed to only use one specific brand of Fermented Black Beans that came in bright yellow boxes only that was perceived as having more flavor.

Even adding the Supreme Broth with Corn Starch slurry was done according to the leanness or amount of fat in each pan of Marinated Pork Ribs to keep them moist while enhancing the flavors while remaining consistent.

It seems that far to many recipes use to much Salt, Oyster Sauce and Soy Sauce then is regularly used in commercial kitchens.

Irwin

[jo-mel]

All those flavorings are fine, but it really all comes down to having those seasonings only enhancing the real flavor ---- which is pork.

I always wondered if the term shao/siu mai was given because the dumplings, you think of with that name, were so good that as soon as they were cooked --- they were sold.