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Nan Yu Ja Pai Gu

A Hong Kong pork rib dish with red bean curd cheese and seasonings.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Onion and garlic match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,058 recipes. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. The science ↓

Nan Yu Ja Pai Gu

Time2 hours

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Steam the red bean curd cheese for 5 minutes, then mince it.

  2. Mix the minced cheese into a paste.

  3. Add seasoning 1 to the paste and mix again to create a marinating sauce.

  4. Wash the pork ribs and cut them into short sections (approximately 6 cm).

  5. Marinate the pork ribs with the sauce from step 4 for 2 hours.

  6. Shred the ginger and spring onion.

  7. Chop the garlic into minced dice.

  8. Whisk the egg white with seasoning 2 for further use.

Fry and stir-fry

  1. Heat a wok and coat the marinated ribs with seasoning 2, then put them into boiled oil.

  2. Turn the heat to medium and deep fry the pork ribs until nearly cooked.

  3. Increase the heat to high and deep fry the ribs for a while, then dish up.

  4. Heat the wok with 1 tablespoon of oil, add the shredded ginger and spring onion.

  5. Add the minced garlic, stir-fry for a while, then add the deep-fried ribs.

  6. Stir-fry well, sprinkle some Shaoxing wine, then dish up and serve.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

557Calories
42 gProtein
29 gFat
26 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 8 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Pork100g cooked242
Cheese1 oz (28g) cheddar113
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Wine2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)25
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Ginger1 tsp grated fresh (2g)2

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together29,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  2. Ginger + garlictop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,402 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. Ginger + oniontop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,595 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Pork + oniontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,214 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Garlic + winetop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together5,790 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Red bean curd cheese
Its fermented paste seasons the marinade and gives the ribs a savoury, aromatic flavour and reddish colour.
Fat pork ribs
Their fat renders during frying, keeping the meat moist and adding richness.
Egg white
Coats the ribs and helps the starch form a light, crisp crust during frying.
Starch
Forms a thin coating that crisps when fried and helps hold the sauce on the meat.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and helps the ribs brown during frying.

The step that matters

Deep frying the marinated ribs in two stages. Frying at medium heat first cooks the ribs through gently, then high heat crisps the coating. Too high heat from the start can scorch the coating before the meat is cooked inside.

Swap the ginger

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cheese, pork, onion, garlic, wine, sugar, egg):

  1. Thymefits better
  2. Gingerthe original
  3. Cuminfits about as well
  4. Rosemaryfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against cheese, pork, onion, garlic, wine, sugar, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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