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Spareribs with Black Bean Sauce

A Chinese-style dish of baby back spareribs simmered in a sauce of fermented black beans, soy sauce, and aromatics.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Beans and sesame match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 293 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓

Spareribs with Black Bean Sauce

Timeabout 10 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Cut apart the spareribs.

  2. Rinse the fermented black beans thoroughly, then mince them.

  3. Mash the beans together with minced garlic, minced ginger, and dark soy sauce. Set aside.

Stir-fry and braise

  1. Heat the wok over medium-high to high heat and add 2 tablespoons oil.

  2. When the oil is hot, add the spareribs and stir-fry until browned (4 to 5 minutes).

  3. Remove the spareribs from the wok.

  4. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil, if needed.

  5. Add the chopped red chili and the mashed bean mixture and stir-fry until aromatic.

  6. Add the spareribs back into the wok and mix with the bean mixture.

  7. Add the broth and stir in the light soy sauce and brown sugar.

  8. Turn down the heat and braise, covered, until the ribs are tender (about 10 minutes).

Finish and serve

  1. Turn off the heat and stir in a few drops of sesame oil.

  2. Serve garnished with the scallion.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

640Calories
41 gProtein
32 gFat
48 gCarbs

Counts 11 of 12 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 11 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Chicken100g cooked165
Sesame1 tbsp (14g)120
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Black Bean1/2 cup canned (120g) drained114
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Soy Sauce1 tbsp (15ml)9
Chili1 tsp (2.7g)8
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Ginger1 tsp grated fresh (2g)2
Waternot in our table0

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. Beans + sesametop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together293 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  2. Ginger + sesametop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,531 recipes

    Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

  3. Garlic + sesametop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,000 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  4. Beans + garlictop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,935 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  5. Garlic + gingertop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,402 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Baby back spareribs
Provide the meat that browns and becomes tender during braising.
Fermented black beans
Add a salty, savory, fermented flavor that seasons the whole dish.
Dark soy sauce
Adds deep color and a rich, savory flavor to the ribs.
Chicken broth or water
Provides liquid for braising, keeping the ribs moist and tender.
Brown sugar
Balances the saltiness and helps the sauce caramelize slightly.

The step that matters

Stir-fry the spareribs until browned. Searing the surface creates browned, flavorful compounds through the Maillard reaction. Skipping or rushing this step leaves the sauce flat and pale.

Swap the beans

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (garlic, ginger, sauce, pepper, chicken, sugar, sesame):

  1. Cashew nutfits better
  2. Mung beanfits better
  3. Peanutfits about as well
  4. Beansthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against garlic, ginger, sauce, pepper, chicken, sugar, sesame. 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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