how to dampen down the pork flavour

[DavyJonesLocker]

Note sure how to phase this question! I have been buying the same brand of pork ribs for more than 2 years now, but oddly enough the flavour has changed for the worse recently. I assume they changed suppliers (maybe due to the recent pork industry problems). I make 糖醋排骨 every week and love it but with this recent batch has way too strong, and quite an insipid flavour to it. Initially I thought they were gone off but its been the same with subsequent ones

My partner also thinks its not a nice taste so wondering what to do about it

 

Preboil, steam, soak, for a while before hand?

 @abcdefgany ideas?

In any case I found another supermarket that does nice ones but albeit at a dearer cost however i have 2 kg of the old ones to use up first.

[somethingfunny]

I always boil ribs before hand with a little 料酒 and 姜.  Then I add more of both when it comes to frying.  

 

This is quite a common issue with fish and shellfish, and the Chinese word for it is 腥.

[ChTTay]

I’m fairly sure the use of Chinese cooking wine is traditionally used to reduce the “meaty” flavour. Is it called for in that recipe?

 

As above, poaching/boiling it beforehand would work as well

[abcdefg]

I agree with @somethingfunny and @ChTTay. 

 

What I usually do with pork ribs here in China is rinse them once in tap water. If that water is real bloody or otherwise discolored (lots of visible grit or soil in it), I soak the meat in a second pot of water for 20 minutes or so. (Some Chinese cooking writers say 30 minutes.)

 

Then discard that water and bring the meat to a simmer in a different pot of water with a few tablespoons of cooking wine 料酒 and a few slices of old ginger 老姜 that I've washed but not peeled. Let the ribs simmer a minute or two (skim off the foam.) Drain and dry them, then proceed with the recipe as written. (I do these initial steps with all pork ribs here, not just ones that don't taste quite right.)

 

My best guess is that the ribs you've gotten are old. Not actually spoiled, but they most likely sat around somewhere too long after the pig was butchered. (Maybe at the farm, maybe at a wholesaler, maybe on the retailer's shelf. Maybe they had too long of a truck ride somewhere along the way.) 

 

Quote

My partner also thinks its not a nice taste so wondering what to do about it

 

I'll bet she would be happiest if you just gave these funky ones to the maid or to the doorman. Use those new, better ones to cook sweet and sour ribs for her when she visits. 

 

[DavyJonesLocker]

Thanks all. There has been no change in my recipie and turns out well every time. I have it to a fine art now. Well, suits my taste (less sugar , more ginger, coarse cut onions and chestnuts, with fine cut spring opinion at the end

 

No decent photo, so I just took one from wechat chat log cache

 

The receipt calls for it to be simmering for 20, 30 mins but I think I will first do as you suggest above,  then dry, fry, add the 4 ingredients and just simmer for 10, and boil off. 

 

[abcdefg]

Sounds like you've found a winner!  Like you, I appreciate the ability to adapt a recipe to my own palate at home. That's one of the things that makes cooking at home worth the trouble. 

 

On 6/21/2019 at 9:17 AM, DavyJonesLocker said:

The receipt calls for it to be simmering for 20, 30 mins but I think I will first do as you suggest above,  then dry, fry, add the 4 ingredients and just simmer for 10, and boil off. 

 

The preliminary steps above will help get rid of any "off" flavors (腥味) and they should work well together with the latter parts of your recipe. They aren't really designed to make the meat a whole lot more tender, the way you might expect. I'll bet you could stick with your original simmering time. 

 

Hope it works out well for you! 

[DavyJonesLocker]

21 minutes ago, abcdefg said:

Sounds like you've found a winner!  Like you, I appreciate the ability to adapt a recipe to taste at home. That's one of the things that makes cooking at home worth the trouble. 

 

Thanks . Every time I cook something and alter it I get a lot of "you can't do that,!" from Chinese as it appears I ruin the dish haha. 

 

For example a few times I added grated orange peal rind to that dish above and reduced the sugar further  which I and my partner  liked but her parents wouldn't even touch it ?It was a nice chsnge the odd time but not something I would do regularly.

 

i am never a fan of just adding sugar and like it to come from other natural sources. Might seem off putting to others ! I think some Chinese are a little set in their ways at times as regards traditional recipies but I have found adding some western herbs and spices can really compliment the flavor

 

Each to their own of course! Ones means meat is another man's poison

 

To me the real benefit is making dishes healthier. When making 红烧肉 the recipes   call for 五花肉 but sometime the cuts are just 90% fat. I prefer  about half and half and like to drain off a touch during the cooking. I think fat is quite important in s Chinese dish to make it flavoursome but in some restaurants its  just too much. 

[abcdefg]

4 hours ago, DavyJonesLocker said:

To me the real benefit is making dishes healthier.

 

Agree! I typically cut down the sugar, salt and fat when I'm just cooking for myself. 

 

 

[somethingfunny]

6 hours ago, DavyJonesLocker said:

I think some Chinese are a little set in their ways at times as regards traditional recipies

 

I wouldn't say this is limited to only Chinese people and their recipes!

 

On the health benefits of cooking at home, I have to agree:  I use no MSG or 鸡精, not necessarily that I have an issue with their use, but it's just nice to take a break.  Also, I can dramatically cut down the amount of oil, meaning I can more frequently eat my restaurant favourites.

 

Maybe we should make a "What I'm eating now" thread for pictures of food we've made - I always feel reluctant to post pictures if I'm not giving it the full abcdefg recipe book treatment, but we could just post pictures and a few comments.

[abcdefg]

55 minutes ago, somethingfunny said:

Maybe we should make a "What I'm eating now" thread for pictures of food we've made - I always feel reluctant to post pictures if I'm not giving it the full abcdefg recipe book treatment, but we could just post pictures and a few comments.

 

Good idea. I don't always want to do a full write up either. I would post to a thread like that. Would you like to kick it off?

[Zeppa]

Somewhat off topic, but I went to the British Museum manga exhibition yesterday and bought a manga in English. It is called What did you eat yesterday? by Fumi Yoghinaga. It is about a middle-aged (43) Japanese lawyer who cooks every evening for his boyfriend and is totally fixated on all the ingredients and where he can buy them at the best price. It's obviously really well known, and the recipes can be used - scroll down for an image:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18339951-what-did-you-eat-yesterday-volume-1

[ChTTay]

2 hours ago, somethingfunny said:

I use no MSG

Do Chinese people even use this at home? So far I’ve found no one does but I’ve only been to a small sample of homes! It’s not exactly abundant or obvious in supermarkets either. Small shops usually don’t sell it. 

[somethingfunny]

4 hours ago, abcdefg said:

Would you like to kick it off?

 

Let me just cook some lunch...

[abcdefg]

4 hours ago, ChTTay said:

Do Chinese people even use this at home?

 

Some do, some don't. I wouldn't dare to try and guess a percentage, but it's definitely not something limited to restaurants. Some of those who say they don't may be using another quick "umami agent" instead, such as 鸡精 (chicken essence) or 蔬之鲜 (vegetable essence). Both of those contain mostly MSG. Same with 太太乐鲜味宝。Several other brands on the market as well. So the label might not say generic 味精 even though that's the main component. 

 

     

 

 

Not a precise answer of course, but a lot of recipes that I find on the Chinese internet seem to call for something along these lines to enhance other natural flavors. 

 

MSG is the subject of so much controversy in the West, with some people being passionately against it. 

[DavyJonesLocker]

6 hours ago, somethingfunny said:

 

I wouldn't say this is limited to only Chinese people and their recipes!

 

On the health benefits of cooking at home, I have to agree:  I use no MSG or 鸡精, not necessarily that I have an issue with their use, but it's just nice to take a break.  Also, I can dramatically cut down the amount of oil, meaning I can more frequently eat my restaurant favourites.

 

Maybe we should make a "What I'm eating now" thread for pictures of food we've made - I always feel reluctant to post pictures if I'm not giving it the full abcdefg recipe book treatment, but we could just post pictures and a few comments.

 

Oh indeed my home country is awful for this! (Unwilling to change )

 

I eat out maybe once or twice per week as whattever about eating at home some dishes and variety are just not possible or just way too much effort, know how, to do. I'm just back from a nanjing restaurant which is often does lots of little dishes so great for trying a good selection.

 

Also it gets me out of the house to socialise. 

Yup great idea with the thread suggestion. 

[ChTTay]

Yeah, I know also about chicken essence, vegetable bullion, all the stocks ... 

 

Still reckon MSG isn’t that common, just a leftover from Western Chinese restaurants health scares... 

[DavyJonesLocker]

2 hours ago, ChTTay said:

Still reckon MSG isn’t that common, just a leftover from Western Chinese restaurants health scares... 

 

 I tend to agree. I think the availability of it in supermarkets is a good indicator as to its popularity. Whereas a 料酒 can take up an entire section MSG seems to be limited to a single brand in one cardboard box  on a shelf. 

[tyzy25]

I would recommend you to use the running  tap water (走活水）method.  I have got this method from a chef. I love stemmed  pork ribs with black bean and garlic in dim sum. But stemming pork ribs will lock in all flavours in the ribs which including the unpleasant one. 

The method is to chop your rib to smaller pieces then rinse it twice under the 他拍then soak it in a big bowl of tap water and leave the tap running for appx 10min till the water is clear. You don’t have to leave the tap wide open. A little stream will be fine. 

 

I hope this helps. 

[abcdefg]

16 hours ago, tyzy25 said:

I would recommend you to use the running  tap water (走活水）method.

 

Sounds like a good idea. I've never tried doing it that way. Thanks for the suggestion.