Herald Junyu
In Cantonese morning tea, it is often possible to see dim sum divided into "small points", "midpoints", "large points" and "characteristics" according to the price, and one of the "characteristics" soy sauce steamed ribs can be described as a classic role in morning tea.
Steamed pork ribs with soy sauce are actually exotic dishes
Steamed pork ribs with soy sauce are one of the most clicked and popular refreshments in Guangdong tea houses, and it is also a common dish in home cooking. The steamed pork ribs in soy sauce are smooth and tender and deboned, but the meat is crisp and not rotten, and the taste is thick but not greasy, fragrant and vulgar, whether it is color and flavor, it is very tempting and appetizing.
In fact, steamed pork ribs with soy sauce are said to have originated in Sichuan cuisine. Later, after it was transmitted to Guangdong, it was improved by the Cantonese who were good at studying the combination of ingredients, and gradually evolved a unique flavor of the dish, and was widely spread in Hong Kong and Macao, which was truly famous all over the world.
Therefore, today, steamed pork ribs with soy sauce are generally considered to be one of the classic Cantonese dishes, especially in Cantonese morning tea, steamed pork ribs with soy sauce are the most representative and cantonese characteristics of a kind of refreshment.
In terms of cooking, Cantonese people can really be said to be not tired of food, not tired of fine. According to Mr. Chen Xun, a Cantonese dim sum master, the biggest difference between the steamed pork ribs in Guangdong and the tempeh ribs in the Sichuan-Xiang area is the selection of materials and methods.
First of all, The Cantonese soy sauce steamed pork ribs should choose the kind of beautiful small ribs with slightly thicker bones than the chopsticks, the lean meat can not be too thick, the best pinch of fat, but also try to chop a little bit; and tempeh, Guangdong's soy sauce steamed ribs must choose the local tempeh, that is because Guangdong people have unique views on making soy sauce and tempeh, which is different from other parts of the country in terms of flavor. The reason why this dish is known as a classic of Cantonese cuisine is largely because of this unique "soy sauce".
Another difference is that Cantonese people, especially Cantonese tea houses, when making steamed pork ribs, the ribs are often snow white and pink, so you can't add raw soy sauce, tempeh can't be chopped, you can only pat flat with the back of a knife. The popular practice in the Sichuan-Xiang region is often steamed with raw soy sauce, raw tempeh, peppers, etc. So in contrast, The steamed pork ribs in Guangdong's soy sauce tend to have a more simple taste: it is the aroma of tempeh. And because tempeh does not use the original grain, it is more flavorful and fragrant.
Therefore, the difference in the handling of details creates a difference in flavor. Steamed pork ribs with soy sauce have also become recognized as classic Cantonese dishes for this reason.
Tempeh with ribs is the reason for the food custom
In fact, in Guangdong, there are many steamed pork ribs: for example, steamed pork ribs with yellow skin sauce, steamed ribs with olive horn, etc., are very well-known dishes. However, many people still feel that steamed pork ribs in soy sauce are the most representative combination. So, what is the reason for this?
Mr. Chen Xun pointed out that this is related to the folk food customs in the early years of Guangdong. According to reports, in the early years in Guangdong, because of the lack of materials, it was good to eat pork, so many ordinary families often could only eat one or two meals of ribs a year. Therefore, when cooking ribs, many people often use the best food on hand to match. Among the materials that were highly circulated at that time, there were not many ingredients that could match the ribs, and as far as the Guangzhou city area was concerned, there were often only oil, salt, tempeh, ginger, garlic and other ingredients.
Therefore, the people of Guangzhou began to study the practice of steaming ribs with tempeh, and later this dish attracted the attention of the tea house, and many pastry chefs and chefs also joined the "research team". Thus, steamed pork ribs in soy sauce, which are closer to what we see today, were born.
When this dim sum became popular in the Guangzhou area, this practice of steaming ribs with crushed tempeh spread all the way south to wuyi region, Chaoshan region, Hong Kong and Macao regions, and was later improved by Hong Kong and Macao compatriots (mainly pickled with white sugar and beer water), becoming the steamed pork ribs in soy sauce that we see today.
As for methods such as steamed pork ribs with yellow skin sauce and steamed pork ribs with olive horn, it is actually the steamed pork ribs method created by local people in western Guangdong and northern Guangdong. In terms of flavor, they are also a perfect match for steamed pork ribs.
In fact, we can also understand that steamed pork ribs are not necessary for tempeh. However, Mr. Chen Xun introduced that the combination of ribs and strong flavor ingredients is indeed a flavor requirement. He introduced that the ribs themselves have a pig's taste (without beer water), which is more difficult for ordinary people to deal with, so it is often necessary to cover this taste with materials such as tempeh.
And because Cantonese people don't like spicy, materials such as chili peppers, green onions, ginger, garlic and so on are only added in moderation to increase the aroma. All in all, ingredients such as tempeh or olive horn are the most indispensable ingredients for Cantonese people when steaming ribs.
Graphic | Feng Ruijun
Some of the image sources are | Integrated network
Edit & Layout | So-and-so