OYAKO DONBURI

Have you ever come home too tired and uninspired to cook dinner?

That’s me (almost everyday).

This delicious one pot meal is a favourite of my kids and hubby.  I love it too.  It’s savoury and comforting.  Though I’m not Japanese, I’m thinking this might be one of those common weekday meals for the family because it’s so darned easy and economical.

STEAMED BLACK BEAN GARLIC SPARERIBS

steamed spareribs with black beans & garlic
One of my favourite dishes to order at a Dim Sum restaurant is Steamed Spareribs. Usually the spareribs are made with a black bean and garlic sauce. Some restaurants like to add sliced chilli peppers to the dish and others make a sparerib dish with salted red plums.

This dish is an old standby at our home because it goes so well with a bowl of white rice. All you need to round out the meal is a big plate of stir-fried veggies.

STEAMED SPARERIBS WITH BLACK BEANS & GARLIC
1 lb pork spareribs, cut into one-inch chunks
2 t Black Bean & Garlic Sauce (Lee Kum Kee Brand) * see note
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 t cornstarch
1 dash of pure sesame oil
1/4 t white pepper
1 t shaoxing wine
a pinch of sugar
1 T chopped green onions
2 pickled salted plums (optional), rinsed, pitted and cut into 3 pieces (these are found in a jar in brine)
1 sliced fresh chili pepper (optional) or 1/4 t chili sauce
1T vegetable oil

note: * if you don't have this prepared sauce, or if you are GLUTEN FREE you can replace it with 1 T rinsed salted black beans and 1 clove of minced garlic. Lightly mash the beans and garlic in a mortar and pestle

• Ensure that the spareribs are clean of bone fragments by washing the meat under cold running water. The meat should appear lighter in colour after this washing process. This will also help improve the texture of the ribs.
• In a small saucepan, heat the oil and then add the prepared salted plums, black bean garlic sauce, minced garlic and optional chili sauce. Stir, cooking the ingredients on medium high heat until the mixture is fragrant. Do not burn. Set aside.
• In a bowl, combine the washed spareribs with the cornstarch, sesame oil, white pepper, shaoxing wine and sugar, combining thoroughly.
• Add the prepared black bean sauce mixture to the sparerib mixture and thoroughly combine. Spread the sparerib mixture evenly in a heatproof dish for steaming.
• Steam on high heat for 20 minutes
• Sprinkle the chopped green onions on top and serve

BASIL CHICKEN

cakebrain's basil chicken

Remember that cool hydroponic garden I have sitting on my kitchen counter? Well, it's yielding quite a crop of basil. I have both Italian and Purple Basil. I was wondering how to use up all the basil and this dish was perfect. This chicken dish is so easy to prepare and was scrumptious! It would make a great dish for parties too. The basil and garlic flavours are nicely married with the chicken wings and it's all finger-licking good. I served my wings with rice as there's a nice little pool of sauce to pour over your rice.


CAKEBRAIN'S BASIL CHICKEN
2 lbs chicken wings
1/4 cup soy sauce
3 cloves garlic, chopped
3 T basil, roughly chopped
1 T sugar

• Combine all the ingredients in a covered bowl (or ziploc bag) and marinate overnight.
• Preheat oven to 375F
• Place the chicken wings in a baking dish and place on the middle rack of the oven.
• Turn wings and baste with the marinade halfway through the cooking process.
• Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown and glaze is slightly thickened.

SINGAPORE RIBS

These ribs are super easy. I buy my ribs at Costco and prep them myself by cutting through the meat to create individual ribs. Marinate the meat in a ziploc bag and this will save time and energy because you won't have to wash another bowl. Just dump everything into the bag, zip it and put it in the fridge to marinate for 4 hours minimum. I would prep everything overnight so the next day all I would have to do is pop the ribs in the oven. These ribs are tender-succulent and savory--perfect with a bowl of rice or as a finger food at parties.

singapore ribs

2 t sesame oil
1 t finely chopped fresh ginger
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 T soy sauce [for GF, sub in gf soy sauce or tamari]
2 T Chinese rice wine
1/2 t five spice powder
2 T honey
1 t sambal oelek (or chili sauce of some sort)
1/2 t salt
1.5 kg (3 lb) pork spare ribs, cut into individual ribs
1 T chopped green onions or garlic chives
2 lemons, cut into wedges, optional

• In a large glass bowl (or ziploc bag) combine the sesame oil, ginger, garlic, soy, rice wine, five spice powder, honey, sambal oelek and salt. Mix well. Add pork ribs and stir until the ribs are totally coated in the marinade. Cover (or zip) and refrigerate overnight or for at least 4 hours so they absorb the flavour of the marinade


• Preheat oven to 350F. Place ribs and marinade into oiled baking dish and cook for 50 minutes, turning and basting with pan juices every 15 minutes. If the marinade begins to burn, add a few tablespoon of warm water to the pan during cooking.


• Scatter the garlic chives or green onions over the spare ribs and serve with wedges of lemon and steamed rice.


• Note: line the baking dish with thick foil to make washing up easier.