Stewed Pork Ribs in Orange Juice (橙汁肉排)

That said, the cold weather would help oranges grow juicier and sweeter. If it’s right, no wonder I can find many large and super sweet navel oranges at supermarkets in recent cold days. I bought a large packet of them as my snacks a few days ago. They were really juicy and meaty. I just used two of them to squeeze out one whole cup of juice. The pork meat nearly fell off the bones after being stewed in the orange juice for two hours, absorbed all the flavours of the sauce. The downside of making this Stewed Pork Ribs in Orange Juice was that I received a complaint from my daughter, “Why wasn’t there enough of pork?”

Stewed Pork Ribs in Orange Juice (Printable recipe)

Ingredients:

• 700gm pork spare ribs
• salt, to taste
• pepper, to taste
• 1 tsp freshly grated ginger
• 1 tsp finely chopped garlic
• 2 tsp white cooking wine

Ingredients of sauce:

• 1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice, sifted
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 2 Tbsp light soy sauce
• 2 Tbsp raw sugar
• 1/2 tsp orange zest (only the orange part)

Method:

1. Rinse pork ribs and wipe dry with kitchen papers. Season with salt and pepper on both sides.
2. Use a claypot or a large saucepan. Pour in the sauce and bring it to a boil over medium heat.
3. While heating sauce, brown pork ribs on a frying pan until both sides are lightly golden. Push pork ribs to sides of pan, add a bit more of oil and saute grated ginger and garlic until fragrant. Sprinkle wine. Quickly stir to combine all ingredients. Transfer to the boiling sauce and cover with a lid. Cook until it boils again. Reduce heat and simmer for 2 hours, or until sauce reduced to about 1/5, thickened, and the pork is softened and caramelized. Serve hot with steamed rice.

Notes:

• The key and secret ingredient of this dish is the orange juice. The freshly squeezed orange juice penetrates into the pork and helps soften the meat.
• Choose sweet navel oranges to make this dish tasty and delicious. Taste the orange yourself and make sure they are sweet before you use them to cook this dish.