Pork Sparerib Soup

[zhemao]

I guess we're on a soup theme here, so here's one of my recipes. I actually haven't made this one in a while. The traditional recipe calls for wintermelon, but those might not be easy to find in your area, so I'm going to substitute onions.

Ingredients:

• Pork spareribs


• Onions


• Salt


• Sugar


• Ginger


• Scallions


• Star Anise

Directions:

1. Sprinkle salt on the spareribs


2. Bring a pot of water to the boil and put the spareribs in for blanching


3. Once the ribs have changed color on the outside, turn off the heat and drain the water


4. Sprinkle some salt on the ribs again


5. Bring water to boil again and add in ribs


6. Skim the foam and clotted blood with a strainer as the ribs start to cook


7. Once all the residue has been skimmed, add chopped onions, two slices of ginger, and one star of anise


8. Turn the heat to low and let the soup simmer until the onions have gone soft. This should take about 30 min.


9. Add additional salt and some sugar to taste


10. Add scallions

That's basically it. As always, best enjoyed with some white rice and your favorite stir-fried vegetables.

---

Chirashi Sushi

[zhemao]

I got inspired after reading a certain cooking manga and decided to try this out for breakfast today. This is a more traditional recipe. The one I made and am writing down here is simplified so that you only need a rice cooker. However, it is still quite delicious.

Also, for those confused by the lack of raw fish in this recipe. The word "sushi" refers to vinegared rice, not fish. It just so happens that many sushi recipes include raw fish.

Ingredients:

• Dried Mushrooms


• Carrots


• Rice


• Rice wine


• Soy Sauce


• Sugar


• Salt


• Vinegar

Directions:

1. Soak the dried mushrooms in water to reconstitute them


2. Cut the carrots into cubes; make them a bit thicker, since they'll be cooking longer than usual


3. Rinse the rice until the water runs clear


4. Squeeze the excess water out of the dried mushrooms


5. Add the mushroom water to the rice pot. Top off with regular water until you have enough to cook the rice.


6. Add a bit of rice wine, soy sauce, and sugar. Swirl around until mixed evenly


7. Add the carrots and mushrooms


8. Set the rice cooker to cook


9. Dissolve some salt into vinegar


10. Once the rice is finished cooking, pour the salt-vinegar solution over the rice and stir gently until the rice is evenly coated


11. Let the rice sit in the cooker for a minute to absorb the vinegar

That's basically it. If you want to be fancy, you can add decorative carrots, snow peas, sliced omelet, or even raw fish.

---