Radish Pork Rib Stew 卤萝卜排骨

My usual way of cooking the radish have been by boiling it in the pork rib soup. However, I never knew the radish tasted even better in a pork rib stew, till I prepared the dish a few days ago. The sweetness and aroma of the broth was fantastic. And I like the melt-in-your-mouth texture of all the ingredients. YUMMY 😋


Equiment: Multi-function rice cooker

Ingredients

270g baby pork ribs

2 slices ginger, julienned
1/2 onion, cut into chunk
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1 stalk spring onion, cut, separate into white and green parts
1/3 red chilli, cut into rings

330g peeled radish, cut into 1-cm thick semi-circle slices
50g peeled carrot, cut into chunks

2 tsp korean seasoned soybean paste *
1~2 tbsp raw sugar
2 tbsp rice wine
2 tsp light soya sauce

220~250g water

To be added at the end of the cooking
salt, sugar and seasoning powder to taste

* You can replace the Korean seasoned bean paste by the normal spicy bean paste豆瓣酱. For non-spicy version, you can use salted soy bean paste or even miso.

Directions:

1. Rinse the pork ribs and marinate with 1/4 tsp of light soy sauce and 1/2 tsp of rice wine (not in the ingredient list) for about 15 minutes. Next, blanch in hot water for about 15 minutes.

2. Turn on the "Steam function" of the rice cooker. Add about 1/4 tsp of olive oil to coat the pot. When the pot is hot, add in the pork ribs and "pan-fry" till fragrant.

3. Add in the ginger, garlic, onion, white portion of the spring onion, and red chilli. Stir-fry till fragrant.

4. Stir in the radish and carrot. Stir-fry for about a minute.

5. Mix in the seasoned soybean paste, raw sugar, rice wine and light soy sauce.

6. Add water to about 4/5 of the ingredients' height.
I prefer a more concentrated soup so I didn't add too much water in the beginning.

Stop the "Steam" function and switch to the "Soup" function of the rice cooker. Set the cooking timer to 1 hour. Stir the ingredients once every 15 to 20 minutes to ensure even heating of the ingredients.



7. When the countdown timer shows "0:10" minute, add in sugar, salt and seasoning powder (like chicken stock powder) to taste.

When the cooking program ended, I let the soup simmer in the rice cooker for about 1 hour to let the remnant heat of the rice cooker tenderized all the ingredients.

End of the 1 hour simmering.

Garnish the dish with the remaining green portion of the spring onion.
Time to savour the wonderful stew 🍚🍲😊

The advantages of using the soup function of the rice cooker - the ingredients are softened without ruining the shape, and the minimal lose of liquid through evaporation.