Yangchun Steamed Pork Ribs with Amomum 阳春春砂仁蒸排骨

Yangchun Steamed Pork Ribs with Amomum (阳春春砂仁蒸排骨) is a traditional dish of Yangchun (阳春), a small city in western Guangdong, built around a local speciality, Yangchun amomum (春砂仁), the dried fruit of a plant of the ginger family. The Nanfang Daily (南方日报) calls it a traditional medicinal-cuisine dish (药膳) of Yangchun, and the city government lists it among the amomum dishes common on Yangchun tables, alongside fish steamed with amomum and chicken stewed with amomum root.

Ingredients

The amomum is the point of the dish. The Yangchun government portal states that the name 'Chun' amomum comes from Yangchun, and that Jinhuakeng (金花坑) in Panlong (蟠龙) is known as its prime growing ground; a Yuan-dynasty text quoted there ranks Yangchun first for amomum and Panlong Mountain above all. After picking, the fruit at Jinhuakeng goes through twelve hand steps of cleaning, baking, roasting and smoking over three to five days. Yangchun amomum became a national geographical-indication product in 2005. For the ribs, the Nanfang Daily recommends fresh spare ribs or pork shoulder-blade bone, which it describes as tender with moderate fat.

How it is made

The ribs are cut into small pieces, soaked to draw out the blood and drained. The dried amomum is crushed with the back of a knife or ground to coarse grains; grinding too fine makes it bitter. Ribs and amomum are mixed with salt, soy sauce, cooking oil and ginger slices and left for 15 minutes, then steamed over high heat for 20 to 25 minutes and left to stand for two minutes after the heat is off. Chopped spring onion or coriander goes on at the end, sometimes with a little sesame oil.

Flavour and texture

The meat comes out soft and tender, with the pungent aroma of the amomum worked through it; the spice cuts the fattiness of the pork. The Nanfang Daily describes the flavour as covering all five tastes: sweet, sour, bitter, hot and salty. The dish needs little other seasoning, and the natural scent of the amomum leads.