Salt and Pepper Spare Ribs

Ingredients

• 454g pork spareribs (short cut ribs)
• 1 tsp coarse or rock salt
• 1/2 tsp coarse black pepper
• 1/2 tsp Szechuan peppercorns
• Pinch of 5 spice powder
• 1 heaped Tbsp cornstarch
• 1 Tbsp water
• 1 ltr vegetable oil
• 1 red chilli (finely sliced)
• 1 spring onion (finely sliced)

Preparation

1. Gently heat the Szechuan peppercorns in a dry pan for 1 minute. Cool and grind in a pestle and mortar or a pepper grinder.
2. Mix the salt, black pepper and Szechuan peppercorns together.
3. Place the spareribs, water, cornstarch and five spice powder into a large bowl. Mix well, clingfilm and marinade for at least 3 hours in the refrigerator.
4. To cook the spareribs, heat the vegetable oil in a wok or deep frying pan. A good test is to drop a cube of bread into the hot oil and it should brown in 30 seconds.
5. Add the spare ribs and cook for 1 minute, Remove the ribs, drain well and set aside.
6. Now heat the oil again until it is almost smoking.
7. Return the spareribs to the hot oil and cook until they start to turn brown. Drain on absorbent kitchen paper.
8. Remove all the oil from the wok and quickly stirfry the sliced chilli and spring onion.
9. Add the cooked spareribs to the wok, sprinkle the salt and pepper mixture over the ribs.
10. Quickly mix all the components together and remove immediately from the heat.
11. Serve with a finger bowl of warm water and a lemon slice.