Pork Spare Ribs and Vegetables Stew

What can be more perfect than a hearty healthy soup for a cold cloudy day besides a big cup of hot chocolate! My husband and I love having soups no matter when the weather is hot or cold, and I make more soups than other meals over the years. Today, he brought home 2 racks of pork spare ribs which he was planning for a barbecue. However, the weather turned out to be so windy and was too cold to do a barbecue outside and the ribs have not been marinated as it supposed to. So, I decided to make soup and nothing could go wrong with that. Just as a little bit over an hour later, for for the times that went to the simmering part to make the ribs soft and tender that was almost melt into your mouth, it just so worth the wait!   It’s so easy to make yet it's so awesome! 

What you need:

 

• 2 quarts water or stock
• 2 1/2 lbs pork spare ribs cut into small pieces
• 1 cup cabbage roughly chopped
• 1 cup yu-choy chopped, or any kinds of your favorite greens such as kale,
• collard green, Chinese broccoli or bok choy   
• 1 cup carrots chopped
• 1 cup celery chopped
• 1 cup onion chopped
• 4 cloves garlic chopped
• 1/2 cup cilantro chopped
• 1 or 2 tbsp fresh ginger thinly sliced 
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
•  

How to:

 
1. Heat oil in the large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium-high. Add pork ribs and cook for about 2 minutes on each sides. Add chopped onion and garlic and cook them just for a few seconds until fragrant

2. Add carrot, celery, ginger, sesame oil, and stir and cook to soften the vegetables for about 10 minutes

3 Add water or stock, soy sauce, sugar, black pepper and stir. Bring down the heat to medium-low to simmer, cover the pot with lid but let a little peak opening.  Let it cook for another 35-40 minutes until the pork ribs are tender and all the flavors are blended together

4. Add cabbage, yu choy, and cilantro and cook for another 10 to 15 minutes

You can serve it with a scoop of rice or noodles or just soup as it is.  Enjoy!