Spareribs, Licorice, Mo-er, and More

Pork

Spareribs, Licorice, Mo-er, and More
Ingredients:
1 pound spareribs, separated in groups of two-bones
3 Tablespoons tiger lily buds, soaked for fifteen minutes
2 Tablespoons cloud-ear mushrooms, soaked for twenty minutes
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
2 onions, cut top to bottom in one-inch wedges
1/4 cup Chinese rice wine
1/2 cup dark or mushroom soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon crushed Sichuan pepper
3 whole cloves garlic, smashed with side of a cleaver
3 slices licorice root
Preparation:
1. Blanch spare ribs in boiling water for two minutes, drain, and discard the water.
2. Drain, then knot every two tiger lily buds together. Then drain cloud ear mushrooms and cut larger ones into two-inch pieces.
3. Heat oil in a heavy pot and fry onions until soft and beginning to brown. Remove half of them and set aside.
4. Put spare ribs in the pot on top of the cooked onions. Add tiger lily buds, cloud-ear mushrooms, rice wine, soy sauce, Sichuan pepper, garlic cloves, licorice root slices, and half cup of boiling water. Simmer for two hours. Then remove the pieces of licorice root and add the remaining onions. Simmer an additional half hour, then serve.

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