I took this picture when I was preparing this dish and never really got down to viewing it till I was about to blog.  When my really 'ancient' 4MP camera, this turned out quite sharp and vivid due to the sunlight.  I'm actually quite mesmerised by the raw-ness of the meat and beans here.  It sounds a bit strange I know but I can see the freshness of the pork ribs really clearly in this photo.  Not one PETA will be happy with but it has satiated my carnivore instincts somewhat. 

Anyway, it was one of those rare occasions when PY and I had time off our busy schedules and my uncle's house to ourselves.  So I decided to whip up something satisfying and simple.  I zoomed down to the NTUC downstairs, got some ribs and some tau cheo or salted fermented beans.  Marinate the meat with the beans, soy sauce and pepper.  You can add some chinese wine like shao xing jiu too.  Careful you do not overdo it with the beans, they are mighty salty.  I put the whole thing into a food plastic bag and refrigerated it for two hours.

Following that, I cooked some good quality calrose rice (found in the supermarkets, its a white paper pack, the most expensive rice you can find in NTUC) together with some wolfberries.  Ah, wolfberries ... my first REAL encounter with wolfberries was in the LSE union shop in London.  They sold various 'exotic' snacks like dried pineapples and organic raisins and what-not.  Plus, they had wolfberries.  The price, though, was the shocker.  If I'm not wrong, it was three pounds for 100g.  I mean, WTF, you could buy a truckload with three pounds in Singapore and it doesn't really cost much to ship.  I seriously considered packing my suitcase full of wolfberries from Singapore and then making a killing selling it in London.  But did you know, the wolfberry, otherwise known as gou ji zi, 枸杞子, it has rich nutrient and anti-oxidant properties? This was realised by the Chinese 5000 years ago and the West 5 years ago.  It contains 11 essential and 22 trace dietary minerals, 18 amino acids, 6 essential vitamins, plants phenols, carotenoids etc etc etc.

So after that, I transferred the rice to a pot, took out the meat and layered it on top.  Then I steamed on high for about 15 mins.  The juices of the pork then ran down to flavour the rice.  Most excellent.   I made the mistake here of using cheaper pork ribs.  I recommend you use prime ribs which are more tender.  you can also use a bit of baking soda or papaya extract to marinate the meat to tenderise it.  Otherwise, you might have to steam the rice and meat for an hour just to cook and meat.  If you decide to do that, I would think steaming the meat separately from the rice would be a good idea otherwise you might overcook the rice.

 In the picture above, I put in a few slices of cooked pig's stomach to give some chewiness.  If you prefer it soft, it would be best to stew it beforehand.  Thus there you have it, a real simple dish, but remember to use good quality ingredients.