One of the simplest way yet my favorite way to cook pork ribs is “Pork Ribs Soup with Salted Vegetables’. You don’t have to be a good cook to prepare this dish and it still taste good.

For this dish, the ingredients are simple and cheap. The main ingredients are pork ribs and salted vegetables. I like to use the ribs with a lot of meat as it will give the extra meat taste to the soup. The salted vegetables can be found easily in Sarawak market. There are two types of salted vegetables sold, the fresh but unpacked are a bit hard to find but it taste better and the already packed salted vegetables are easier to find in any supermarket or minimarket. I usually used the already packed because it is easier to find.

Prepare the pork ribs first. Cut the ribs into a small cut between 2 to 3 inches depend on our own liking. Rinse the ribs thoroughly with running water. Prepare the salted vegetables. Cut the salted vegetables in small slices. Rinse the salted vegetables with running water in a basket. Now we can start to prepare the other ingredients. I usually add some garlic, shallot and some lemon grass for aromas.

Once everything ready, we can prepare our cooking pot. Ensure it is clean and rinse it thoroughly with running water first. Now we add the pork ribs inside the pot and add water sufficiently. Cook the pork ribs until it is boil over. Now we can add the salted vegetables, garlic, shallot and lemon grass. Leave it to cook for about half an hour.

After half an hour of cooking, it is time we do some fine tuning to the taste. First we taste the saltiness and the sourness of the soup. The salt vegetables will give some sourness to the soup. Add some more if the soup not sour enough. If it the soup too sour, we can remove some of the salted vegetables and pour in more water.

Once we satisfy with the sourness of the soup, we can taste for the aroma of the soup. The aroma always contributed by the addition of the garlic, shallot and lemon grass. According to our own taste, we can add more garlic, shallot or lemon grass. Remember not to over add because it might kill the sourness taste of the salted vegetables.

Once we already satisfy with the taste, we need to cook for another half an hour. By then we can add some salt and MSG (monosodium glutamate) for taste. Usually pork ribs will take between 15 minutes to 1 hour to cook.