Recipe: Grilled Pork Rib Tips AND Chinese Cauliflower

I’m pretty sure they’re rib tips anyway. You know the cut with the cartilage / soft bones that you can eat? Love it in soup (check out my recipe https://maddywoods.com/2020/10/20/recipe-pork-rib-vegetable-soup/), grilled in the pan, whatever. So versatile and rich in flavor. If you can’t get Chinese cauliflower, regular cauliflower works well too! Oh right. If you’re cooking them both at the same time, start the cauliflower first. Even if it finishes first, it retains the heat really well because of its water content, whereas the meat will cool down fast. The cauliflower will take around 15-20 minutes and the meat will take 10. I listed the pork first because it’s the main dish.

WARNING: The pork pan will be hard to clean due to the sugar content of the marinade. I had to soak it and use a wooden spatula for scraping.

INGREDIENTS :

PORK

• 2 lbs pork rib tips
• 4 tbs low sodium soy sauce
• 2 tbs honey
• 3 tbs oyster sauce
• 1 tbs onion powder
• 2 tbs canola oil

CAULIFLOWER:

• Large Chinese cauliflower
• 2 tbs canola oil
• 3 tbs fish sauce
• 1/2 – 1 cup water
• 3 stalks green onion (white and green parts separated)
• 1 tsp ginger paste (or 1/2 inch ginger, sliced in half)
• 1 tsp garlic paste (or 1 clove garlic)
• 2-3 Serrano peppers (optional)

TOOLS:

PORK:

• 10″ cast iron pan
• Tongs
• Gallon freezer bag OR bowl for marinating
• Spoon for mixing
• Measuring spoons

CAULIFLOWER:

• Large wok or all purpose pan
• Spatula
• Cutting board and knife
• Measuring spoons

INSTRUCTIONS:

PORK:

1. Mix all ingredients in a bag or a bowl and marinade between 4 and 24 hours. Turn / mix the pork halfway through the marinating process. If you don’t have time to marinade, you can go ahead and cook it right away, it will still be good, just not AS good.
2. Heat pan on medium until touching the meat to it creates a sizzling noise.
3. Place all the pork in the pan. Cover with a lid.
4. 5 minutes covered, flip, 5 more minutes covered. DONE.
5. Garnish with the green parts of the green onion if desired.

CAULIFLOWER:

1. Slice and dice the green onion (separating the green parts and the white parts), Serrano peppers, and cauliflower. If using fresh ginger and garlic, cut a 1/2 inch piece of ginger in half and cut the garlic clove in half as well.
2. Combine canola oil, Serrano peppers, white parts of green onion in pan. If using fresh ginger and garlic, add them now. If using paste, wait until the oil is sizzling and fragrant and stir it in. There may be some splattering. But, if you add the paste too early, it will burn in the time it takes the other ingredients to flavor the oil.
3. Add the cauliflower, fish sauce, and 1/2 cup water. Cover with lid.
4. Stir occasionally, and then cover when not stirring. If pan becomes dry, add more water.
5. Cook to desired texture, for me around 15 minutes after adding the cauliflower to the oil.