Cooking: Chinese Feast with Pork Ribs, Fried Rice and Stir-fried Greens

I love cooking for loved ones and recently cooked up a storm in a Chinese-themed dinner with pork ribs, squid and shrimp fried rice and stir-fried greens. I slow cooked the ribs with a combination of Chinese cooking wine, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, ginger and the star ingredient, star anise. The ribs turned out tender and delicious.

For something that salty, I like to pair it with white rice or if I make fried rice, not season it too strongly. I offered both plain and fried jasmine rice. Fried rice is best made with jasmine rice that's been cooked and cooled for best results. Also critical are eggs and chopped scallions. These are the ingredients that make a great plate of fried rice. I initially wanted to make it with crab meat but after having some difficulty finding crab meat (I know Whole Foods usually carries it but I had limited time and I couldn't be bothered to make my own from scratch), I decided to do it with squid and shrimp instead. Fine substitutions. Start with the oil, minded garlic and ginger. Then add the beaten egg and cook as if they were scrambled eggs, then add the rice, seasoning like soy sauce and mirin or Chinese cooking wine, then the protein and finally garnish with some chopped scallions and/or crushed sesame seeds. It's the most comforting dish you could have.

To balance out the meat, I like to serve greens that have been lightly stir-fried with some oil, chopped garlic, salt and pepper. You can add some water to the greens while cooking to wilt them quicker if they are thick stems like bok choy. I personally prefer the finer stemmed ones like baby pea shoots that I used here that also have a delightfully nutty flavor. The possibilities are really endless so experiment and find your favorite green to serve as a side with meaty dishes!