Fried Chinese spare ribs

I love Chinese food, I love spare ribs and I love (almost) anything deep fried. When I started making this, I was slightly scared by the long list of ingredients. Then, to my surprise, I found that I had all of them in my cupboard or fridge - yes, even the fermented red bean curd! The original recipe comes from The Woks of Life, which I think might just be my favourite new food blog.

Ingredients

1 kg pork ribs
1 tablespoon of fermented red bean curd, plus 1 tsp of the sauce from the jar
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp fivespice powder
2 tbsps Shaoxing wine
1 1tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp maple syrup
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tbsps cornflour
2 tbsps plain flour
oil for frying

Method

1. Chop the pork ribs into 1-inch segments. (You'll need a heavy-duty cleaver for this - if you don't have one, this recipe is as good an excuse as any!)
2. Combine all of the ingredients - except the cornflour, plain flour and oil - in a large bowl, mix well, and leave to marinade for at least an hour.
3. Heat plenty of vegetable oil in a wok or frying pan to a medium heat (about 170 C).
4. Mix the cornflour and plain flour in with the ribs so that they are thoroughly coated, then fry them in small batches for about 7 minutes until they are done.