Wok Wednesdays | Stir-Fried Chicken with Black Bean Sauce

WW wokking through Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge
by Grace Young

The black bean sauce in this recipe is not made with your typical black beans (think Latin cuisine), but with fermented black beans (aka douchi or salted black beans) which are actually black soybeans that have been fermented and preserved in salt. You will find these beans at your local Chinese or Asian grocery. 

The beans have a musky scent, and an earthy, oaky, raisiny (without the sweetness) flavor, not to mention salty, which you can rinse the beans to remove some of the saltiness as we did for this recipe.

Mise en place.

Bowl 1:  Red onion, red pepper flakes

Bowl 2:  Chicken, cornstarch, dry sherry, soy sauce, salt

Bowl 3:  Carrots

Bowl 4:  Fermented black beans, garlic, ginger, dark soy sauce

Bowl 5:  Chicken broth, dry sherry

Bowl 6:  Salt

Bowl 7:  Scallion

As I was consuming this wonderful meal (I served this with jasmine rice and steamed zucchini), I thought how comforting this is. It's one you'll want to have in your repertoire, filed under comfort foods.  

Next time I make this, I'm going to toss in a few whole fermented beans as well, and up the red pepper flakes for I do like my food on the spicier side.

The recipe can be found here, but I highly recommend you get the book - the recipes are fabulous.

We have been asked not to post the recipes here on our blog. You will find the recipe on page 137 of  Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge, which you can purchase at your local bookstore or find it at your local library.