Black Bean Stir Fry

Fermented Black Bean is a very popular ingredient back home, in Hong Kong and Canton area we use them not only in stir fry, but also to season a lot of other food and steam, like fish, pork, pumpkin.

Fermented Black Bean is commonly called Douchi 豆豉 , it is made by fermenting and salting black soybeans, the process turn those Black Bean into something salty, little bitter and sweet. But it creates a beautiful richness that enhance the flavour of food, nowadays you can find Black bean is widely used in Chinese Cuisine, Korean, Japanese and Thai.

There is something about Black Bean sauce, it goes so well with a bit of chilli, onion and bell peppers, I love that black bean gravy on top of the Fat Rice noodles. The homemade Black Bean is even more delicious, I know my aunt's friend in China is still make her own Black Bean and gift to friends and family, they are highly rated because few enough people would preserve it at home anymore.

You can cook them at home easily by using Black Bean Sauce, like the ( but not to mix up with those Ready Cooking Jar or Pouch, they don't taste like the real thing), or if you fancy to do it from scratch, it is also as easy!

Ingredients:

400g Chicken, Beef, Prawn or Tofu

1 small onion

1 Green Pepper

1 Red Pepper

2 tablespoons Oil

3 Garlic cloves

2 tsp chopped Ginger

fresh coriander stem

Marinate:

1⁄2 tsp baking soda ( only for meat but it is Optional , this is the secret of all Chinese Restaurant to make their meat more tender)

1 tbsp light soy sauce

1⁄8 tsp white pepper

1⁄2 tsp potato starch

2 tsp water

SAUCE

3 tsp fermented black beans, washed and drained

1 tsp oyster sauce

1 tsp sesame oil

1⁄2 to 1 tsp sugar ( optional)

1 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine (you can substitute with dry sherry)

1 tsp potato starch

Combine the protein ( if you are using prawn, only season with a bit of salt and pepper) with the marinade ingredients, mix until all the liquid is absorbed. Allow to marinate for 30 minutes.

Pre-heat your wok over high heat, add 1 tbsp of oil over the bottom of the wok. Add the protein, and quickly spread the pieces into a single layer. Let them lightly brown on one side, flip, and cook the other side for another 1 min or until lightly brown. Don't overcook it. Turn off the heat, transfer them to a dish, and set aside.

In the same work, add 1 tbsp of oil in the wok over medium heat. Add the ginger, fry them for 30 sec, then add the garlic and black beans. Stir for another 30 seconds. Now turn up the heat to high. Add the green and red peppers, and stir fry for about a minute. Add the sugar, Shaoxing wine, sesame oil, Oyster Sauce, the protein, Quickly stir-fry everything well to coat in the sauce.

To make a more saucy dish, mix 1 tsp of potato starch into 1/4 cup of cold water, add into the work, mix well and thicken the sauce, cook for another 30 sec and serve!