Black Bean Chili Sauce Snow Pea Chicken (黑豆辣椒荷蘭豆鷄, Hak1 Dau6 Laat6 Ziu1 Ho4 Laan4 Dau6 Gai1)

Some dishes are better with a small amount of sauce and others are not. This is one of those dishes that calls for more sauce, which, of course, goes well over rice. The amount of sauce can be controlled by the amount of liquid added to the basic sauce ingredients. In this case, the liquid from soaking the dried Shiitake mushrooms is used, but you can always add more water or stock instead. You may have to increase the amount of corn starch used to thicken the sauce if you add more liquid.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

¾ lb.	375 g.	Chicken thigh or breast meat (雞肉, gai1 juk6), cut into 1-inch (2.5 cm.) pieces
1 tsp.	5 ml.	Baking soda (蘇打粉, sou1 daa2 fan2)
½ in.	15 mm.	Knob of ginger (薑, goeng1), crushed in a garlic press
2 cloves	2 cloves	Garlic (蒜, syun3), crushed in a garlic press
1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Corn starch (粟粉, suk1 fan2)
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Soy sauce (豉油, si6 jau4)
1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Hoisin sauce (海鮮醬, hoi2 sin1 zoeng3)
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Shaoxing rice wine (紹興酒, siu6 hing1 zau2) or dry sherry
½ tsp.	2.5 ml.	Ground white pepper (白胡椒, baak6 wu4 ziu1)
1 tsp.	5 ml.	Sesame oil (麻油, maa4 jau4)
1 lb.	500 g.	Snow peas (荷蘭豆, ho4 laan4 dau6)
10	10	Dried Shiitake mushrooms (冬菇, dung1 gu1), rehydrated and cut into quarters
½ in.	15 mm.	Knob of ginger (薑, goeng1), crushed in a garlic press
2 cloves	2 cloves	Garlic (蒜, syun3), crushed in a garlic press
		Oil for cooking

 

Sauce Ingredients

2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Laoganma brand black bean chili sauce (黑豆辣椒油, hak1 dau6 laat6 ziu1 jau4) or equivalent
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Soy sauce (豉油, si6 jau4)
1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Hoisin sauce (海鮮醬, hoi2 sin1 zoeng3)
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Shaoxing rice wine (紹興酒, siu6 hing1 zau2) or dry sherry
½ tsp.	2.5 ml.	Ground white pepper (白胡椒, baak6 wu4 ziu1)
1 tsp.	5 ml.	Sesame oil (麻油, maa4 jau4)
½ Tbs.	15 ml.	Corn starch (粟粉, suk1 fan2)
1 Tbs.	30 ml.	Water

 

Equipment

14 in.	35.5 cm.	Wok or pan

 

Preparation Instructions

Laoganma Brand

Black Bean Chili Sauce

1. Pour boiling water over the dried Shiitake mushrooms in a heat proof bowl and rehydrate the mushrooms for at least one hour.
2. Prepare the chicken thigh or breast meat by removing any skin or bones, and cut into 1-inch (2.5 cm.) pieces. Wet with water and add baking soda to the chicken, allow to tenderize for 15 minutes, and then wash the baking soda from the meat. The baking soda can be omitted but results in the tender meat experienced in restaurant dishes.
3. Marinate the chicken for at least one hour or overnight in the refrigerator with the ginger and garlic crushed in a garlic press, corn starch, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry, ground white pepper, and sesame oil. If marinating the chicken overnight, take it out of the refrigerator at least one hour before cooking.
4. Remove the Shiitake mushrooms from the rehydration liquid, remove the stems, and cut them into quarters. Reserve the rehydration liquid for later use in the cooking process.
5. Wash and remove the string from the snow peas by holding the snow pea in one hand and pulling the string the length of the snow pea with the other.
6. Crush the ginger and garlic in a garlic press and put into a small bowl.
7. Prepare and mix the sauce in a small bowl: add the Laoganma brand black bean chili sauce or equivalent, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry, ground white pepper, and sesame oil. In another small bowl, prepare the corn starch slurry by mixing the corn starch and water together.

Cooking Instructions

1. Heat a wok or pan over high heat and before adding oil. Add the chicken pieces to the wok in a single layer on the bottom and brown the outside. You may have to cook the chicken in batches, so be sure to reheat the wok over high heat before adding more oil. Set the chicken aside in a bowl.
2. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding oil and then the Shiitake mushrooms. Stir fry the mushrooms and then remove them to the bowl with the chicken.
3. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding oil and then the bowl with the ginger and garlic. Quickly stir fry the ginger and garlic until fragrant before adding more oil and then the snow peas. Add some of the mushroom rehydration liquid to facilitate heat transfer and stir fry the snow peas. Add the contents of the bowl with the chicken back into the wok and stir fry all the ingredients together.
4. Add the sauce ingredients to the wok and stir fry the ingredients together. If more sauce is desired, add some of the mushroom rehydration liquid to the wok. Add the corn starch slurry to thicken the sauce and mix all the ingredients together. Put the cooked ingredients into a serving dish and serve with steamed rice.