Chicken and Asparagus Fermented Black Bean Stir Fry (豆豉蘆筍鷄, Dau6 Si6 Lou4 Seon2 Gai1)

This recipe was updated on 07 Oct 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed, and metric measurements added.

This is a classic easy to prepare dish. I happen to have chicken available, but you can use whatever is in your refrigerator to stir fry with the asparagus and straw mushrooms. The salted black beans (also called fermented black beans) and garlic give the dish its distinctive taste. If you don’t have salted black beans, use a prepared black bean garlic sauce available in a jar at your local Asian market (my favorite brand is Lee Kum Kee).

The root end of the asparagus has a tough skin. The usual advice is to take the root end of the asparagus in one hand and the tip end with the other, snap the asparagus (it breaks at the natural tough-tender skin boundary), and discard the root end and use the tip end. However that results in a lot of waste (in my opinion) since the center of the root end is still tender and edible, it’s just the skin that’s tough. So I’ve found that if you use a vegetable peeler, you can remove the tough outer skin and use the entire asparagus stalk. It takes some practice to just remove the asparagus’ tough skin. My first efforts using a vegetable peeler resulted in breaking the stalks and/or peeling too much of the asparagus at the root end, so I had some odd looking asparagus pieces. I’ve tried using a knife to remove the skin, but I’ve found that with practice the vegetable peeler removes less of the asparagus stalk root end’s tender center.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

¾ lb.	375 g.	Chicken thigh (鷄髀, gai1 bei2) or breast meat (雞胸肉, gai1 hung1 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.	Asparagus (蘆筍, lou4 seon2), cut into 2-inch (5 cm.) pieces
7.4 oz.	210 g.	One 15 oz. (425 g.) can peeled straw mushrooms (草菇, cou2 gu1), drained
1	1	Red bell pepper (紅椒, hung4 ziu1), cut into 2-inch (5 cm.) pieces
3 stalks	3 stalks	Green onions (葱, cung1), cut into 1-inch (2.5 cm.) pieces on the diagonal
		Oil for cooking

 

Sauce Ingredients

2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Salted black beans (豆豉, dau6 si6)
½ in.	15 mm.	Knob of ginger (薑, goeng1), crushed in a garlic press
6 cloves	6 cloves	Garlic (蒜, syun3), crushed in a garlic press
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)
½ Tbs.	7.5 ml.	Sesame oil (麻油, maa4 jau4)
2 tsp.	10 ml.	Corn starch (粟粉, suk1 fan2)
4 tsp.	20 ml.	Water

 

Equipment

		Vegetable peeler
		Garlic press
14 in.	35.5 cm.	Wok or pan

 

Prepared ingredients

Preparation Instructions

1. Prepare the chicken thigh or breast meat by removing any bones, excess fat, and skin. Cut the chicken 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.
2. Marinate the chicken in a covered container 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.
3. Wash the asparagus stalks and use a vegetable peeler to remove the tough outer skin at the root end. This is an easy method to use the entire stalk (or you can snap the stalk and discard the root end). Cut the asparagus into 2-inch (5 cm.) lengths on the diagonal.
4. Wash and cut the red bell pepper into 1- (2.5 cm.) x 2-inch (5 cm.) pieces. First cut off the ends of the bell pepper, leaving an open cylinder. Remove the seeds and central core of the bell pepper and make one cut lengthwise to open the cylinder. Flatten the open bell pepper cylinder and cut 1-inch (2.5 cm.) wide by 2-inch (5 cm.) pieces.
5. Open and drain the can with the straw mushrooms, or use fresh if available (wash first). Remove as much water as possible to facilitate stir frying.
6. Wash and cut the green onions into 1-inch (2.5 cm.) pieces on the diagonal.
7. Wash and crush the salted black beans in a small bowl. The traditional way to crush the salted black beans is to use the base of the handle of a Chinese cleaver, but you can use any method that’s available to you. Crush the ginger and garlic in a garlic press and mix into the bowl with the salted black beans. A prepared bottled sauce can be substituted, such as the Lee Kum Kee brand Black Bean Garlic Sauce.
8. Prepare and mix the wet sauce ingredients in a small bowl: add the 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 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. Transfer the chicken to a bowl.
2. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding oil and then the straw mushrooms. Stir fry the mushrooms and then transfer them to the bowl with the chicken.
3. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding oil and then the red bell pepper. Stir fry the bell pepper and then transfer them to the bowl with the chicken.
4. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding oil and then the asparagus. Stir fry the asparagus to brown them. Add the bowl with the salted black bean, ginger, and garlic mixture to the wok, and then some oil to the mixture. Quickly stir fry all the ingredients until the ginger and garlic become fragrant. Add the green onions and the contents of the bowl with the chicken back into the wok, and stir fry all the ingredients together.
5. Add the sauce ingredients to the wok and stir fry the ingredients together. If more sauce is desired, add some liquid (stock or water) 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.