Black Bean Sauce Chicken with Snow Peas (豆豉荷蘭豆鷄, Dau6 Si6 Ho4 Laan4 Dau6 Gai1)

This recipe was updated on 29 Apr 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

Black bean sauce chicken is a standard recipe, it’s just a question of what else to include in the dish. All you have to do is to look in your pantry and pull out whatever your heart desires to make a tasty dinner. In this case, snow peas and cloud ear fungus were the choice, with red bell pepper to add color to the dish. If you’re feeling lazy, you can use a prepared black bean garlic sauce, my favorite brand is Lee Kum Kee.

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)
1 oz.	30 g.	Dried cloud ear or black fungus (雲耳, wan4 ji5)
1	1	Small red bell pepper (紅椒, hung4 ziu1), cut into 2-inch (5 cm.) long strips
		Oil for cooking

 

Sauce Ingredients

½ in.	15 mm.	Knob of ginger (薑, goeng1), minced
2 cloves	2 cloves	Garlic (蒜, syun3), minced
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Salted black beans (豆豉, dau6 si6), crushed lightly
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)
2 tsp.	10 ml.	Corn starch (粟粉, suk1 fan2)
4 tsp.	20 ml.	Water

 

Equipment

		Garlic press
14 in.	35.5 cm.	Wok or pan

 

Preparation Instructions

1. Prepare the chicken thigh or breast meat by removing any skin or bones, and cut into 1-inch (2.5 cm.) pieces. Add the baking soda to the chicken, allow to tenderize for 10 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 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. Pour boiling water over the dried cloud ear or black fungus in a heat proof bowl and rehydrate the fungus for at least one hour. Discard the water and remove any hard stems from the cloud ear or black fungus. Dried black fungus expands greatly when hydrated, so the initial quantity of the dried fungus might look too small (so don’t be fooled).
4. Wash the snow peas. Remove the string by holding each snow pea in one hand and pulling the end with the other the length of the snow pea.
5. Wash and cut the red bell pepper into 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 ½-inch (15 mm.) wide by 2-inch (5 cm.) pieces.
6. Wash the salted black beans and lightly crush them in a small bowl. Mince the ginger and garlic, add them to the bowl with the black beans, and mix together.
7. Prepare and mix the sauce 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 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 cloud ear or black fungus. Stir fry the fungus and then remove 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 remove them to the bowl with the chicken.
4. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding oil and then the snow peas. Stir fry the snow peas and then remove them to the bowl with the chicken.
5. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding oil and then the bowl with the salted black bean mixture. Quickly stir fry the black bean mixture and then add the contents of the bowl with the chicken back into the wok and stir fry all the ingredients together.
6. Add the sauce ingredients to the wok and stir fry the ingredients together. 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.