Black Bean Chicken

Editor's Note: Discover an authentic Chinese dish with this recipe for Black Bean Chicken. This Chinese chicken recipe combines tender strips of chicken breast with a flavorful sauce made from ginger, rice wine, and black beans. The recipes calls for black bean and garlic sauce, which can be found in the international section of your grocery store, but regular salted black beans can be substituted for this traditional ingredient. Once the chicken is cooked and the sauce has thickened, snow peas are added to the chicken for added flavor and freshness.
Tender chicken and crisp snow peas simmered in a flavorful, salty black bean sauce.
Serves4
Preparation Time30 min
Cooking Time10 min
Ingredients
- 2 skinless chicken breast fillets (1 lb/450 g), cut into strips
- 1/2 tablespoon grated ginger
- 1/2 tablespoon tablespoon cornstarch, blended with 1 tablespoon rice wine or sake
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 4 shallots, diced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons black bean and garlic sauce, or 1/3 cup (20 g) salted black beans, soaked and mashed
- 1/2 cup cup (125 ml) chicken stock
- 1 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 1 cup (80 g) snow peas (optional)
Instructions
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Combine the chicken strips with the ginger and cornstarch mixture, and leave to marinate for 10 minutes.
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Heat the oil in a wok over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the shallots and garlic, and stir-fry for 30 seconds. Add the black bean and garlic sauce (or Chinese black beans) and stir-fry for another 30 seconds.
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Add the chicken, chicken stock, and sugar and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 3 minutes. Add the snow peas, if using, and cook for another 2 minutes, or until the snow peas have softened.
Note
If using whole salted black beans, soak the beans in enough hot water to cover for 30 minutes. Rinse, drain, then roughly mash the beans.
Copyright 2017 Kenneth Law, Lee Cheng Meng, Max Zhang