This tasty Asian sauce is quite adaptable to any stir-fry. Go ahead and double it if desired so that you have enough for an additional stir-fry in the future. The choice of vegetables is also a personal preference, but try to keep the total amounts about the same.
Prep all ingredients before you start the stir-fry. We substituted hatch chile peppers for the green bell because it was a new item that we had never tried before. They look very similar to long hots, which are quite spicy. The package indicated they had a medium heat level—we thought they were milder than that. They also take a bit longer than the red bell pepper to soften in the wok.
Chinese Stir-Fry with Black Bean Sauce
Ingredients
Bean Sauce
- 1 1/2 tsp. cornstarch
- 1 1/2 tsp. dry sherry or Shaoxing
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1 1/2 Tbsp. Chinese black bean and garlic sauce
- 1 Tbsp. granulated sugar
- 1 tsp. Asian chile paste
- 1/2 tsp. minced fresh ginger
In a measuring cup, combine the cornstarch with the sherry, whisking to blend. Then whisk in the remaining ingredients. Set aside. Can be easily doubled.
Staples
- 3 Tbsp. peanut oil
- 1 lb. shiitake mushrooms, stems removed caps cut into 1/4″ slices
- 6-8 scallions, trimmed with whites cut into 1″ lengths, greens sliced thin for garnish
- 4 garlic scape stems cut into 1/2″lengths; or 3 garlic cloves sliced thin
- 1 each red and green bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and cut into 1″ pieces
- I lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1″ chunks
- 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped
- 1 cup white rice, cooked according to package directions
Directions
- Heat a large wok on high. Add 1 tablespoon peanut oil. When smoking, add scallions and garlic stirring constantly for 2 minutes, then place into a large bowl.
- Add 1 more tablespoon to wok and toss in bell pepper pieces, stir continuously for 2-3 minutes until they start to soften. Put in bowl with scallions.
- Put final tablespoon peanut oil into wok and then add chicken. Let chicken sit in hot wok for one full minute before you start to flip; then stir until the pink disappears. Add chicken to bowl with vegetables.
- Pour reserved black bean sauce into wok, when hot dump all of the bowl ingredients into wok and stir-fry for 1 minute.
- Serve steamed rice on each dinner plate topped with stir-fry. Garnish with chopped basil and scallion greens.
Accounting for Taste 