Review: Stir-Fried Chicken w/Broccoli & Black Bean Sauce (May 01)

[aggie94]

Yummmmmy! This was a pretty basic Chinese stir-fry, but still very good. Minor modifications I made: I marinated the chicken in sherry, but omitted the salt, added a tablespoon of regular soy sauce, and a teaspoon of cornstarch. I marinated it for almost two hours, while I was at the gym. Also, I had an extra green bell pepper laying around, so I threw that in along with the red one. Served it with brown rice -- very tasty!

[KValley]

THank you, Eva! I just came back from being out of town for a week- the cupboards are bare, but I can't stand the thought of eating out. I'm aching to cook, but I wanted something simple for tonight. THis sounds perfect. I haven't even had a chance to crack the cover of the May '01 issue- it's in a pile of to-be-read mail! Julie

[Julia1Pin]

Kvalley -

You mean, you don't read the magazine cover to cover the day you get it? How do you control yourself?

[KValley]

Originally posted by Julia1Pin:
Kvalley -

You mean, you don't read the magazine cover to cover the day you get it? How do you control yourself?

LOL http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif It was all I could do this past week to not buy it in a store, when I knew my copy was waiting for me at home! I had it next to me on the couch to read last night, but DH brought home a video and I promptly fell asleep. Tonight! I promise!

[Peggy]

aggie94 and others,

Is there a particular brand of black bean sauce that you use? I have never bought or used any but would like to make this recipe. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Peggy

[aggie94]

The brand I like is Lee Kum Kee. I use their black bean sauce with garlic, chili bean sauce, and oyster sauce on a pretty regular basis. I've had good luck with all of their products. I usually pick mine up at the Asian market, but last night, I was able to find it at Safeway. I don't like Sun Luck products, but that's all some grocery stores carry. If you have a Chinese or Asian grocery store near you, check there - you'll be able to find a big selection of brands (and don't be afraid to ask the people who work there what they recommend), and the prices are usually cheaper.

[This message has been edited by aggie94 (edited 04-25-2001).]

[SusanMac]

What else do you use black bean sauce for? Is it just another alternative sauce for stir frys (vs. oyster sauce, which is what I usually use)? any ideas or suggestions are welcome. I like trying new asian dishes, but am not knowledgeable enough to know how to experiment.

[KValley]

aggie- I just made out my shopping list, but I'm wondering if there is a substitute for sherry... I have sherry vinegar- could I dilute that with some red wine, or would I be missing the point entirely?

[aggie94]

Ah, another chance to plug my favorite Chinese dish - ma po tofu! I use black bean sauce and chili bean sauce for that (see LynnB's thread looking for tofu recipes for a link to that recipe). I also use a sauce similar to the one that went with this stir-fry with asparagus and/or green beans. Throw a tiny bit of oil into a wok or non-stick skillet. Add cut-up asparagus or green beans (or any other veggie you like, like broccoli). Then add a mixture of black bean sauce, soy sauce, sherry, sesame oil, broth or water, and corn starch, and stir-fry a minute or two ( I like the veggies crispy). Makes a quick and tasty side dish for any Asian main meal.

[aggie94]

Julie,

I'm probably not the best person to answer that question. I don't drink, so I really know nothing about wines/cooking wines/etc. and/or how to substitute them. I use cooking sherry in all of my Chinese recipes that call for dry sherry, and they come out fine. Besides, the taste of soy sauce and the sauces (in this case, the black bean sauce) will overpower anything else.

[Carrie W]

KValley and aggie,

We use rice wine whenever sherry is called for in a recipe, and it turns out great. In fact, rice wine ends up in most of our chinese dishes in some form or another, usually as part of a meat or tofu marinade. It's a good thing to have on hand, and not too pricey.

[aggie94]

Aha! I thought there was a substitute for sherry, but I couldn't remember what it was. I kept coming up with rice vinegar, but I knew that was wrong. Thanks Carrie!

[Carrie W]

Not a problem, aggie! Now I'll just have to get around to trying this recipe...

[KValley]

Thanks aggie and Carrie- I'll just nix the sherry from my grocery list and use the sherry vinegar instead. I think I also have rice wine vinegar in that cupboard somewhere!

[Carrie W]

KValley,

Let us know how it works with either of those vinegars. My gut feeling says that the flavor will be different than if you used sherry or rice wine, but depending on how much you use, the flavor might be okay anyway.

[KValley]

It's now 8:45- just finished dinner, DH is doing dishes....It was great! Actually, the toasted sesame oil ended up being the strongest flavor; next time I will be more generous with the black bean sauce. I marinaded the chicken for about 2 hours in the sherry vinegar, added mushrooms and sliced almonds to the stir fry, and had it with sweet brown rice.

Now for dessert- I made the tofu chocolate mousse from the May '01 cover...Can't wait http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif

[aggie94]

Julie,

This one went together quickly. After I got home from work, I cut up the chicken and threw it in the fridge with the marinade. Then, I chopped up the veggies (which is just the bell pepper and broccoli). Also, instead of mincing ginger, I just cut a pretty good-sized chunk of gingerroot into slices. I'm not a huge fan of ginger, so that way, the flavor cooks in with the stir-fry, but I can pick out the ginger slices as I'm eating. (plus, it's faster than mincing!) Then, off to the gym.

After I got home from the gym, everything was ready to go into the wok. I would have had it ready in less than 10 minutes, except that when I went to pull my black bean sauce out of the fridge, there wasn't any! I ALWAYS have black bean sauce, but apparently I used it up the last time I made ma po tofu, and forgot to put it on my list. Of course, the Asian market is closed by 9 at night and I hate buying these things at the regular grocery store (they're more expensive, and the selection of brands isn't as good). So I drove to two places before I found some decent black bean sauce. Needless to say, dinner wasn't on the table within 10 minutes, but it could have been!

I hope you like it - let me know what you think if you make it.

[Donna P]

Made this last night. This was about as close to a "10" as you can get. It is very delicous, let alone beautiful with the bright green broc and vibrant red peppers. Next time I will eliminate the salt from the marinade. This would be great with any protein like lean beef, shrimp, chicken breast, pork, scallops, or even tofu for a vegetarian version. Any veggies would work too. Definitely a keeper.

[Donna P]

oops, double post.

[This message has been edited by Donna P (edited 05-01-2001).]

[emilycat]

Donna,

Thanks for mentioning your opinion of doing the dish with shellfish -- I don't always want to try something with scallops or shrimp in a dish that calls for chicken without hearing an opinion first, so I'm glad to hear your thoughts! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif And this sounds delicious, too -- can't wait to try it!

[Peggy]

Help! I want to make this Friday night but the only black bean sauce I can find says Black Bean Garlic Sauce on the label. Is that the same thing??? Please excuse my ignorance. I have never cooked with black bean sauce before and wondered if there were two different kinds.

TIA!

Peggy

[aggie94]

Peggy,

Black bean garlic sauce is fine. It's what I always use.

[misstapioca]

This is the best recipe i have made from the May issue so far. it was just fantastic. i did not make any modifications to this recipe and i wont change a thing the next time I make it. I have never before used thighs as a stir fry meat before and i was very impressed the meat was so tender and it seemed to soak up all that wonderful flavor. A 10 out of 10 recipe for me!