RECIPE: Bok Choy in Fermented Black Beans and Chili - China

[Guest guest]

BOK CHOY IN FERMENTED BLACK BEANS AND CHILI - CHINA

 

We had this again a couple of days ago, so I scribbled down the recipe.

 

The way I make this, I use the fermented black beans that come in a plastic bag

(some

come in tins/cans too) rather than the Chinese Black Bean Sauce also available.

- but you

could use either, adjusting for your taste and obviously skipping the soaking

part. You

might want to add a spoonful of water in this case.

 

For the Sauce:

3 tsp fermented (Chinese) black beans*, soaked in 2 Tbsp.warm water for half

hour.

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 Tbsp Sichuan Chili-soybean paste/sauce (comes in a jar usually) or to taste.

 

For the Rest:

2 or 3 dried Chinese mushrooms, soaked in hot water for half hour

2 Tbsp (or what you can get away with) cooking oil

3 slices (American 25c coin size) fresh ginger root, cut into fine matchsticks

8 ounces Bok Choy

3 or 4 large fresh mushrooms, sliced

salt to taste (but the beans are salted, so be careful, and so is the Sichuan

chili-bean

paste)

1/2 tsp oriental sesame oil

 

Crush the blackbeans in a small bowl with the back of your spoon or chop them

with it

lightly. Add the garlic, crush it a little more, stir in the chili-soybean

paste/sauce and set

aside.

 

Squeeze liquid from dried mushrooms, remove stems and discard (or save for

stock), and

slice caps thinly. (Soaking liquid can be strained and saved for stock.)

 

Remove green leaves from the bokchoy and slice crossways in broad ribbons, set

aside.

Cut the stems diagonally in roughly bite-size pieces - the size that could be

handled

nicely with chopsticks, not too small.

 

Put your skillet on high heat, add the ooil, and add ginger, then quickly toss

in the sauce

(first three ingredients above that you have in that small bowl), and toss in

the bok choy

stem pieces and stir quickly to coat them with the sauce, add the fresh and

dried

mushrooms, stir carefully again and keep stirring - but this shouldn't take more

than a

couple of minutes altogether, because you wnat those stems to be still crisp and

the fresh

mushrooms to only just leave off looking raw. (If this dries out too much, you

can add a

litttle of the mushroom soaking liquid or water, but it shouldn't be souply.)

 

Add the green leaves and quickly stir into the hot vegetables and down to the

bottom of

the pan to wilt them. .

 

Remove from heat, taste for seasoning, stir in sesame oil and serve with rice.

 

* Sometimes called Salted Black Beans, Chinese Black Beans - point is they're

nothing to

do with the black turtle beans we love to eat in other cuisines! Those new to

these Chinese

beans might want to look here: http://www.ochef.com/34.htm They are truly a

delicious

addition to many Chinese dishes, and they often are used in a sauce for

stir-fried green

beans, long beans or sliced green bell peppers / capsicums, etc, with or without

the chili-

bean paste, with or without mushrooms or other vegetables. These beans, tightly

sealed,

will keep for a year or more in the fridge.

 

Pat / veggiehound