Chicken in black bean sauce

This. Is. The. Real. Deal.

If you’re a fan of the the kind of Chinese dishes we’re used to in the U.K., I can assure you this will not disappoint! My all-time favourite growing up, when we used to go for a Chinese to celebrate a family birthday, was chicken or beef in black bean sauce. And, after a fair chunk of online research and testing recipes out, I’ve finally sussed it… put the phone down, baby, we’re making black bean tonight! It tastes just as you’d find in any restaurant… with the added bonus of not being as greasy as you can often find in some places.

I’m lucky enough to have a Chinese supermarket nearby, which makes it super easy to get my hands on some great ingredients, but you can also find everything you’ll need online. Don’t be scared to use msg - it gets a bad rep. Use it in moderation, like you would a pinch of seasoning, and it brings a great umami flavour-dimension to the dish.

Goes perfectly with this simple plain chow mein.

Get ready, this will blow your mind tastebuds!

Serves: 2

Prep time: 10 mins (plus 1 hour marinating)

Cooking time: 15 mins

Method

If your chicken breasts are quite thick. butterfly them open and cut them into 2 pieces (per breast). Bash/tenderise the pieces to flatten them out a bit (I use the flat side of a large knife, holding it against the chicken while I give a semi-firm pound with my other palm). Slice the chicken into thin strips.

Mix the marinade ingredients together and cover the chicken with it all, ensuring the meat is well coated (the cornflour can get a bit cement-like if you leave it for more than a few minutes once mixed, so be sure to give it a stir just before mixing with the chicken). Seal and leave it in the fridge for at least an hour.

Put all the slurry ingredients into a small bowl, stir together and set aside.

Put a wok (or your most non-stick pan) over high heat, wait for it to get nice and hot before adding your coated chicken. Keep it moving, stir-frying for 4-5 minutes, until just cooked. The time will vary depending on the size of your pieces. DON’T OVERCOOK IT - you’re going to remove it and cover it in foil until returning to the pan later, so it will continue to cook in its own heat. If your non-stick isn’t that great, the marinade may end up sticking to the pan during this process. Don’t worry too much, it’ll all come off later. Just do your best to scrape it as you stir so it doesn’t end up burning. If it’s really tough, add a splash of water before scraping. Remove the chicken, pop it into a bowl, cover with foil and set aside.

Add your oil to the wok over a medium heat before adding the ginger, garlic, black beans and onion. Stir for one minute, turn up the heat and add the green peppers and slurry. Stir for another minute, using the liquid to scrape anything stuck to the pan. Add the chicken back in and stir for another minute. Finally, but most importantly. turn your heat back down to medium and gradually add a splash of water at a time while you stir. It creates a slightly saucy consistency and mellows the intense flavour of everything coming together. Taste as you go, adding water to your liking and voila!

Serve over noodles or rice.

TIPS

• Swap the chicken for very thinly sliced pieces of sirloin steak (reduce the cooking time for the meat to 1 minute).

• Cod also works really well as a substitute for chicken if you don’t eat/want meat.

• If you want to reduce some of the prep time, use garlic and ginger pastes (a generous tablespoon of each).

• ‘Cornflour’ in the UK is ‘cornstarch’ everywhere else. Don’t get muddled! It’s an incredibly fine white powder used as a thickening agent. You can also use potato starch.