Steamed Ginger Chicken with Black Beans

Recipe look good to you?     

Steamed Ginger Chicken with Black Beans Ingredients

Stephen Ceideburg	4 ts Sesame oil
1 Frying chicken	2 1/2 tb Soy sauce
2 ts Ginger juice,	2 tb Sherry
2 ts Sugar	1/4 c Salted fermented black beans
3/4 ts Salt	1 Clove garlic
3 1/2 tb Cornstarch

Instructions for Steamed Ginger Chicken with Black Beans

Chop the chicken, bones and all, into Chinese serving pieces--about an inch and a half. Use a juicer to get the 2 teaspoons of ginger juice. You can just mince it, but there will be a subtle difference. Put the chicken into a big bowl and sprinkle with the ginger juice or minced ginger. Combine sugar, salt, cornstarch, sesame oil, soy sauce and booze in another bowl. Blend it to a smooth paste. Rinse the black beans in a strainer until visible salt is gone. Drain and mince finely along with the garlic. Add to the seasoning paste and mix well. Add all this to the chicken and mix to coat thoroughly. At this point, I put the chicken on two 8 inch pie plates and put each plate into a steamer compartment on my aluminum steamer. If you dont have one you can improvise using a large pot and a low-sided dish held just above the water by an inverted dish or whatever. The idea is to allow the steam to circulate around the chicken while keeping the boiling water from splashing into the dish holding the it. Start the water boiling and place the plate onto the inverted dish in the large pot. Cover tightly and steam for 25 to 30 minutes--a little longer if you like your chicken well done. The water should be boiling just enough to produce steam. When youre handling the dish, BE CAREFUL. Steam burns are no fun. This makes enough for four served with rice. (And there wont be any leftovers.) I serve it with steamed rice, a bowl of chopped up green onions, and small dishes of hot mustard, hoisin sauce and Vietnamese chili dip. I usually put out small dishes of Chinkiang vinegar and spiced salt as well. Dip a piece of chicken into the sauce of your choice and then into the green onions and enjoy! The taste is rich and subtle, the chicken succulent and steamy. The green onions and dips serve as a counterpoint the richness. Its one of the few Chinese dishes I know that I can serve to someone who "doesnt like Chinese food" with no problems. Its a quick and easy dish once you get it down. The fermented black beans, hoisin sauce, fresh ginger and sesame oil are fairly specialized, but any good Oriental market and many supermarkets will carry them. All will keep for a long time in the fridge. The sesame oil is the dark, cooked Oriental variety, not the health store variety. The latter wont work. While youre in the Chinese market, pick up a can of preserved tea melons or sweet mixed pickles. Theyre an excellent accompa- niment. Water melon pickles or chutneys also go well with it. One hint--dont let the chicken sit in the bean sauce mixture too long. Its not a marinade and will become overpowering if left too long. From "The Step-by-Step Chinese Cookbook" by Georges Spunt. Thomas Y. Crowell Company, New York. 1973. From Geminis MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini

Main Ingredient: ChickenCuisine: Chinese

More like this...

Steamed Ginger Shrimp Dumplings in Ginger Broth

Ase Jup Jing Ha (Steamed Prawns with Black Beans)

Steamed Fish with Black Beans

Steamed Fish with Black Beans

Steamed Oysters with Black Beans