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 don't 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 you're handling the dish, BE
CAREFUL. Steam burns are no fun.
This makes enough for four served with rice. (And
there won't 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.
It's one of the few Chinese dishes I know that I can
serve to someone who "doesn't like Chinese food" with
no problems. It's 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
won't work. While you're in the Chinese market, pick
up a can of preserved tea melons or sweet mixed
pickles. They're an excellent accompa- niment. Water
melon pickles or chutneys also go well with it. One
hint--don't let the chicken sit in the bean sauce
mixture too long. It's 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.
