Here's a couple of simple, good recipes that use black bean sauce.
Just in case you don't know, these black beans are the Chinese
fermented black b eans. They're extremely salty++and should be rinsed
before use++ and have a ver y nice, savory taste that blends well with
many foods. Very common in Chinese ma rkets and I've seen bottles of
ready prepared black bean sauce in supermarkets i n the Oriental food
sections. Just substitute the deep fried tofu cubes for the meat in
these recipes. One of these recipes is for pork spareribs and one for
p rawns. They'll give you an idea of how the beans are combined with
the other ing redients to come up with the sauce.
Yield: 4 servings
Preparation: Have butcher cut spareribs into 1-inch pieces. Trim off
fat. Pla ce spareribs in a heat proof dish. Wash and rinse black
beans 2 or 3 times, the n mash them with garlic, ginger, soy sauce,
cornstarch and sherry. Mix with spa reribs.
Cooking: Place heat proof dish on steaming rack in wok. Add water to
bottom o f wok. Cover. Steam for 30 minutes.
Do-ahead notes: Do through preparation.
Comments: Spareribs can be left in the steamer for 2 hours if dinner
is late.
Substitute bean sauce for salted black beans++and abracadabra! Mein
See Jing Pi e Quat! (Steamed Spareribs in Bean Sauce.)
From "The Chinese Village Cookbook." A practical guide to Cantonese
country coo king. Rhoda Yee, Yerba Bueana Press, San Francisco.
1975.
