Asparagus & Chicken In Black Bean Sauce

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Title: ASPARAGUS & CHICKEN IN BLACK BEAN SAUCE
Categories: Chinese, Chicken
Yield: 6 servings

2 Chicken thighs
12 md Asparagus spears
3 tb Peanut or corn oil
MARINADE:
1 tb Dry sherry
1 ts Cornstarch
2 ts Thin soy sauce
1 pn Sugar
SAUCE:
2 ts Fermented black beans
3 Cloves garlic, minced
1/2 ts Brown sugar
2 ts Black soy sauce
3/4 c Chicken stock
Cornstarch paste as
-thickener

Marinating: With sharp paring knife, scrape chicken
meat from thigh; slice into thin strips across the
grain. (Breast meat is not preferred for this dish,
as meat is too dry and spongy.) Combine sherry, soy,
cornstarch and sugar in bowl; massage liquid into meat
with your fingers. Marinate for 15 to
30 minutes.
Preparation: Wash asparagus; peel tough white outer
skin off ends; slice on
diagonal in 2 1/2" sections. Rinse fermented black
beans. In bowl, combine and mash black beans and
garlic, brown sugar, black soy sauce and chicken
stock; stir; reserve for 15 minutes. Stir-Frying: Add
2/3 of oil to hot wok; when oil is very hot, add
chicken. Stir-fry for about 3 minutes on high heat -
or until chicken begins to shrink
and firm up. Remove chicken to holding bowl.
Reheat wok to high, add remaining oil. When oil is
hot, add black bean sauce. Stir-fry for 1 minute.
Add asparagus; mix with sauce. Stir sauce with
asparagus. When sauce boils, add cooked chicken; toss
to combine. Dribble in a little cornstarch paste if
needed; cornstarch in chicken marinade might be
enough. Toss ingredients until very little liquid
remains and is reduced to glaze. Dish is ready when
asparagus brightens. If you still have too much
liquid, remove ingredients, continue to reduce sauce,
then return ingredients to coat them with sauce. Serve
in individual portions.

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