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Stir-Fried Chicken With Black Beans

Image may contain Plant and Food
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Rhoda Boone
  • Total Time

    20–30 minutes

Of all the easy additions to stir-fries, fermented black beans are among the best. They give a special flavor and look, and the technique is effortless. Furthermore, a year’s supply of black beans will set you back about a buck at a Chinese market.

Ingredients

Serves 4, with rice

2 tablespoons fermented black beans
2 tablespoons rice wine, dry sherry, or white wine
1/4 cup peanut or neutral oil, like grapeseed or corn
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
1 cup sliced onion
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast or thighs, cut into 1/2- to 3/4-inch chunks or thin slices and blotted dry
1/4 cup chopped scallion, plus more for garnish
1 teaspoon sugar (optional)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup chicken or vegetable stock, white wine, or water
1 tablespoon dark sesame oil
  1. Step 1

    Soak the black beans in the wine. Meanwhile, put a large, deep skillet over high heat. Add half the oil, swirl it around, and immediately add half the garlic and ginger. Cook for 15 seconds, stirring, then add the onion. Raise the heat to high and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion becomes soft, about 5 minutes. Remove the onion.

    Step 2

    Still over high heat, add the remaining oil to the pan, then the remaining garlic and ginger. Stir, add the chicken, stir again, then let it sit for 1 minute before stirring again. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the chicken has lost its pink color, 3 to 5 minutes.

    Step 3

    把热介质,加入葱,一个d toss. Return the onion to the pan and add the sugar if you’re using it and the soy sauce. Toss again, sprinkle with salt and pepper, then add the beans with their liquid and the stock. Raise the heat to high and cook, stir-ring and scraping the bottom of the pan, until the liquid is reduced slightly and you’ve scraped up all the bits of chicken, about a minute. Turn off the heat, drizzle on the sesame oil, garnish with scallion, and serve.

  2. 12 Simple Additions to Stir-Fried Chicken:

    Step 4

    You can throw almost anything you like into a stir-fry, but these are some of my favorites; some require a trip to an Asian market, but many will be in your pantry.

    Step 5

    1.Add 1 tablespoon or more of bottled hoisin, plum, oyster, or ground bean sauce with the soy sauce.

    Step 6

    2.Add 1/4 teaspoon or more Vietnamese-style chile paste, chile and black bean paste, or chile-garlic paste with the liquid.

    Step 7

    3.Add 1 teaspoon dark sesame oil with the soy sauce. A tablespoon or so of toasted sesame seeds is also good, alone or with the oil.

    Step 8

    4.Toss the chicken chunks with 1 tablespoon curry powder or five-spice powder.

    Step 9

    5.Toss in 1/2 to 1 cup raw or roasted cashews or peanuts when you return the vegetables to the pan.

    Step 10

    6.Omit the stock or water and add 1/2 to 1 cup coconut milk along with the soy sauce.

    Step 11

    7.Add 1 cup chopped fresh tomato when you return the vegetable to the pan.

    Step 12

    8.Replace half the soy sauce with nam pla (Thai fish sauce) or freshly squeezed lime juice or vinegar.

    Step 13

    9.Add 1 cup mung bean sprouts when you return the vegetables to the pan.

    Step 14

    10.Add 1/2 cup chopped shallot with the chicken.

    Step 15

    11.Use snow peas, mushrooms, or other quick-cooking vegetables, alone or in combination, in addition to or in place of other vegetables.

    Step 16

    12.Stir in 1/4 cup cooked grains (like barley, wheat berries, buckwheat, or quinoa) when you return the vegetables to the pan.

Text excerpted fromHow To Cook Everything (Completed Revised Tenth Anniversary Edition)© 2008 by Mark Bittman. Reproduced by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved. Buy the full book fromAmazon.
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  • I come back to this recipe over and over again. It is so delicious.

    • Lisa E

    • Seattle ish

    • 1/4/2023

  • Delicious. Wait to add the salt until the end. The soy sauce probably has enough.

    • dennisholt

    • Wash DC

    • 3/30/2020

  • Maryprietsch, read the entire recipe. Under additions for chicken stir fry, these ingredients are listed as possible additions.

    • loriltx

    • Houston

    • 9/19/2018

  • Why does picture show snow peas, mushrooms, and scallions, but none are in recipe? Seems you have a mismatch, would love to have the rcipe for the entrée pictured.

    • Anonymous

    • Minn

    • 2/28/2017

  • This is an excellent dish as written, and is a great base to customize as you wish. Every single family member ate it all and asked for seconds. Best of all, it's easy to prepare and can be in regular rotation during the hectic week. I added fresh green beans for the last 5 minutes or so, and those were happily consumed by my green veggie-averse son.

    • nightfall

    • Baltimore, MD

    • 1/12/2017

  • This was a very tasty dinner. I followed the recipe exactly and added snowpeas, roasted cashews and mushrooms. Would definitely make it again.

    • foodlover1948

    • Brisbane, Australia

    • 1/4/2017

  • I don't have the fermented black beans on hand but do have black beans and miso paste. Is that a good substitute, and if so, how much miso paste?

    • artemesiapaints

    • Wayne, PA

    • 1/3/2017

  • Great recipe! Very flavorful. Could not find fermented black beans at my local grocery, so i substituted bean sauce. I also added some mushrooms, personal preference.

    • yallcomebak

    • Houston

    • 1/2/2017

  • Excellent recipe. The ginger and garlic make it very flavorful. Left out the scallions; added snow peas and 1 teaspoon of chili garlic sauce.

    • susieb4

    • Cleveland OH

    • 12/20/2016

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