Fish with Black Bean Sauce

A couple of weeks ago, we took an afternoon and went out for some much-needed family time. Our excursion included a jaunt along the river trails, stalking beautiful wild turkeys, and watching an intense boot camp mid-session.  (How do they do that?)

The best part of the day had to be dinner at our favorite Chinese restaurant.  It’s a bit of a drive, and we hadn’t been there in quite some time.  Hubby and I ordered all our usual favorites off the authentic menu.  Half of our choices consisted of fish and shellfish.  We’re a seafood kind of group.

But we don’t discriminate.  We also had oodles of noodles, chicken, beef, and lots of veggies.  And soup.  And a pot of fluffy Jasmine rice.  Like I said, it’s our favorite restaurant and it had been too long since our last visit.

INGREDIENTS

• 4 lbs Basa (swai) fish fillets, towel dried.
• 1 TB cornstarch
• Olive or canola oil for cooking
• 2 brown or yellow onions, roughly chopped
• 1 large green bell pepper, seeded and roughly chopped
• 1 large red bell pepper, seeded and roughly chopped
• 3 cloves fresh garlic, chopped
• 2–3 dried red chilis (optional)
• For the Sauce:
• 4 TB prepared Chinese black bean sauce (I use Lee Kum Kee brand)
• 1 tsp dried ginger powder (or minced fresh ginger)
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 3 TB rice cooking wine
• 1 tsp Asian toasted sesame oil
• 2 TB white sugar

DESCRIPTION

Fish with Black Bean Sauce is made easy and healthy here with this homegrown recipe. Try to use Basa fish fillets, typically found in major grocery stores in a frozen vacuum sealed package. Sole or other firm white fish can work, too. This dish is fabulous over rice and reheats very well.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. In a bowl, combine all sauce ingredients and whisk together until well incorporated. Set sauce mixture aside.
2. Cut fish fillets into bite size pieces. Toss well with 1 TB cornstarch. Set aside.
3. In a large wok or pan, add 2 TB oil on medium heat. When oil is hot, add onions, bell peppers, garlic, and optional dried chilis. Stir to combine. Add 5 TB of the sauce mixture. Stir and cook until veggies are just tender. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
4. In same wok/pan, add 3 TB oil and heat on medium until oil is hot. Add fish and stir. Add remaining sauce mixture. Cook and stir just until fish turns opaque. Do not overcook.
5. Add the cooked veggies back into the wok/pan with the fish. Cook and stir until heated through. Serve with rice.