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Basic Chinese Marinade

Just as most Western recipes use salt and pepper for basic seasoning, Chinesse recipes have a basic set of marinade seasoning as well. You can almost always use cornflour, sugar, salt, and soy sauce.

Cornflour is kind of a secret ingredient in Chinese cooking, as we use it a lot, almost in every dish. We marinate meat with it, thicken sauces with it, and deep-fry with it. Used as a marinating ingredient, it tenderises the meat and keeps it juicy. That’s why the meat in chinese stir-fries such as this one is always so soft and doesn’t dry out.

Black bean sauce

This little jar of Lao Gan Ma is my kitchen staple. It’s a Sichuan-style Chinese chilli oil infused with fermented black beans. Don’t be frightened away because of the words ‘chilli oil’ though! This black bean sauce is not very hot. I do generally have a low to moderate spice tolerance and it’s not too hot for me at all. I usually buy it from the Chinese supermarket, but you can also buy it on Amazon.

If you prefer black bean sauce without chilli oil, I’d recommend Hong Kong brand Lee Kum Kee. This is my go-to brand for most Chinese sauces. It’s quite easy to find as Tesco and Sainsbury’s both sell it, or you can buy on Amazon. Just note that this one is a black bean garlic sauce, so when you use it you may want to skip the garlic in your recipe.

Ingredients

3 skinless boneless chicken thighs
½ onion, chopped
½ red pepper, chopped
½ green pepper, chopped
1 tablespoon black bean sauce
Dark soy sauce, to taste

Marinade

½ teaspoon cornflour
½ teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon light soy sauce

Method

1. Marinade with cornflour, sugar, salt, light soy sauce.
2. Fry chicken thighs until golden brown and cooked through, then set aside.
3. Fry onions and peppers until softened.
4. Add the chicken and black bean sauce, then toss well.
5. Adjust the colour and flavour with a little bit of dark soy sauce.

What do you think about this recipe? Share with me in the comments below!

Janice xx

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