Apr 27, 2008

Spaghetti with Chinese Black Bean Soy Sauce and Tien Mien Jon

I was buying some ingredients for my spaghetti dinner the other day,
As I strolled down aisles through aisles of groceries,
I Grabbed 2 Italian squash, 1 lb of chicken cutlet, and a small bag of shrimps,
Hurried and Left the grocery store with a big smile on my face,
I can't wait for a wonderful dinner.

Oh wait....oh nooOOOO!
I forgot to buy spaghetti sauce!
*Ok ok, I do get lazy once in a while and just simply let those red jars in the supermarket do their jobs for my relaxing dinner, you caught me!)

Quickly,
I searched all the cabinets in the kitchen,
Looked through every possible space in the fridge,
Trying to find anything that I can use for spaghetti sauce,
Then I saw this bottle hiding next to my Thai chili sauce,
It was Chinese black bean soy sauce 正蔭醬油,
What a life saver (saying that with tears circling in my eyes),
Let me twist my original pasta with marinara sauce into something Asian!

Spaghetti with Chinese black bean soy sauce-


Ingredients (makes 2 large plates)?

3/4 box of spaghetti
20 shrimps (deveined, shelled)
2 Italian squash
1 box of pre-washed/sliced button mushrooms
1 lb of chicken cutlet (cubed)
1 small onion (chopped)
2 stalks of scallion (chop into few stems)
3 garlic cloves (peeled, minced)
Extra virgin olive oil
Dried red pepper flakes
Salt
Chinese black bean soy sauce 正蔭醬油
Tien Mien Jon/sweet fermented flour paste 甜麵醬
Chinese chili sauce (the ones with whole chili peppers, not the paste)

How?

Cook the spaghetti according to the instruction on the package,
But remember to reduce the cooking time by 1 to 2 minutes,
We gonna mix the cooked pasta with sauce later on,
So we're basically finishing the pasta-cooking process in the skillet.

Meanwhile,
Drizzle some olive oil in the skillet,
Toss in the onion, sprinkle some sea salt and red pepper flakes,
Let it cook for couple minutes.

Add the scallion and minced garlic,
Toss in the cubed chicken before the garlic get burned.
Now it's time for the Chinese black bean soy sauce,
Unlike regular soy sauce,
This black bean soy sauce has a texture similar to honey in a steamy hot weather,
Pour like 3 tablespoons full into the skillet,
Don't forget to add 1 tablespoon of Tien Mien Jon/sweet fermented flour paste,
Sprinkle more salt if needed.

Give it a quick stir,
Toss in chopped squash, sliced button mushrooms,
When all the ingredients are cooked,
Pour the drained spaghetti into the skillet,
Add some pasta water if the mixture gets too dry,
Cook for 1 or 2 more minutes and dinner's ready!

Sprinkle more red pepper flakes before serving,
I've never tried using Italian squash in an Asian style sauce,
Surprisingly,
squash and black bean soy sauce goes pretty well together!

Cindy's Rating: 7

9 comments:

  1. I like to try Asian type of sauces and dressing for pasta. Heee heee.....

    Just the other day, I heard about black bean soy sauce 正蔭醬油 over the TV and now I see you using it :)
    You sure stock up a good variety of Chinese sauces in your pantry :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. To Tigerfish~
    Haha I've never noticed about my wide selection of Asian sauces,
    (Looking at the fridge..counting..)
    I have 10 of them!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Cin! I loveee Chinese black bean sauce on anything hehe

    ReplyDelete
  4. This recipe sounds yummy.
    I like to use Asian sauce with spaghetti, too.

    ReplyDelete
  5. To Mochachocolata Rita~
    I haven't used black bean soy sauce for so long,
    Now that I just re-discovered how wonderful it is,
    I think I'll just put it on every dishes! (that will be scary haha, imagine eating french fries with it..)

    To Eileen~
    Really?
    What kind of sauce you like to use for spaghetti?

    ReplyDelete
  6. I like that! Fusion is great for times like that.

    ReplyDelete
  7. To Daphne~
    Thank you so much!
    I'll try more fusion cuisine in the future!

    ReplyDelete
  8. What a lovely combo, I have never heard of black bean soy sauce. I'm impressed.

    ReplyDelete
  9. To Noble Pig~
    You can find those in an Asian supermarket,
    Let me know if you can't find it,
    I can ship one bottle to you!

    ReplyDelete