ZUCCHINI CHICKEN WITH GARLIC BLACK BEAN SAUCE

This zucchini chicken with garlic black bean sauce recipe is one home-style Chinese dish that both my daughters love.  It is so easy to make and goes well with rice.  The thick, tasty garlic and black bean sauce is absorbed by the chicken and zucchini.  I remember the girls just enjoying the rice and sauce on its own.   I usually use skinless chicken thighs that have been cut into bite size chunks.  I find that due to the simmering of the chicken and zucchini for an extended period, white chicken meat such as chicken breasts get a little tough!  I also add some sliced water chestnuts or jicama for a little "crunch" in the dish.  Eventhough the black bean sauce already has garlic, I saute more chopped garlic as an aromatic. 

Tips for making zucchini chicken with garlic black bean sauce

Because the black bean sauce contains a fair amount of salt, I have removed the need for salt that is in the basic Chinese marinade  that can be used with any meat for this recipe and substituted it with the black bean sauce.  However, this really depends on how tasty you like your food.

Chicken.

I prefer using dark meat or chicken thighs as they are more tender when stewing than using white meat or chicken breasts.  Cut the thighs, around the bone into large chunks.  I include the bones, without chopping through them, as they do provide added flavor.

Marinade.

It's important to marinate the chicken for at least 1/2 hour.  I usually add my basic Chinese meat marinade together with some cornstarch.  If you don't have bulk marinade, just add the individual ingredients.

Vegetables.

Zucchini and sliced water chestnuts are used.  You can also substitute the water chestnuts for jicama.  The water chestnuts or jicama gives the dish a nice crunch as in my household, "crunch gives punch!"

Garlic black bean sauce.

I prefer to make my own black bean sauce because you can add tons of garlic. (My family loves garlic.)  You can also spice it up a bit and use the chili garlic black bean sauce which takes it up a notch!  Otherwise, you can use store-bought black bean garlic sauce. 

When cooking, caramelize the (garlic) and garlic black bean sauce before adding the marinated chicken pieces.  Do not discard the marinade in the marinating bowl but add the water to that bowl when making the sauce!

Once the chicken is browned, add the zucchini and water chestnuts or jicama.  Add the water and allow to stew.  Enjoy with rice to soak up all that delicious sauce!