Stir-Fried Venison with Green Peppers and Black Bean Sauce

This essence of this dish lies in cooking the venison very fast over a high heat until JUST cooked – overcook it and it will be tough! Fermented black beans are whole soya beans preserved in salt and ginger, available from Chinese supermarkets. However, for a quicker dish, use 150ml (1/4-pint) reliable ready-made stir-fry sauce. This is quite a hot and spicy dish, so serve with plain boiled rice.

Ingredients

Serves 6

60 ml (4 tablespoons) fermented black beans, rinsed and well-mashed
2.5ml (1/2 teaspoon) salt

2.5ml (1/2 teaspoon) sugar

15ml (1 tablespoon) thin soy sauce

30 ml (2 tablespoons) Shaohsing wine or medium dry sherry
10 ml (2 teaspoons) oyster sauce
60 ml (4 tablespoons) stock or water
10ml (2 teaspoons) cornflour
freshly ground black pepper

60 ml (4 tablespoons) vegetable oil

1 large green pepper, seeded and finely sliced

5-6 small garlic cloves (2-4 fat ones), peeled and chopped

1 fresh green chilli, seeded and finely chopped

4 spring onions cut into 2.5-cm (1-inch) lengths, white and green parts
separated

750g (1 1/2 lbs) tender venison (stir-fry venison, venison fillet, pavé etc) cut into strips, about 5 mm (1/4 inch) thick

sesame oil, to serve

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1. First make the sauce. Mix the salt, sugar, soy sauce, Shaohsing wine or medium dry sherry, oyster sauce, stock or water, 30 ml (2 tablespoons) vegetable oil together in a small bowl, then blend in the cornflour and season with freshly ground black pepper. Set aside.

2. Heat a wok over a high heat until smoking hot. Add 30ml (2 tablespoons) of oil and swirl it around. Add the pepper and stir-fry for about 2 minutes until tender but still slightly crunchy (alternatively, blanche the peppers in boiling salted water for 2 minutes then drain.) Remove and keep warm. Wipe out the wok.

3. Heat the wok over a high heat until smoking hot. Add the remaining oil and swirl it around. Add the garlic and when it sizzles and begins to turn golden, add the chilli, white spring onion and then the black bean paste. Stir-fry for 1 minute.

4. Now add the venison and stir-fry for 2 minutes or until they just begin to turn from red to grey/brown. Lower the heat. Stir the sauce well, and pour over the venison, stir-frying to coat the meat with the sauce as it cooks and thickens. Finally, stir in the pre-cooked pepper and green spring onion. Remove to a warm serving dish and serve immediately with a tiny drizzle of sesame oil and boiled rice.

 

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