Hi,

I've eaten in some chinese restaurants "chicken with yellow bean sauce". It's a red sauce, sweet and sticky, and I would like to know how to prepare it.

I bouth crushed yellow bean, but it's nothing like that and I can't find any recipes on the Internet that look remotely like it.

Anyone knows how to do it?

Thanks!!!

will this help?

for a stickier sauce - use less water:

1/2 tsp sesame oil, or 1-2 sprays of oil
Chicken breast, in bite-size pieces
100g (stir fry) veg (your choice - peppers, mushrooms and carrots)
Handful of cashew nuts, optional

For the sauce
40g yellow bean sauce (such as Amoy's - try Asian stores)
2 tsp (low salt) soy sauce
1 tsp rice wine vinegar
Approx 100ml water

To serve
Boiled (wholegrain) basmati rice, or egg noodles

1.Heat your oil or oil sprays in a wok or frying pan on medium heat. When hot enough, add the chicken and stir fry till browned all over.
2.Add the veg and cook for about 5 mins.
3.Meanwhile, mix the yellow bean and soy sauces, and rice wine vinegar in a little jug. Then stir enough water to give a nice thin sauce, though you could use less if you like thicker, stickier sauces.
4.Pour the sauce into the wok and toss the chicken and veg around till it is well mixed in. Cook for about another 5 mins till the chicken is cooked, and the veg is tender but still with a little crunch
5.Toss in some cashew nuts if you like them, and stir then through the veg for a minute to heat through.
6.Serve with rice or egg noodles

"This thick spicy aromatic sauce is made with yellow beans flour and salt which are fermented together. It is quite salty but adds a distinctive flavour to Chinese sauces. There are two forms: whole beans in a thick sauce; and mashed or pureed beans (sold as crushed yellow bean sauce). I prefer the whole bean variety because it is slightly less salty and has a better texture."

Since this is a fermented sauce it may be difficult to make it yourself, but there are one or more recipes on the Internet for a Thai version if you search "Yellow Bean Sauce Recipe".

1 tablespoon yellow bean sauce
1 tablespoon vinegar
1-2 Thai chili pepper, sliced
1 teaspoon sugar
1 piece ginger
1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
10 sprigs cilantro, chopped
1 tablespoon chicken soup

Peel a piece of ginger, about 2 inches long. Ground the ginger in mortar or blender or julienne the ginger. Slice Thai chili pepper and chop the cilantro. Combine all ingredients.

Thanks for all your ideas, but those recipes are nothing like the sauce I'm looking.

I tried a similar one last week, and it was very nice (I will try some of these next), but it's easy to see that the red colour won't come from any of those ingredients... the yellow bean sauce sold in most chinese shops is light yellow (obviously!), and none of those ingredients is bright red...

Maybe I will have to ask in the restaurant, see if they will give me a tip on the recipe!!