Fried Stuffed Bell Peppers with Homemade Black Bean Sauce, Chinese Style | Hong Kong Food Blog with Recipes, Cooking Tips mostly of Chinese and Asian styles | Taste Hong Kong

Fried Stuffed Bell Peppers with Homemade Black Bean Sauce, Chinese Style

Fried Stuffed Bell Pepper with Homemade Black Bean Sauce, Chinese Style

This was one of the few street foods I like eating with schoolmates during my childhood, when we, wearing school uniform, enjoyed sinking our teeth in the fried stuffed peppers on bamboo skewers only with a dash of soy sauce.

Those were our days after school.

The memory is still vivid though, it has been ages since I started cooking for two in my tiny kitchen. And I have made this fried peppers with different approaches. Following the old-fashioned recipe, I add aged tangerine peel (soaked and finely chopped) to the sauce. For a quicker version like this, I skipped that and bought pre-mixed fish paste as the filling than making it all from scratch, but with the add of some chopped spring onions.

If you are making fish paste from scratch, be sure it is stirred properly into a cohesive filling.

Salted or Fermented Black Bean (Douchi or Dausi 豆豉)

Although black bean sauce can be conveniently bought either in supermarkets or in grocery stores here, still, I have it homemade considered that it can be prepared in minutes.

It is all about mashing a few fermented black beans with spoon, sautéing it with garlic in pan plus a splash of wine, and simmering with a soy-sauce mixture.

But I truly like the flavors mingled from that splash of wine and the black bean mixture.

Fried Stuffed Bell Pepper with Homemade Black Bean Sauce, Chinese Style

  • Ingredients
  • 2 green bell peppers, ~300g
  • ~1/2 tbsp plain flour, for dusting
  • 2 tbsp cooking oil
  • Fish paste
  • ~200g white fish fillet, I usually use carp
  • 1 sprig green onion, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 tsp corn starch or potato starch
  • 1/4 tsp sea salt
  • 2 tsp water
  • Black Bean Sauce
  • 2 tsp fermented black bean (douchi or dausi 豆豉), mashed
  • 4 cloves garlc, finely chopped
  • ~1/2 tbsp cooking oil
  • 2 tsp yellow wine
  • 2 tsp soy sauce
  • 1 tsp oyster sauce
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1/2 C water
  • ~1 tsp cornstarch paste (corn starch : water = 1 tsp : 2 tsp)
  • pinch of salt to taste, optional

How to Stuff Bell Pepper
How to Stuff Bell Pepper

Method

Follow the method here to make a bouncy fish paste from scratch. Skip this step if using a pre-mixed fish paste. Either one, add chopped spring onion.

Wash bell peppers, cut away stems by running a paring knife around them. Half lengthwise, roughly along veins; seed, and trim the white pithy bits. Cut each half, again lengthwise, into 2 to 3 wedges.

Gather the pepper wedges, inside facing up, on a cutting board, evenly dust a thin layer of flour in each (I do with a small fine sieve).

Using a butter knife, fill the pepper wedges with the fish paste, packing and flattening it firmly – making a good surface for pan-frying.

Heat pan (or wok) enough over medium flame; add 1-2 a table spoon of oil and distribute evenly by swishing the pan. When oil is heated, place stuffed pepper wedges in pan one by one, with fish paste facing downward.

Regulate heat to low, frying for about 3 to 4 minutes, or until the downsides turn golden brown and are done. Gently flip all of them to the other side and fry for another half to one minute. Dish up.

Over low heat, sauté garlic and mashed fermented black beans with another half table spoon of oil for roughly a minute. Then splash in wine and stir in soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar with water, bringing to a simmer. Thicken with corn starch to desired consistency. Taste and adjust the flavor with extra salt or sugar if required.

To retain the crunchiness of fried stuffed peppers, simply pour sauce over them and serve. Or, return the fried peppers and simmer briefly with the sauce.

Fried Stuffed Bell Pepper with Homemade Black Bean Sauce, Chinese Style

Enjoy!


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Comments

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  3. Helena

    Great dish, as always 🙂
    I too like having my black bean sauce homemade, especially as it allows to control the salt content (which I often find too high in bottled sauces).
    And I was also used to eat stuffed bell peppers as a child, but quite not the same kind ! That is, as my mother comes from Hungary, Eastern European style : with rice and pork, in a thick tomato sauce. But I guess I would like better your version, since my appetite is nowadays rather directed towards lighter and finer foods, like those you display…

  4. Angie@Angie's Recipes

    I did something similar before, so I know this is really delicious!

  5. Monica

    Hi – I’m happy to discover your blog; I’m from Hong Kong myself! My mom makes these stuffed peppers. It’s a family favorite, particularly among the guys. : ) Yours looks delicious – love the sauce…

  6. Irina @ wandercrush

    Genius! I love how easy homemade black bean sauce is… this makes me homesick for Mom’s cooking! Thanks for sharing 🙂

  7. Lori

    I’ve never stuffed bell peppers in pieces like this. What a great idea. And with the fish paste and black bean sauce, they have to be wonderful. I’ll be trying these this summer for sure.

  8. Juliana

    This look so good, I love the fish paste and of course homemade black bean sauce on it…I need to get some fish paste…and soon.
    Thanks for the recipe and have a great weekend ahead 🙂

  9. Ana C.

    If I want to add the tangerine peel (陈皮, I assume?), how/when should I add it? I’ve made black bean sauce before, but never with the addition of tangerine peel, so I would love to learn!

  10. stuffed mini-peppers - FoodBanter.com

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  11. mycookinghut

    Yum! This looks good, have to try out soon!

  12. TasteHongKong

    Anc C,
    I usually sauté the tangerine peel (陳皮) together with mashed black beans. For this recipe, about one eighth of a peel will be enough. After the dried tangerine peel is softened, scrap off the inside white pith, pat dry and finely chop.
    Besides, choose aged tangerine peel that is light and smells nice to you.
    Enjoy and have fun!

  13. Lokness @ The Missing Lokness

    Ohhhh… I miss this so much! I used to order a lot of 煎釀茄子 in HK. I always found bell pepper to be slightly bitter, but I think I am good them now. I would love to try this. Thanks for sharing!

  14. Christine's Recipes

    One of my favourite 煎釀三寶. Your photos are very attractive.

  15. tigerfish

    I only get to eat this in the Ampang Yong Tau Food stalls in S’pore. They stuff everything with fish paste , fry it and serve with a sauce-gravy and I LOVE it.

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  17. labradors

    Well, I can get the pre-made Black-Bean and Garlic sauce that comes in a jar, but the fermented black beans, themselves are not available here. For that matter, the only soy BEANS I can get are the dried ones. Is there a way I’d be able to use those to make my own fermented black beans? Is Koji (Aspergillus oryzae) absolutely necessary or is there a way to start the beans COMPLETELY from scratch (or, maybe a way to grow the Koji from scratch, as well)? Thank you.

  18. TasteHongKong

    @labradors,
    As far as I know, the beans can be fermented without koji or yeast (bacteria exists in the ingredients or environment aside), but with the add of salt, wine and water to cooked beans. There are Chinese recipes talking about it, but I have yet to experiment it.
    You may also cook this with your jar of fermented black beans by halving the amount of wine, soy sauce, oyster sauce, and sugar first. Then check the taste after you bring the water(sauce) to a simmer, and add any of the above seasoning according to taste.
    Enjoy!

  19. labradors

    Thank you for your reply. Even though I can get the sauce in a jar, that’s only when I travel several hours from where I live.

    I’ll experiment with using the jar of sauce as a base, as you suggested, but it would still be interesting to see if I could make the fermented black beans without koji. After all, centuries ago, SOMEONE had to have started the process without having pre-grown koji available. 🙂

    Thanks again.

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  23. mariana

    hye there.. i want to try this recipe ..but can u suggest other ingredient that can replace the yellow wine?? thanks

  24. TasteHongKong

    @mariana,
    Try rice wine or sake, enjoy!