Through my new Foodie friend Nami at Just One Cookbook I joined Food Buzz a few days ago. It’s been so wonderful to see all the postings and passionate people who are willing to build such a HUGE community and share their recipes/experiences! I am feeling even more motivated to cook new dishes and think up new ideas. Work is starting to pick back up again this week, so I didn’t have time to defrost anything, so shrimp sure comes handy in times like this. Just run some water over frozen shrimp, in no time they would be defrosted and ready for cooking!

Ingredients
1/4 cup whole fermented black beans
1 tube of silken tofu, cut into 1/2 inch thick pieces
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
24 medium shrimp, shelled and deveined
1 TBSP of rice wine
1/2 TBSP corn starch
1/2 TBSP chicken flavored seasoning
Salt and freshly ground pepper
3 large slices of ginger, peeled and finely julienned
2 stalks of green onions, slices
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 red hot pepper, seeded
1/4 cup Chinese cooking wine
1/4 cup vegetable stock
1 teaspoon sugar

In a bowl, cover the black beans with water and let soak for 10 minutes. Drain.

Marinate shrimp with 1 TBSP rice wine, corn starch and chicken flavored seasoning for 10 minutes.

Place the tofu on a microwave safe dish, heat it up for 2 minutes. Drain excess water.

Meanwhile, in a medium skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil. Add the shrimp, season with salt and pepper and cook over high heat until pink and curled, about 1 minute per side. Transfer to a bowl. Add the remaining 1 tablespoons of oil to the skillet and heat until shimmering. Add the ginger, green onion, red pepper and garlic and cook over moderate heat until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the black beans and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add the 1/4 cup of rice wine, stock and sugar and simmer until slightly reduced, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer the tofu and shrimp to plates. Top with the sauce and serve.

Adapted from: Food & Wine