Black Bean Sauce

Its been a pretty hectic week as I'm getting ready for my trip to Japan. We leave tomorrow for 2 weeks. I'm so excited and also kind of anxious. I've never been anywhere outside the northern/western hemisphere so its going to be totally strange.
We are going because my cousin lives there and is getting married next weekend. We are going to Tokyo, Kyoto and Gifu. I am very interested to try the food over there. I will hopefully come back with some cool recipes and different things to try. Although, apparantly its not the place to be a vegetarian. Not quite sure what David will end up eating. They believe ham is a vegetable, so I'm told!

In anticipation of this Asian extravaganza I fancied some chinese food last night. I am always trying to find ways to recreate the taste of it without using the processed jars of sauce.

Last night I decided to try a black bean sauce. The result wasn't spectacular as I realised half way into it that I didn't have all the ingredients. Anyway, it was a good effort and will need some tweaking.

I made it with eggplant and red peppers.

Asian Black Bean Sauce

2 tbsp peanut oil
2 tbsp fermented black beans -- rinsed and drained
1 tbsp garlic - minced
1/2 c chicken broth
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp rice wine
1 tsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp cornstarch

Heat a wok or heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add the oil, the black
beans and garlic. Stir-fry about 12 seconds. Add the rest of the ingredients
and stir-fry about 1 minute or until sauce thickens.
Makes about 3/4 cup sauce.

Source: RecipeSource.com