Black Bean Scallop and Shrimp, or 豆豉炒海鲜, pairs green peppers with succulent shrimp and scallops in umami-rich fermented black bean sauce.

In this simple stir-fried dish, crisp green pepper chunks are paired with succulent, tiny bay scallops and shrimp in a very light, thin sauce made with Rice Wine, Oyster Sauce, and just a dash of Sesame Oil. The umami component of the shellfish is enhanced by the fermented richness of Chinese Salted Black Beans.

The Ingredients for Black Bean Scallop and Shrimp

Using whole salted black beans is, to my mind, almost always better than using a commercially prepared Black Bean Sauce. The latter does offer a little bit of convenience but many of these products, even the very good quality ones can negatively affect the color of your dish, as well as potentially overwhelm delicate flavors even when used very sparingly. It is a good idea to rinse away any excess salt from the loose beans before using them.

I am using very small scallops and shrimps here, each being roughly in the count neighborhood of 40 – 50 per pound. At this size, you often get much sweeter flavor from shellfish than with the larger ones. Scallops like the ones used here might be sold as ‘Baby Scallops’ in some places, but you should specifically kas for ‘Bay Scallops’ (as opposed to ‘Sea Scallops’) if you are buying from a fishmonger rather than a supermarket. For reference, this Spicy Scallop Appetizer also capitalizes on the sweeter flavor of Bay Scallops.

Green Pepper was chosen here as they not only taste when fried to just crisp-tender, but the color works well. The only caveat is that you must cook and serve quickly. Once green peppers are overcooked, or ‘warmed-over’, both the color and taste are ruined. If you are making a dish like this for a buffet table, or which will need to be re-heated for service, then you will be *much* better off using red peppers instead.

How to Cook 豆豉炒海鲜

Frying the Green Pepper with the Black Beans

The first step in the actual cooking process is flash-frying the green peppers. You will see that, with a few seconds, the color of the peppers turns a much brighter and more vivid green. As soon as this happens, add in the salted black beans and stir-fry for a few more seconds until their aroma arises and the peppers are just beginning to soften slightly.

The shrimp and scallop are added next, and they too only require a very few minutes of stir-frying. As soon as the shrimp are pink on the exterior you can proceed directly to the next step.

The last part of the cooking process for 豆豉炒海鲜 is the addition of the sauce ingredients. The dish itself does not have a great deal of sauce, and the small amount of liquid actually added will be reduce by about one third in the pan. As soon as this operation is complete, the shrimp and scallop will be nicely tender and should be served immediately while still piping hot.

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