Stir fried veg in black bean sauce

When I was at uni this was my standard takeaway option. As it's a vegetarian dish, it ended up being cheaper than alternatives, which left some money for me to order soup and rice too. When I first discovered the joy of Asian supermarkets, I bought a pack of fermented black beans and followed a recipe to the letter. It resulted in a rather bitter but delicious version of the takeaway meal I was used to. Over the years since, I've gotten lazier with my cooking and still have a tight budget, so this version is cheaper, quicker and a lot less authentic, but none-the-less tasty.

Mixed Vegetables

use a selection of veg that you have to hand. Tonight I used:
1/2 broccoli head chopped into sections
couple tablespoons peas
few cherry tomatoes, halved
1 head pak choi leaves with greens separated from whites
greens of 3 spring onions, sliced

Black Bean Sauce

2 tablespoons fermented black beans, soaked in boiling water for 20 mins then drained
2 cloves garlic, diced
whites of spring onions, sliced
large dash sesame oil
large dash dark soy sauce
small dash chili oil
small dash oyster sauce
sprinkle of ground ginger (or fresh diced)
sugar to taste
splash of white wine (optional - I had some leftover. Chinese rice wine is better if you make Chinese food enough to justify the purchase!)
sprinkle of sieved cornflour

Sesame oil and water to cook
Rice to serve

Method

After draining the beans, mush them up with the back of a spoon.
Mix in the other ingredients, adding sugar to take off the bitterness, to your taste.
cook the rice.
when rice is nearly done, heat sesame oil in a wok and add the broccoli and whites of the pak choi. (If you are using different veg, then this is where 'longer to cook' things go, like carrots, white cabbage, pepper etc). Add a little water and stir fry for a few minutes until the veg starts to soften.
Add the other veg and the sauce, and stir fry for a couple more minutes until everything is heated through.
Serve spooned over the rice.